Discussions

The Ontario Human Rights Commission (“Commission”) welcomes you to give your input on the update to its popular employment publication, Human Rights at Work.  Human Rights at Work is a comprehensive resource that applies the Commission’s interpretation of the Code and Commission policies to all parts of the employment relationship – from advertising, to hiring, discipline, retirement and termination. The 2nd edition of Human Rights at Work was published in 2004 and is now undergoing substantial revisions in order to reflect subsequent developments in human rights law and to make the book more useful to human resources practitioners. My name is Karen Evadne Macedo, Senior Policy Analyst at the Commission, and I am the author of the 3rd edition of Human Rights at Work and moderator of this blog.

We welcome your practical insights on how to improve the 2nd edition of Human Rights at Work, for example:

• Is the language easy to understand?
  • How can the resource be made more user-friendly?
• Are there any areas or concepts that should be covered or expanded on?
• Is enough detail provided for you to be able to rely on this resource rather than referring back to each of the Commission policies?
• Do you find the footnotes to be useful sources of further information or are they annoying distractions?
• Do you find the resource list helpful?
  • Are there any resources that you know of that should be added?
• What kinds of scenarios or issues have you encountered that should be addressed in the updated book? For example:
  • When is it appropriate to ask for an expert medical opinion or a second opinion?
  • When is it acceptable to terminate the employment of an employee who is consistently absent?
  • What is an employer expected to do when it finds evidence of discrimination or harassment?
  • If an employee claims systemic racial discrimination, what steps can be taken to identify it?

With your help and practical insights, the 3rd edition of Human Rights at Work will be an even more useful resource for human resources professionals and employers in the workplace.  Let’s start the discussion!