Law's Affecting Workforce Diversity

On my past blogs I talked about issues like managing workforce diversity, its advantages and disadvantages, its definition and how to improve diversity in a workplace. This time I will discuss some Laws that affect Workforce Diversity. In Canada, there’s this Law called “Employment Equity Act” which requires employers to engage in proactive employment practices to increase the representation of four designated groups: women, people with disabilities, Aboriginal peoples, and visible minorities. Under the Employment Equity Act, the Canadian Human Rights Commission is responsible for ensuring compliance with the Act. To this end, the Commission conducts audits to determine whether employers meet the statutory requirements of the Act. (http://www.chrc-ccdp.ca/employment_equity/default-eng.aspx) The Act denotes that each employee should be treated equally and respects the differences of one culture to another.

This requires that employers remove barriers when they are hiring a new employee. Examples of employment barriers are wheelchair inaccessible buildings that create a physical barrier to people with disabilities. The term Reasonable Accommodation is often used for the removal of such barriers to employment. Employers are also required to institute positive policies and practices for the hiring, training, retention and promotion of members of the designated groups. Positive policies include good hiring practices, for example, asking all job candidates the same interview questions, or advertising a job widely and in places where it is likely to reach female or minority applicants. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employment_equity_%28Canada%29)

The purpose of this Act is to give equal opportunity in the workplace. In that case, no individual may be turn down in employment opportunities or benefits for reasons unrelated to ability. Don’t be confused between Employment Equity Act and Canadian Human Rights Act because Employment Equity act solely focus on four designated groups: women, people with disabilities, Aboriginal peoples, and visible minorities while Canadian Human Rights merely prohibits discrimination. Below is a short video that talks more about Employment Equity Act.