Human Rights violations: How can Canadian employers be proactive?

26 Apr Preventing Human Rights violations: how can employers be proactive?

Posted at 15:10h in News by Kathy Chittley-Young

Human rights violations can occur at any time, and it is sometimes not within the control of the employer. However, the employer ought to do everything in their power to avoid these violations. It is necessary that employers are proactive when it comes to ensuring each person in the workplace is educated on workplace harassment and feels protected in their environment.

Why should an employer engage in these steps?

Taking action to prevent human rights violations may benefit the workplace in the following ways:

The employer may recruit and retain the best employees,
Employees’ potential could be maximized,
Negative reactions to the workspace, like stress or burnout, could be greatly minimized,
Conflicts could diminish,
May increase positive relationships between employees,
These actions may create a positive reputation for the employer.

What do preventative strategies look like?

Employers may create a plan for preventing human rights violations that include:

A plan of action for removing any barriers between employees and their work environment, for example, making sure that every employee has the same chance for a promotion,
Fostering anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies that employees can learn and practice in the workplace,
Creating an internal complaints procedure to increase the accessibility to support services,
Formulating an accommodation policy and procedure so that if a human rights violation does occur, the employee will know it will be taken care of properly,
Implementing a program where employees can be trained and educated on human rights violations.

Preventative measures should include all of these steps to ensure that an employer is creating the safest work environment possible. As noted above, it is worth the time and effort because the employer will be prepared if a violation occurs, and the employer could create a culture that is more attractive internally and to the public.

If you have any questions about establishing these preventative measures, please contact KCY at LAW by filling in an online consultation request or contact us by phone at 905-639-0999 to book your consultation today!