HUMAN RESOURCE

MANAGEMENT

CHAPTER 12
UNIT: ORGANIZING

http://www.smartbizzmanager.com/
BIG QUESTIONS

 Why do people make a difference?

 What is strategic human resource management?

 What are some legal and current issues facing HRM?

PEOPLE MAKE THE
DIFFERENCE
 The Importance of People
In the new economy and new workplace, the key to an
organization’s productivity and success comes down to
how they think about their organization and its people

Do they see their people as costs to be reduced?

Or

Do they see their people as the most critical and valuable

strategic asset the organization has?

https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/payroll/news/11675448/how-to-improve-your-return-on-human-capital-investment
 The Importance of People
 High performing organizations thrive on strong
foundations of human capital

Human Capital:
The economic value of people with job relevant abilities,
knowledge, experience, ideas, energies and commitments.

Bottom line:
Organizations perform better, long-term, when they treat
their employees better – WHY?
Treat employees well = happier employees, more productivity,
more loyalty, less employee turnover
https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/payroll/news/11675448/how-to-improve-your-return-on-human-capital-investment
HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT
❏ Human Resource Management Process
❏ Legal Environment of Human Resource Management
❏ Current Issues in Human Resource Management Process
Human Resource
Management Process
Human Resource Management or HRM is the process of
attracting, developing and maintaining a talented and energetic
workforce.

GOALS:
 To build organizational performance capacity through people;
 To ensure that highly capable and enthusiastic people are
always in the right positions; and
 That they are working with the support they need to be
successful.
 Three major responsibilities of HRM

ATTRACTING DEVELOPING MAINTAINING

a quality workforce a quality workforce a quality workforce
• Human resource • Employee orientation • Career Development
planning • Training & • Work-life Balance
• Employee Development • Compensation &
recruitment • Performance Benefits
• Employee selection Management • Retention & Turnover
• Labour-Management
relations
 Legal Environment of HRM

Before diving into these three major responsibilities it is

essential to understand that the role that Human Resource
https://www.smartrecruiters.com/blog/the-role-of-hr-bersins-
rebuttal-to-charan/
Management must happen and comply with many legal
regulations and laws, including

● Human Rights legislation

● Employment Equity
● Workplace Safety

https://www.123rf.com/photo_54233734_employee-rights-
employment-equality-job-team-support-concept.html
 Human Rights Legislation
● The Ontario Human Rights Code (the “Code”), a provincial
law, is for everyone.
● It gives everybody equal rights and opportunities without
discrimination in areas such as employment, housing and
services
● The goal of the Code is prevent discrimination and
harassment because of specific protected grounds, such as
race, sex, disability and age.
● There are currently 17 protected grounds
https://sites.google.com/site/thestoryofcanada/tourism
Human Rights Legislation – Protected Grounds

http://www.yrdsb.ca/hrco/Pages/Human-Rights-Code-Grounds.aspx
 Human Rights Legislation
Discrimination: An action or a decision that treats a person
or a group badly for reasons such as their race, age or
disability.
“Discrimination” is not actually defined in the Ontario Human
Rights Code but usually includes the following elements:

• not individually assessing the unique merits, capacities

and circumstances of a person;

• instead, making stereotypical assumptions based on a

person’s presumed traits; and
https://sites.google.com/site/thestoryofcanad
a/tourism • having the impact of excluding persons, denying
benefits or imposing burden
Example: “An older man applies for a job at a trendy women’s
clothing store. The young woman who interviews him finds him
pleasantly similar to her favourite grandfather and tells him this as a
compliment. Later, the man is told that he does not have the right
qualifications, and that the person hired had “more energy” and
could relate better to the mainly female clients.”

Discrimination?
Discrimination in Employment
Employment is broadly defined in the Code

– includes job ads, application forms, job interviews, work

assignments, work environment, training, promotions, discipline, terminations,
volunteer duties, etc.

● Employers (this means management) have the primary obligation to make sure
their workplace is free from discrimination and harassment.
● Expected to proactively provide a workplace where human rights are respected
and employees afforded equal opportunities.
Many forms of Discrimination to consider
Discrimination may be direct and intentional (“overt”)
● if a person or group treats another person differently on purpose because of a
Code ground

● Example: “An employer rejected a candidate for a job after meeting her. The
candidate was a visible minority. He was visibly shocked and turned her down
flat, without asking about her credentials. When asked what was wrong, he
said something about maintaining the company image.”
Many forms of Discrimination to consider
Discriminatory practices or rules

Discrimination can also occur when an employer

adopts a practice or rule that, on its face,
discriminates on a prohibited ground

Example: “A workplace adopts a rule of not hiring https://maternitycarecoalition.org/news/facing-pregnancy-discrimination/

women who wish to start a family. This would be

direct discrimination based on sex and family status.”
Many forms of Discrimination to consider

Systemic or Institutional Discrimination

● One of the more complex forms of

discrimination
● When policies or practices that appear
to be neutral on their surface may have
discriminatory effects on individuals
based on one or more Code grounds.

https://twitter.com/sophierunning/status/950270389409779713
Many forms of Discrimination to consider
CONSIDER THIS…
A small company is proud of its intensive team-building approach. Every other
week, all staff are expected to attend gender-specific sporting activities such as
wrestling and football with their “husbands and wives.” Many of these events take
place on evenings and weekends in places that are not fully accessible. People
who do not attend these events are less successful at building the internal
networks that lead to promotions.

Discrimination?
Many forms of Discrimination to consider
Discrimination may be subtle (not overt)

Intent or motive to discriminate is not a necessary element for a finding of

discrimination – it is sufficient if the conduct has a discriminatory effect.

The following types of treatment in employment may indicate subtle

discrimination based on the Code:
● being excluded from formal or informal networks
● being denied training opportunities that are available to others
disproportionate blame for an incident
● being assigned less desirable jobs or duties.
Many forms of Discrimination to consider

“Every person who is an employee has a right to freedom from harassment in the
workplace because of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin,
citizenship, creed, age, record of offences, marital status, family status or disability.”

“Harassment” refers to comments or actions that are unwelcome or should be

known to be unwelcome.

Harassment requires a “course of conduct.”

● a pattern of behaviour or more than one incident is usually needed.
● However, one serious incident may create a poisoned work environment
Many forms of Discrimination to consider

Poisonous Work Environment

● Insulting or degrading comments or actions in a
workplace based on Code grounds may cause employees
to feel that the workplace is hostile or unwelcoming.

When comments or conduct of this kind have an influence

on others and how they are treated, this is known as a
“poisoned environment.”

Management has the responsibility to prevent and address

situations that may create a poisoned work environment.

https://www.vwlawyers.ca/blog/recognizing-and-resolving-poisoned-work-environments
 Employment Equity
● Federally regulated organizations
● establishment of working conditions that are free of barriers, corrects the
conditions of disadvantage in employment requires special measures and the
accommodation of differences for the four designated groups in Canada:
○ Women
○ People with disabilities
○ Aboriginal people
○ Visible minorities

http://psacunion.ca/sites/psac/files/attachments/pdfs/employment-equity-toolkit-updated-2018-july-en.pdf

● https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/employment-equity.html
 Ontario Health & Safety Legislation
Duty of Employer:
● Take every reasonable precaution to ensure a safe
workplace
● Educate and train employees
( safety & hazards; about their rights to safe working
conditions)
● Report injuries
● Appoint a competent supervisor
○ who sets the standards for performance; ensures safe
working conditions are always observed.

https://www.spotlightnepal.com/2018/06/28/business-case-health-safety-management-workplace/
 Ontario Health & Safety Legislation
Duty of Managers:
● Ensure workers work in compliance with OH&S acts
and regulations.
● Ensure that workers use prescribed protective
equipment and/or devices.
● Advise workers of potential and actual hazards.
● Take every reasonable precaution in the
circumstances for the protection of workers.

• Ontario Occupational Health &

Safety Act (OHSA)

• Workplace Safety and

Insurance Act and WSIB
SOME CURRENT
LEGAL ISSUES IN
HUMAN
RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT https://www.philanthropy.com/article/6-Ways-Nonprofit-Leaders-Can/239146
 Current Legal Issues in HRM
● The legal environment is dynamic and,
therefore, managers and HR
professionals have to stay up-to-date on
new laws and changes to old ones

● It can be an expensive error if they fail to

do so with legal implications.

***Organizations should have clear policies

in place which are clearly and regularly
communicated as well as a fair and
equitable procedures for implementing
them for these various legal issues. https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/566046246912494930/visual-search/
Impact of the #MeToo Movement
● Spotlight on sexual harassment and sexual misconduct
in the workplace
● Women, in particular, feel more comfortable reporting
instances of workplace sexual harassment

Sexual Harassment:
● Occurs when people experience conduct or language
of a sexual nature that affects their employment
situation
● Can be defined as behaviour that creates a hostile
environment, interferes with a person’s ability to do a
job or interferes with promotion potential
COMPARABLE WORTH
● Female and male employees who perform work
deemed to have the same value should receive similar
monetary compensation.

● “equal work” meaning the employees perform

substantially the same kind of work in the same
establishment, the work requires substantially the
same skill, effort and responsibility and is performed
under similar working conditions.

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/26610161/ns/business-the_new_yorker/t/comparing-virtues-comparable-worth/#.X
COMPARABLE WORTH - Exceptions
Exceptions
Even if employees of different sexes are doing equal work,
they can be paid different rates of pay if the difference is
due to:
● a seniority system
● a merit system
● a system that measures earnings by production quantity
or quality

*** key difference - difference of pay must be based on a

factor other than sex.
https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/equal-pay-equal-work
 LEGALIZATION OF CANNIBIS
A few of the issues (and associated costs) HR managers need to
deal with if there is substance abuse and its misuse in the
workplace, :
● Absenteeism,
● lost productivity,
● Accidents,
● recruitment and training

Competing rights and responsibilities:

● Responsibility of employer to ensure safe workplace v.
rights of individual workers
● Medical use and issues of accommodation
 Privacy in the Workplace
Workers have some expectation of privacy at work

Workplace privacy:
The right to privacy while working

However, it is acceptable for employers to monitor work

performance and behaviour of their employees
● Can monitor emails, internet searches to track personal and
unauthorized usage
● Can log telephone calls and document performance
● Collect and store large amounts of personal information
This monitoring can become invasive and can cross ethical and
legal lines.
 Privacy in the Workplace
Managers and HR should:
● implement a detailed privacy policy that clearly defines
privacy expectations

● ensure that the privacy policy is applied consistently.

● Prepare careful protocols and guidelines for how any

personal employee information is collected, stored and
disclosed
 Employee v. Independent Contractors
● In new economy full-time and permanent
employment is not a guarantee
● More and more people are hired as
temporary workers who do not become
part of the organization’s permanent
workforce.
● Temporary or contract workers are,
generally, not entitled to benefits and
their rights on termination are limited.
Employee v. Independent Contractors

Trend is that even if these may be “as needed”

arrangements, many are actually engaged regularly by
the same organization and become what some call
“permatemps” .

● The title they are given is not determinative – what

they actually do, the control they have over their
work , and other factors, need to be considered.
● HR Managers need to understand the hallmarks of
independent contractors and make arrangement and
work clear
HOMEWORK
1. Why is human resource management critical to a company’s success?
2. What is the goal of HRM?
3. State three major responsibilities of HRM
4. Why do you think Human Rights legislation and Employment Equity legislation
are needed in Canada?
5. Why do you think employers tend to discriminate against pregnant potential
job candidates?
6. Do you think employers should be able to read your workplace email? Why or
why not?