Module 8 – Employment Equity

Short Response Assignment

Sara Chawraba

Human Resources Management, Centennial College

HRPD 706: Labour and Employment Law

Professor: Bar-Dayan, Tova

Saturday, March 2nd, 2024

 Employment Equity

Defining and Measuring Employment Equity:

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/75-001-x/1993004/38-eng.pdf

What are the 3 major premises of the Employment Equity Act?

Premises of the Employment Equity Act

The Employment Equity Act, a cornerstone of Canadian labor legislation aims to

advance equality and justice in the workplace. Canada is a multicultural country where

people from different races, ethnicities, religions, and colors live. There are certain

groups such as blacks, religious minorities, and aboriginal people whose rights to

employment need to be protected to ensure equity. Moreover, another important segment

of the population is women who need to be given equal rights to employment.

Historically, all these groups have been facing injustice in employment opportunities in

one way or the other. For instance, aboriginals have been facing a lack of employment

opportunities and have been discriminated against in the workplace (Durand-Moreau,

Lafontaine, & Ward, 2022). They have been underpaid even if they got the jobs.

Moreover, women have not been given equal chances of employment and growth; most

of them do pink-collar jobs and face glass ceiling in the organization they work in

(OECD, 2023). The devaluation hypothesis has been used to assign a lower value to the

work done by women as compared to men (Busch, 2018). To address these issues faced

by the deprived groups, The Employment Equity Act was promulgated in 1986. It calls
for equal employment opportunities and remunerations in Canada; three major premises

of the act are as under:

1. Equal employment opportunities and benefits for everyone

The first premise of the act asks employers to provide equal employment

opportunities to everyone without any discrimination on gender, color, or religion. The

act clearly states that no one can deny the provision of employment opportunities and

benefits for any reason other than the ability. Competency has been designated in the act

as the sole criterion for employment. The premise makes sure that able and qualified

persons get the desired employment opportunity based on merit. Moreover, the premise

not only guarantees equal employment opportunities but also equal benefits or

remuneration for everyone (Cardillo, 1993).

2. Appropriate measures to provide equitable opportunities to designated groups

In the second premise, the act has designated some deprived groups of the

community to be provided equitable employment opportunities. Four special groups have

been mentioned in the act which are women, minorities, indigenous people, and disabled

individuals in the Canadian community. It has been directed that special measures should

be taken to promote the presence of individuals of these groups in the organizations

(Cardillo, 1993). The act asks for equity rather than equality for these deprived groups;

equality, in the case of employment, is the provision same opportunities to everyone. On

the other hand, equity is a more inclusive term that asks to give special attention to the

deprived groups so that they may get preferred employment till the time they are no

longer deprived in terms of employment. Employment equity is a broader term that

advocates the employment rights of neglected segments of society.

3. Reasonable accommodation to adjust the special cases

The third major premise of the Employment Equity Act is that employers should

make reasonable accommodations for special cases so that they may have equal grounds

to work and perform well in the organizations (Cardillo, 1993). For example, if a disabled

employee is working in an organization, he/she may require changes in the job

description or job routine to do the work and perform well. A disabled person should be

given an office on the ground floor if he/she cannot climb stairs easily. Moreover, a

female employee may request to work from home in case of pregnancy. The concept of

reasonable accommodation is an important part of the act that ensures that organizations’

work environment is accommodating for special cases to ensure inclusivity at the

workplace.
References:

Busch, F. (2018). Occupational devaluation due to feminization? Causal mechanics,

effect heterogeneity, and evidence from the United States, 1960 to 2010. Social Forces ,

1351-1376.

Cardillo, B. (1993). Defining and measuring employment. Retrieved from Statistics

Canada: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/75-001-x/1993004/38-eng.pdf

Durand-Moreau, Q., Lafontaine, J., & Ward, J. (2022). Work and health challenges of

Indigenous people in Canada. The Lancet Global Health , e1189-e1197.

OECD. (2023). Beyond pink-collar jobs for women and the social economy. OECD

Local Economic and Employment Development .