Human Rights In The Workplace

The Nova Scotia Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination relating to employment on the basis of one of the protected characteristics identified in Section 5(1)(h) - (v) of the Act.

While employers have the right to manage their business as they wish, they must ensure they do not go against relevant legislation, including human rights legislation.

Employers must provide employees with a workplace free of discrimination and sexual harassment. This extends to discriminatory behaviour that occurs during business trips and other company functions (i.e., staff parties), as an employer may be liable for the discriminatory behaviour of its employees.

Employers are responsible for having any claims of discrimination and sexual harassment investigated in a timely and appropriate manner. In the event that a claim is founded, the employer must take the necessary steps to ensure the unwelcome behaviour stops.

Employers are also responsible for creating an inclusive workplace that respects the dignity of every individual and for developing non-discriminatory policies and procedures.

To help employers ensure their recruitment practices are in keeping with the Act, the Commission has produced the following pamphlet available on our website:

For Employers: A guide for drafting job application forms and interview questions (PDF)

The Duty to Accommodate

Employers are legally required to provide reasonable accommodation to employees on the basis of any of the characteristics of the Act up to the point of undue hardship. Accommodation can mean adjusting existing rules, standards, policies, physical environments, and/or work culture to ensure they do not have a negative effect on a person because of a mental or physical disability or other protected characteristic.

Note that the legal obligation is to provide “reasonable” accommodation, not “perfect” accommodation so the employee must also co-operate in the process. A successful accommodation involves honest and open communication between both parties.

Some responsibilities to ensure successful accommodation are:

Employer Responsibilities

  • Accept that the request for accommodation is in good faith
  • Obtain expert advice as needed
  • Be active in developing alternative approaches and accommodation strategies
  • Maintain records of accommodation requests and actions
  • Ensure confidentiality is maintained
  • Limit requests for information from employee to what is absolutely necessary
  • Pay for additional required information (e.g., doctors’ notes)
  • Grant accommodation in a timely manner to the point of undue hardship

Employee Responsibilities

  • Advise the employer of a disability (or other protected characteristic requiring accommodation)
  • Notify the employer (if possible in writing) of specific needs
  • Discuss solutions with the employer
  • Answer questions and provide relevant medical information when requested
  • Co-operate with experts to design accommodation
  • Meet agreed performance standards when accommodation is made.

Resources

Undue Hardship

Accommodation may involve some costs to the employer, but should not cause undue hardship. Some factors to consider in determining whether providing accommodation would pose an undue hardship include:

  • financial
  • safety
  • interchangeability of the workforce and facilities
  • disruption of a collective agreement
  • disruption of services to the public
  • the morale of other employees (although less weight is given to this factor)
  • the size of the employer's operation.

Equity and Inclusion

Section 6(i) of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Act provides for acceptable means of addressing situations of disadvantage and/or under-representation of persons or groups of persons identified in section 5 of the Act within a workforce.

Through targeted workplace policies and/or procedures, including those of hiring, retention and promotion, employers can take steps to ensure individuals are represented in the workplace.

Through Race Relations Equity and Inclusion, the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission provides consultation on workplace policies and procedures for employers with respect to human rights issues.