By: Iffat Ritter
In Saskatchewan, employers have a responsibility to their employees to maintain a workplace environment that is supportive of basic employment and human rights. Any breach of their obligations may result in complaints to the Employment Standards Branch of the Government of Saskatchewan or the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission. A complaint can result in an internal investigation or independent investigation.
If your business is federally regulated a complaint can be filed with the Ministry of Labour or by filing a labour standards complaint through the Labour Standards Program of the Canada Industrial Relations Board.
Complaints of breaches may come from an employer, employee, or third party that interact with the business. The allegations may be directed at an employer or employee. Adhering to the legislated regulations, maintaining good policies, continuing education, regular monitoring, and updating regulations and policies are all essential steps to avoid both breaches of employee rights and complaints.
In Saskatchewan, employers have the following obligations[1] to ensure that employee rights to health and safety are being met:
- Employers must provide a safe and healthy workplace.
- Employers must establish and maintain an effective health and safety program and obtain input from the occupational health committee (OHC).[2]
- Employers must make sure that managers and supervisors are trained, supported, and held accountable for fulfilling their workplace health and safety requirements.
- Employers must oversee the health and safety performance of their managers and supervisors.
- An employer must make sure workers have the information, training, certification, supervision, and experience to do their jobs safely.
- Employers must make sure medical and or first aid facilities are provided as needed.
- An employer must ensure workers are not exposed to harassment or violence in the workplace by ensuring the development and implementation of a harassment prevention policy and procedures to investigate workplace harassment complaints.
- Employers must have a policy statement on violence and a prevention plan and procedures to investigate incidents of violence in the workplace.
- Employers have an obligation to ensure that legal health and safety requirements are met.
Everyone in the workplace is legally responsible for workplace safety.[3] Everyone has a duty to work together to ensure health and safety is a top priority.
The Saskatchewan Employment Act, uses the word “duty” to describe responsibilities but responsibility is an obligation for carrying out duties properly, all of which leads to ensuring heath and safety first in the workplace. The expectations for both employers and employees are that everyone must know what their duties are, have the authority, resources, and time to carry them out; and have acquired the required knowledge, education, training, and certification, required to enable them to carry out their duties.
When it comes to Human Rights in particular, employers must ensure that policies in the workplace adhere to the regulations of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code (SHRC), or if federally regulated, The Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA). The Federal and Provincial legislation is similar in many aspects but not identical. The commonalities lie within the protected enumerated rights, however there are differences between the SHRC and the CHRA which include the tests applicable to determining breaches and the scope of the test in some instances.[4]
An employer must ensure that they have a policy regarding human rights and that employees are educated on and understand the policy, their rights and obligations.
Enumerated rights such as those set out in the SHRC include the prohibition of discrimination based on age; ancestry; colour; race; nationality; place of origin; family status; marital status; mental or physical disability; receipt of public assistance; religion; creed; sex; sexual orientation; and gender identity.
Discrimination is prohibited with respect to contracts; education; employment; housing; professional and trade associations; public services; publications; purchase of property; occupations; and trade unions.[5]
It is illegal for someone to violate another person’s fundamental rights to freedom of expression, freedom of conscience, and freedom of association.
Employers are also obligated to have procedures included in their policy that provide employees with a fair complaint process free from retaliation. Both the complainant and respondent have the right to procedural fairness and options to deal with a complaint in either an informal or formal process, or in some cases both options can be available, depending on the particular policy.
If you are an employer that does not have a policy in place with respect to the rights and responsibilities of your employees and require assistance in the preparation of policies or in providing education to your employees, Procido LLP would be pleased to assist you in meeting your obligations under law. Feel free to reach out to Procido LLP Senior Counsel, Iffat Ritter with any inquiries.
[1] Duties of Employers | Rights and Responsibilities in the Workplace | Government of Saskatchewan
[2] When it comes to Occupational Health and Safety there are a considerable number of obligations that fall into that category. Check our website for future articles on this topic.
[3] Rights and Responsibilities in the Workplace | Safety in the Workplace | Government of Saskatchewan
[4] Check our website for future articles on the topic of differences between the Federal and Provincial Human Rights Legislation.
[5] https://saskatchewanhumanrights.ca/your-rights/saskatchewan-human-rights-code/
Disclaimer:
This publication is provided as an information service and may include items reported from other sources. We do not warrant its accuracy. This information is not meant as legal opinion or advice. Contact Procido LLP (www.procido.com) if you require legal advice on the topics discussed in this article.