As a member of the Agriculture Union, your human rights are protected at work. You are protected from discrimination both by the Canadian Human Rights Act, and by “No Discrimination” articles in our various collective agreements. In this article, we’ll briefly look at these articles, as well as the duty to accommodate. We’ll try to demystify them for you so that we can better fight against all forms of oppression in the workplace.
More detailed info can be found in our key info documents: Human Rights Issues and Duty to Accommodate.
Here’s where you can find the No Discrimination articles in all our collective agreements:
CFIA – article 18
Treasury Board PA – article 19
Treasury Board SV – article 19
Treasury Board TC – article 19
Treasury Board EB – article 16
Both collective agreements and the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA) prohibit discrimination by the Employer on eleven different grounds. These are:
- race,
- national or ethnic origin,
- colour,
- religion,
- age,
- sex (including pregnancy and childbirth),
- sexual orientation,
- marital status,
- family status,
- disability (including mental conditions, alcohol or drug dependency),
- pardon for criminal conviction.
In addition to the above, the collective agreement also provides freedom from discrimination by reason of membership or activity in the Alliance (your union).
The duty to accommodate is the principle that employers and unions in Canada are required to make every reasonable effort, short of undue hardship, to accommodate an employee who comes under a protected ground of discrimination within human rights legislation.
Myth vs. Reality
Myth: The duty to accommodate is an “all or nothing” proposition where the employer must provide the perfect solution to your accommodation request.
Reality: Once the employee makes an accommodation request based on protected grounds, the employer must seek to make a “reasonable” offer to accommodate. It may not be the ideal vision the employee has in mind. The process must be a collaborative one between the employer, employee and the union.
Myth: The employer can refuse an accommodation request if it costs a lot of money.
Reality: Employers are obligated to provide accommodation up to the point of undue hardship. According to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, “undue hardship” refers to the limit of an employer’s capacity to accommodate without experiencing an unreasonable amount of difficulty (financial or otherwise). Departments in the Federal Public Service would have great difficulty relying on this argument because Treasury Board is the employer, and as such, has broad resources to draw upon in accommodation situations. The same reasoning applies for CFIA.
Myth: I have a doctor’s note that specifies a workplace accommodation that my employer must make, so my employer is obligated to follow it.
Reality: A note from your doctor is an important part of the process of obtaining an accommodation from your employer, but it is not a golden ticket. Your employer is obligated to make you a “reasonable accommodation offer”, but it may not be the one specified in your doctor’s note. Moreover, your employer can request that you make subsequent visits to your doctor to obtain clarifying notes about workplace accommodation requests.
Myth: The duty to accommodate only applies to me if I have a disability.
Reality: The duty to accommodate covers several protected grounds under the CHRA, including religious observance, family status, or sex. Examples of accommodation requests include a modified schedule to manage childcare or eldercare responsibilities, a prayer space at work or days off for religious observance, or providing gender-neutral washrooms.
Myth: I made my accommodation request. Now the ball is in the employer’s court, and I don’t need to do anything else.
Reality: The duty to accommodate is a collaborative process which necessitates open and good faith communication between the employer and the employee at all steps of the process.
Accommodation isn’t a privilege—it’s your right. Together, we can uphold human rights, and make sure your workplace works for you.
further resources
We encourage you also to check out the PSAC’s Duty to Accommodate resource page. There you’ll find videos, a guidebook, and other FAQs.
If you are considering an accommodation request, we also encourage you to check out the website Ask Jan. This website allows you to search through a range of disabilities or limitations and see what common accommodations are made for them. Even though it is an American website, the information still pertains to us.