The Québec Charter contains a number of provisions which relate both directly and indirectly to employment and labour relations. They can be summarized as follows:
- guarantee of freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association;
- safeguard of one's dignity, honour and reputation;
- prohibition against discrimination and harassment based on race, colour, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, civil status, age except as provided by law, religion, political convictions, language, ethnic or national origin, social condition, handicap or the use of any means to palliate a handicap;
- prohibition against discrimination in hiring and other employment practices (e.g. promotion, transfer, dismissal, conditions of employment, etc.);
- prohibition against requiring an applicant to give information on any of the forbidden grounds of discrimination unless such information is useful for the application of an occupational requirement or the implementation of an affirmative action program;
- prohibition against dismissing, refusing to hire or otherwise penalizing a person in his employment for having been convicted of an offence not connected with such employment;
- obligation for employers to grant equal salary for equivalent work; and
- guarantee of the right of every person who works, in accordance with the law, to fair and reasonable conditions of employment, having regard to his health, safety and physical well-being.
The duty to accommodate is not a legal requirement protected by the Québec Charter. This duty was however developed by the courts and tribunals. The duty to accommodate requires employers to identify and eliminate rules that have a discriminatory impact.
Accommodation includes changing the rules or practices to incorporate alternative arrangements that eliminate the discriminatory barriers. The duty to accommodate is most often applied in situations involving persons with disabilities and with religious beliefs and practices.
The duty to accommodate ceases where it creates "undue hardship" for the employer. Québec case law has identified different factors contributing to "undue hardship": the size of the business, its financial resources, the cost of the accommodation measure, the effect of the accommodation measure on the other employees and on the productivity of the business, etc. The scope of the employer's duties is not clearly defined as of this date, even though a majority of decisions indicate that the employer definitely must accept a financial burden to comply with its duty to accommodate its employees.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.