The company’s Human Resource Department is responsible for sexual harassment and discrimination policy that aims to protect employees working in the company from unwanted sexual advances and discriminatory acts. The company has adopted the policy to ensure that mutual respect and collaboration in the workplace. Sexual harassment and discrimination are against these principles. The policy applies to every person working in the company, including employees, investors, customers, and contractors. The policy applies to every person in the company regardless of gender, seniority level, function, status, and sexual orientation.
Policy Elements
Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment is unwelcome conduct that is sexual and makes a person feel offended, intimidated, and humiliated. Sexual harassment includes instances where employees are required to engage in sexual activity for employment. It also covers all situations that create a hostile, intimidating and humiliating environment. It further includes instances when someone mentions, demands or proposes sexual favours of any kind. Other acts that are considered by the policy sexual harassment include invading another person’s personal space by inappropriate touching. Stalking, coercing or threatening another person to engage in sexual acts. Pursuing or flirting with another person consistently without their willing participation will also be considered as sexual harassment.
Any person found guilty of sexual harassment will be terminated regardless of their position in the company. The company will also treat all reported instances of sexual harassment as legitimate until proven otherwise. The company will listen to the victims of harassment and conduct follow up investigations to ascertain the truth in the allegations. Further, the company will ensure that employees who are victims of sexual harassment will not be victimized. The company will consider individuals who support or overlook sexual harassment as much at fault as the offenders themselves. The policy requires managers and senior officers to prevent acts of sexual harassment as per their powers. Encouraging behaviour will bring about disciplinary actions.
On the other hand, discrimination is any negative attitude or action directed at someone because of their characteristics, such as gender and race. Employers should establish disciplinary actions for employees who discriminate against other employees. Employers should also demote or terminate other employees, depending on the severity of their actions. Employees should refrain from making discriminatory remarks and should report to the human resource in cases of discrimination.
Technology and Privacy
The company will not allow employees to use their work computers for personal purposes. The company will be responsible for ensuring that the work computers will be used for proper purposes and not for unlawful conduct such as information theft. For this reason, the company will use monitoring software which will monitor emails and take screenshots in regards to what is on the screen.
The company expects the employees to use work computers responsibly. The company will take action on employees who use the workplace computer systems for information theft, harassment and similar unlawful acts. Employees should note that all emails and computer files given by the business should be used for strictly business purposes. All computer passwords and codes must be available to the company at all times. No employee is permitted to add a pirated or unauthorized software and programs to the work computers.
Employees found using the work computers for personal use or unlawful conduct will be subjected to disciplinary action. The consequences include termination of employment and possible criminal prosecution.
Employment policy on termination
The company expects its employees to lead to productivity and profitability. The progress of the employees will be evaluated by the reaching of specific milestones on individual goals and objectives. Profitability will be evaluated against the established budget for each activity, and the resource utilization will evaluate efficiency in the organizational unit. If an employee does not meet the expected work performance, the company will issue him/her with a warning letter informing him of the potential consequences and an extended period of evaluation. If the employee does not make significant changes within the given period, the company will consider termination. In case of termination, the company will give the employee a notice of termination of employment three months before the termination is effected. The company anticipates that employees will give excuses unto why they do not meet the performance standards. The excuses will not be accepted unless a solid ground is established. Such excuses include personal problems and unrealistic expectations.
Part 2: Memorandum of Law
Sexual and verbal harassment and discrimination:
The law that governs sexual and verbal harassment is the Human Rights Act Chapter 214 of the Revised Statutes, 1989. The law addresses the issue of sexual harassment and claims that every person has a right to live and work free from any form of sexual harassment. The Canadian Human Rights Commission is responsible for administering the Act. Sexual harassment complaints should be directed to the commission. However, sexual harassment disputes can be handled internally in a given company through internal resolution processes, grievances processes and through the public service labour relations board, which also has the jurisdictions to apply the human rights act.
What Penalties Does The Law Mandate To Address Sexual Harassment?
The Act states that sexual harassment is an offence that is punishable on conviction. People guilty of sexual harassment are liable for an imprisonment of fewer than eighteen months for complainants under the age of sixteen years and imprisonment for a term of not less than two years for adults.
How Does The Law Address Discrimination?
Section 3 of the Canadian Humans Rights Act makes it illegal for employers to discriminate against people or unfairly treat them based on the grounds of race, colour, age, sex, national origin, marital status and disability. The Act further states that employers are responsible for any form of discrimination in the workplace. They are, therefore, responsible for taking the appropriate action against employees who discriminate against others. According to the Act, employers should come up with anti-discriminatory policies that should govern their workplaces. Employees are tasked with the mandate of ensuring that they treat each other equally without undue favours or indifferent attitudes towards people of a different race, sex, marital status, national origin or disability.
What are the weaknesses of the law?
The law requires that companies and employers come up with employment policies and to solve sexual harassment internally. Following this rule, some employers fail to develop policies on sexual harassment. The situation leaves the victims without a platform to air their grievances. The internal bodies responsible for solving the issue of sexual harassment and discrimination often favour the senior employees and the managing body of the company. The recommended solution for the weakness is for the human rights act to incorporate a more straightforward process where junior employees can report sexual harassment cases without involving the internal working body.
Technology and Privacy
According to PIPEDA Legal requirements for privacy in the workplace
The Privacy Act protects individuals in a working environment with the right to collect and request their records and the right to change their records if they are not accurate, timely or relevant. On the other hand, PIPEDA governs how employers and private companies collect and disclose personal information relating to their employees. The Act gives a right for individuals to know the intention of why an organization collects, uses and discloses their personal information. Further, the Act states that it’s a right for individuals to know the person in an organization who is responsible for collecting their personal information. The PIPEDA requires organizations to obtain relevant consent from the individuals when they collect, disclose and use their information.
Legal Consequences for Violation of Privacy Laws
PIPEDA requires that individuals report to the office of privacy if their privacy rights are violated. The commissioner then investigates the complaint and come up with a conclusion. Companies and employers who knowingly violate the privacy requirements face fines of up to $ 100, 000 per violation. The legal requirements of the PIPEDA are administered by the federal commissioner who has the authority
What is the law of termination?
The labour standards code is the law responsible for addressing the termination of employees in Canada. The law requires employers to tell the employees their intent to fire or lay them off through a written notice. The law further states that a given time before the letter and the actual day the employee leaves, the premises must be given. The labour standard codes further discuss condonation, progressive discipline, the right to end the employment without notice and the changes in the terms and conditions of the employment.
What are the weaknesses, in your opinion?
The law creates exceptions whereby employers can fire or lay off an employee without adequate notice. The exceptions provide a window where employers can comfortably lay off employees without following the given standards. The law can address the issue by writing off the given exceptions. It should require the employers to give a notice of termination off employment despite the period that the employee has worked for the organization.
Workers compensation
The labour standard code is the law responsible for workers’ compensation in Canada. The code discusses the minimum wage order. The code requires employers to pay employees at least $ 12.55 per hour. The code further discusses the overtime rates, call in, waiting for work, piecework, board and longing and deductions for uniform—the ActAct aims at ensuring that workers are adequately compensated for all the time spent at the workplace.
Gaps in the Workers Compensation Law
The law does not address the specific costs of overtime hours taken by the employees. Further, the code fails to discuss injuries compensation in the workplace. An employer, therefore, has to determine the costs of overtime hours worked. He further has to source information on law and injuries from other laws, which shows discontinuity. The solution to bridging the gaps should involve the addition of segments of information on injuries compensation to the code.
How the Assignment Helped Me
Developing an employment policy and writing a memorandum of law has opened my eyes to the practicability of employment policies in the workplace. I have realized that employment policies handle almost all the different challenges that may be experienced in the workplace. Some of the issues I have realized may be present in a workplace include sexual harassment and discrimination, termination of employment and workplace privacy. This paper has helped me realize the employment laws required to address the issues.