Thursday, May 21, 2009
12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. EDT
Playback: Monday, May 25, 3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. EDT

Erin Kuzz

Employer Counsel
Sherrard Kuzz

Union Counsel
Simon Renouf Professional Corporation

Tim Hadwen

Employer Counsel
Director, Legal Services Branch, Ontario Ministry of Government Services

Nadir Shirazi

President & CEO
Multifacet Diversity Solutions Ltd.

ISSUES:

As the Canadian workforce continues to diversify, differences between employees emerge that are attributable to beliefs, race, ethnicity, language, culture, religion and upbringing. Progressive employers and unions promote diversity awareness in order to minimize conflict, but cultural issues can give rise to legal conflict with ensuing litigation over rights and responsibilities. This session will examine the legal consequences when cultural differences result in a collision of competing claims:

• When do cultural traditions become legally enforceable rights? When must employers and other employees accommodate the cultural traditions of a worker? How much difference must be tolerated in the workplace?
• What constitutes discrimination based on (a) sexual orientation and (b) gender identity in the workplace? Exclusionary hiring practices? Office Gossip? How can employers ensure harmony in the workplace between lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgendered employees and those employees whose religious beliefs prohibit same-sex relationships or gender transitions? Must employers discipline employees who express discriminatory opinions or beliefs?
  
• Is the employer required to grant time off work with pay for the observance of non-statutory holidays to allow for an employee's religious freedom? When does accommodation of an employee's observance of non-statutory holidays reach the point of undue hardship? How much information is an employer entitled to request before granting time off work for a non-statutory religious holiday?
  
• Can an employer discipline an employee for behaviour that violates another's cultural traditions? Can the employee be disciplined if the behaviour occurs and/or the beliefs are expressed in off-duty hours? Can the employer be held liable if it fails to discipline an offending employee? What kind of discipline is appropriate?
  
• What types of non-disciplinary corrective measures are appropriate where an employee has been harassed or discriminated against on the basis of culture? What is the difference between systemic discrimination remedies, public interest remedies, and individual remedies? In what circumstances are they appropriate?
  
• Can an employer establish dress and grooming codes, or other workplace rules, that disregard employees' cultural differences?
  
• What justifications have been advanced for paying different wage rates to employees from different cultural backgrounds? And how have these justifications fared before courts and tribunals?
  
• How can cultural bias be neutralized in interviews and performance evaluations? Can a performance evaluation ever take into account the cultural differences of employees?

This Audio Conference has been approved by the Law Society of B.C. for 1.5 hours of 2009 Continuing Professional Development credits, and by the Law Society of Upper Canada for 1.5 hours towards the professional development requirement for certification.

$195, plus GST (Registrations must be paid in advance of the audio conference). Registration costs are per listening site/telephone, so you can have any number of people listening at your location for one low price. Click here for registration information.