The Duty to Accommodate: pushing for fair treatment at HRSDC

Whether dealing with a disability requiring special adjustments in the workplace or an arrangement needed to accommodate one’s family status, management has a legal obligation to ensure that the workplace is free from discrimination. But getting management to live up to its obligations is not always easy for members at HRSDC, and the union is taking steps to change this.

The meaning of the duty to accommodate has shifted over time from a focus on the workplace adjustments needed to accommodate a disabled employee to a wider obligation to ensure the workplace does not violate any of the prohibited grounds of discrimination found in the Canadian Human Rights Act. The human rights case of Fiona Johnstone, a shift worker at Pearson International Airport, provides a good example of this wider obligation. Johnstone and her husband both worked rotating shifts, making childcare arrangements difficult to impossible. She wanted more regular hours, but her employer, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), offered only part-time work. The Human Rights Commission ruled that the CBSA had discriminated against Johnstone based on her family status, pointing to its failure to take a detailed look at its operational requirements and the options that could have accommodated Johnstone’s request.

At HRSDC, members have faced significant difficulties getting the accommodation they require. In too many cases, members and their union representatives have had to battle the employer over issues that should have been settled in their early stages. In response, the PSAC has used evidence assembled by the CEIU to file a complaint of systemic discrimination with the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC). The complaint, which is proceeding to investigation, alleges that HRSDC and the Treasury Board have systemically discriminated against people with disabilities by failing to accommodate them in the workplace.

The CEIU has also engaged in national-level talks with HRSDC over a set of guidelines on the duty to accommodate. Progress on these talks has been slow, and after a year the guidelines are still not in place. The union would see a solid set of guidelines as a step in the right direction, but for change to be felt in the workplace, guidelines would have to be implemented in a timely and effective way.

In the meantime, members facing issues that require accommodation are asked to contact their local steward. Further assistance is available from CEIU staff representatives located at offices across the country.