Case Study of Ontario Government Employment Nowadays many governments and trade unions in different countries draw attention to the problems of sexual minorities. Among them are Ontario government and the Ontario Public service Employees Union (OPSEU).
Since 1969 many changes have been taken in the state of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality rights across Canada. Many provinces and territories including Quebec and Ontario in Canada added sexual orientation to their Human Rights Codes. In 1998 the Decree of the Supreme Code of Canada improved Albertas human rights. It was the result of Code actions initiated by Delwin Vriend, a teacher in a private school.
The case was known as Vriend v. Alberta. The teacher was fired in 1991 because of his sexual orientation and appealed to the provincial government. But only in 1998 it was proclaimed that LGBTs should have the right to have discrimination claims investigated by provincial human rights commissions. The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) has a long history of struggle against harassment and discrimination of sexual minorities. It is a large provincial union which was organized in 1911.
It is represented at the national level by the National Union of Public and General Employees. The union defends political and economic rights of its members. The members of OPSEU are 100,000 workers in Ontario, Canada including employees of the Ontario government community colleges and universities, hospital and community agencies. The organization has its own Constitution. According to the Constitution each member has the right to be treated with dignity. OPSEU Constitution states that every member has the right to be treated with dignity and respect ….[and] be free from discrimination, interference, restriction, coercion, harassment, intimidation or disciplinary action exercised or practiced by a member with respect to another member, both within the Union and in the workplace, by reason of race, color, age, national or ethnic origin, political or religious affiliation, sex, sexual orientation, family status, marital status, record of offences, physical characteristics or physical or mental disability. (1: 7) The central duty of the union is to represent and defend the rights of the members in the workplace and in the community and the main goal of it is to achieve social justice in preserving human rights.
The Essay on WHAT IS THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN HUMAN SOCIETY
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN HUMAN SOCIETY? Be the government a dictorcratic, autocratic or democratic, all these have one thing in common and that is to rule the citizens under its power as established by the ruling citizens and or parties. Any government form will fight to preserve its sovereignty from both foreign and domestic enemies. Based on all wants and needs of the governing party ...
OPSEU has provincial statutes. These statutes are based on Human Rights Code, Pay Equity Act, Health & Safety Act, Workers Compensation Act, Crown Employees Collective Bargaining Act, Ontario Labor Relations Act, Employment Standards Act etc. The statutes include the Charter of Rights and Freedoms which guarantees equality for all people in Canada. It guarantees that every citizen in Canada has the right to be free from discrimination and harassment. The policy of OPSEU is considered to be obtained accessible and spread out in all OPSEU offices. Under the Constitution OPSEU is committed to conduct clear policies and put in place practices and procedures for all members and staff.
OPSEU has a responsibility to ensure that all workplaces are free from discrimination and harassment. The Union is sure that discrimination and harassment on the job and within the Union destroy the social and economic well-being of the workers and prevent from improving the conditions of their lives. The financial expenses of discrimination and harassment on the personal health and well-being of a person are great thats why OPSEU considers that in this case less money is used for other important fights and certainly it destroys the main principal of the union solidarity and limits effectiveness of their work everywhere: in the workplace, on the picket line, at the bargain table and in the community. So the elimination of the discrimination and harassment, as OPSEU says, is one of the principal steps in its policy. OPSEU states that all members and the staff of OPSEU ought to support and help an environment that is free from discrimination and harassment. A person who has authority can be a Local President or a Chair of a Committee.
The Essay on Age Discrimination in Employment Act
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967 prohibits employers from discriminating against employees, or job candidates, on the basis of age. This law covers workers who are 40 years of age and older. An employer must have at least 20 workers to be covered by this law. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. According to ...
But if a person has authority to stop or lessen discrimination and harassment and doesnt do it, he is considered to be in breaking of the policy of OPSEU. The policy is of importance to all members, retirees, the staff and guests of the Union who are working for OPSEU or attending its function. It deals with incidents that happen within the members or staff workplace; at an OPSEU facility or an OPSEU function during its related travel. Other incidents that have little or no great influence on the work may be investigated through the Human Rights Commission. The document was established with the purpose to protect people against discrimination. Though there were some laws which prohibited various forms of discrimination in Canada but following them it was difficult to prove a case of discrimination. In 1962 the Ontario Human Rights Code consolidated previous laws and made them clear. The anti-discrimination legislative system became more accessible.
Later The Ontario Human Rights Commission was established for enforcing the Code. Since that time Ontario became a world leader in human rights. But what is discrimination? As the Constitution says it is an action or behavior that a limit the individuals or groups right to the opportunities in housing, jobs, education or participation in organizations. Discrimination has different forms. It may take the form of bad treatment of one person by another; or the exclusion or restriction of one group by another. According to the Constitution individuals have the right to personal tastes and preference. Discrimination may be practiced when an employee for a business reasons admits rule or standard which have discriminatory effect upon prohibited grounds. OPSEU states that everyone must get rid of discriminatory practices from their activities. The Constitution of OPSEU says that if a person or a group of persons feel, that they have been discriminated or harassed, they can contact an Officer in Equity Unity at the Head Office for advice or contact an Adviser. They can get the lists of Advisers and Officers at the regional office.
The Term Paper on Discrimination In Workplace
Discrimination happens when an employer treats one employee less favorable than others. If could mean that a female employee being paid less than a male colleague for doing the same job. Also, it could involve minority ethnic employee being refused the training opportunities offered to white colleagues. There are laws against discrimination regarding to status of gender, marital, pregnancy, sexual ...
The Officer chooses a trained investigator from the region where the incident happened. The investigator starts investigation within ten working days. Then he or she sends a completed report in a sealed envelop to the complainant, respondent, the Advisors and the Officer. The report consists of the findings and the corrective actions. The Union has to keep a complaint of discrimination and harassment confidential. Confidentiality is kept through the process to the extent allowed by the law. The Union understands that it is difficult to keep a complaint of discrimination and harassment in the interest of parties in silence (confidential).
Confidentiality is kept through the process of extending, allowed by law. Investigations dont disclose any information unless parties give permission to do it. According to the Constitution of OPSEU, each person has the right to be free from discrimination and harassment on the ground of OPSEU Prohibited Grounds. According to the grounds: Every person has a right to freedom from discrimination and harassment on the grounds of: sex/gender (includes gender identity), sexual orientation (4: 2).
OPSEU has been always provided a great work to protect sexual minorities in different cases: at workplaces, in getting benefits, in marriage. It set up a committee, Rainbow Alliance, for its members who are gay, lesbian, transgender and transsexual.
The Alliance made a lot of proposal to OPSEU issues and took an active part in its activity. In 1998 Health Care was under attack in Ontario when sex change surgery as an OHIP benefit was abolished by the Ontario Government. A lot of transsexuals who were half-way through the process of changing their sex treated for support to the social organizations. The decision of the Ontario government did not have any explanation or warning. Transsexuals were unable to finish the process without funding for sex reassignment surgery and began legal action against the Ontario government. The action was supported by OPSEU. It was said that the decision of the government violence the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Term Paper on Sex Discrimination Women Act Sexual
For many decades, women in Australia have been subject to inequality and unfairness in a wide range of areas in employment. They have been discriminated based on gender, marital status, pregnancy and family responsibility. As well as this, many women have faced the most common form of discrimination based on sex - sexual harassment. In the past years, however, the legal system of Australia has ...
Thanks to the efforts of public organizations in October 25, 1999 the Ontario Human Rights Commission issued a courageous document, a Commission Policy on Gender Identity. The document spoke for transgender and had recommendations on how to protect the basic human rights of sexual minorities. In the same year OPSEU administrated a separate, off-side (unregistered) pension plan for lesbian and gay employees. The plan proposed the benefits available to lesbian and gay couples under the separate scheme with the pension benefits available to every one else. OPSEU proposed several laws against sex discrimination on workplace. It emphasized that it is common to fire somebody based on his/her sexual orientation. Workplace discrimination means a violation of employees right based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Workplace discrimination can be found while speaking about employee benefits.
The benefits include health insurance and dental care. A lot of employers offer such kind of benefits for their employees’ couples and legal dependents while GLBT families suffer from workplace discrimination. But as it was emphasized by OPSEU, the law proclaims tax equity, social security benefits, and family and medical leave for all employees including GLBTs. OPSEU promotes its policy through public education. It educates the public about workplace inequity and makes Congress to pass some laws protecting GLBT employees. There were a lot of made for protecting sexual workplace discrimination; but the other more complicated case was regarded on the meeting of OPSEU Rainbow Alliance in 2002. It was a massage from OPSEU which took into account an accident with Aaron Webster in November 18, 2001.
Aaron Webster was killed by a gang of youths for his sexual orientation. It was pointed that LGBTs suffered greatly not only from physical violence but as well as from bashing, words that show negative comments or attitudes toward gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender groups. It was emphasized that such words hurt somebodys respect or dignity and show dishonor or shame. On the meeting it was said that little work had been made for understanding: what is it bashing, and to stop it. The case should be taken into account and some measures must be taken to stop the usage of the words in workplaces and communities. OPSEU proposed to recognize it as a serious problem in the workplace that must be recognized in law. Later in 2003 the Rainbow Alliance of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union spoke for the legalization of same-sex marriage.
The Essay on Public Human Resource Management
Please respond to the following: * Analyze the topics discussed in Chapter 1, with the exception of the laws. Select two topics and discuss two positive effects and two challenges the topic poses for human resource departments in the public sector. Performance Managementfor human resource departments it is important; to utilize the skills, focus and provide incentives for employees that are based ...
The province of Ontario legalized Same-sex marriage in June 10, 2003. It was one of eight provinces that were the first. The law allowed churches and religions to marry same-sex couples. Gail Grenville, chair of OPSEU Rainbow Alliance, said that he considered discriminatory anything less than equal. In 2005, the human rights system in Ontario was preparing for reforming by the Ministry of the Attorney General. The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) is a stakeholder of it thats why the union was invited to discuss the changes.
OPSEU is well-known as an organization that made a great contribution in social justice and human rights issues. For several years the union organized roundtable discussions. Legal clinics and community-based organizations of racialized communities, lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-gendered peoples and people with disabilities consulted OPSEU members on cases dealing with needs of the communities, their experiences with the Commission and the barriers they face. There were parts of a society that needs the Ontario Human Rights Commission most of all; thats why OPSEUs position as to reforming Ontarios human rights system was based on the results of the round table discussions. In its reports the union points that today OPSEU experiences lack of funding as the financial costs of investigation discrimination and harassment of sexual minorities are enormous. In a brief to Ontario Attorney General Michel Bryant on the 7th of February 2006 Leah Casselman says that inadequate funding of OPSEU leads to barriers and delays in filing and investigating complains. OPSEU hopes that Minister will consult his frontline staff and interested community groups before making changes that will diminish admission to the Human rights complain system.
The Essay on Human Rights 14
This is a 3 page paper that describes evaluates and recommends the human right aspect of application in real life. INTRODUCTION: As laid down by the United Nations there are 30 articles pertaining to the definition of Human Rights. According to these articles it contains human rights to be considered innocent until proven guilty, and the right of freedom from discrimination and the right of free ...
She says that some lawyers propositions according to the Commissions mediation, investigation and litigation functions to abolish or reduce are the solution that all citizens in Canada should be against. She says that abolishing or reducing the Commission will not solve the problems created within years of underfunding. It would only create the lack of public interest because of a barrier for law income citizens to access the process and increase. She emphasized that OPSEU brief was prepared in consultation with social groups which need the Commission greatly. A lack of funding will cause many problems. It will lead to delays in investigating complains and create a barrier in filing complaints and others.
Though there are some negative aspects in the policy of OPSEU there are also a lot of positive ones. Among them there are free services, integrated functions, advancing the public interest, high settlement rate, strong policy development, complainant never pays the respondents costs, discouraging complaints that undermine substantive equality(3: 10-13).
A lot of changes have happened because of OPSEU good work in protecting and promoting human rights. At the same time there are some problems with the current system. The problem concerning discrimination has not disappeared yet. Sexual minority groups meet cases of discrimination in employment, housing and services.
Several aspects of the current system do not work well. Among them there are: inadequate funding, some members of the public experience difficulty filing complaints, there are significant delays in the investigation and litigation of complaints, the Commissions prevention work is limited, lack of independence (The Commissions independence is compromised by its relationship with the executive branch of the Ontario government).. (3: 13-15).
Some people thinks that may be it is necessary for OPSEU to start an investigation of an incident or incidents if theres no request from a member or a staff to do so because many LGBTs feel a psychological barrier to ask for help even if the information keeps in confidentiality. The problem is not in measures taken but in the attitude of a society towards representatives of sexual minorities. Any law will be able to protect them if people do not change their opinion as to the problems of LGBTs.
Bibliography:
A Statement on Equal Action in Employment, 2000. Constitution. Ontario Public ServiceEmployees Union, 2005. Making Ontarios Human Rights Commission work. Ontario Public ServiceEmployees Union, 2006 OPSEU Harassment and Discrimination Policy, March, 2001. Let the world fit the crime.
A message from the OPSEU Rainbow Caucus, March, 2004..
