Employment Interviews and Human Rights

The point of an employment interview is for the prospective employee and his or her potential employer to learn about one another and to determine whether or not they can work together successfully.

Sometimes there are issues that employers would like to address but which are not directly relevant to the vacancy being filled. Such questions might even come across as violating basic human rights protected under the Canadian Human Rights Act. The Canadian Human Rights Act entitles all individuals to equal employment opportunities without regard to:

Race or color
National or ethnic origin
Religion
Age
Family/marital status/sex (including pregnancy and childbirth)
Sexual orientation
Pardoned conviction
Disability (either physical or mental)

If, for example, a woman interviews for an executive position requiring many late nights, substantial overtime and weekend work, an employer may be tempted to ask whether she has school-age children who would suffer as a result of such an arduous schedule. Under the Canadian Human Rights Act, an employer should not inquire directly about her children and/or child-care arrangements. Rather the employer should ask the candidate whether or not she would be able to work the required hours and, where applicable, overtime.

The Canadian Human Rights Commission has provided sample guidelines for employers to follow during interviews of prospective employees. These itemize questions on sensitive issues, which cannot be asked, and also outline the proper way phrase a question to obtain the required information.

It should be noted that the Canadian Human Rights Act covers employment under federal jurisdiction, such as: federal government departments and agencies, airlines, banks, railways, radio, television and telephone companies, transport companies that do business in more than one province, and so on.

All non-federal jobs remain under provincial jurisdiction, meaning that guidelines may well differ from province to province, territory to territory. Therefore, regardless of the province in which you are planning to settle, you must be sure to check applicable guidelines for each. See the guidelines for each province and territory below:

Provinces:

Territories: