Volume 2 Issue 1

Human Rights

Policy:
Organizations set policy to delineate an action or a plan. For instance, policy is written for attendance, hiring and firing, safety, and many other factors dealing with employees and the quality of the workplace. A policy for Human Rights must have an important place in any organization.

Policies on Human Rights should represent a plan or course of action that includes the following subjects: harassment; poisoned environment; accommodation; discrimination based on race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disabilities.

If you don't have policies about Human Rights in the workplace, and are confused about creating them, contact the Ontario Human Rights Commission. The OHRC will help you to draw up the policies appropriate for your company. If you do have such policies, review them carefully, and then make any necessary changes or updates.

Procedure:
Most conflicts are caused by misunderstandings, and Human Rights conflicts are no exception. Procedures geared to resolution rather than punishment work better because they move quickly in gathering facts and information.

Facts to gather:

• Who is the complainant?
• Who is the respondent?
• What is the issue?

Has the complainant talked to the respondent about the issue? If not, find out why. If yes, what was the outcome of the conversation?

Give the complainant all options to resolution, e.g.; Human Rights commission, intercompany mediation, etc.

Most importantly, all your procedures must focus on effective communication so that there is a smooth flow of factual information.

Jane Buckrell, Director of Employee Services at Kuntz Electroplating Inc. is overseeing an interesting new program called Dispute Resolution System (DRS). This process is designed as a tool that employees may use to address concerns and resolve disputes quickly and satisfactorily with the full help and support of the company. While the DRS is not mandatory, it does encourage employees to look at all available options and every avenue of resolution.

As the DRS does not take the place of legal action or legislated settlements of a dispute, the company makes sure the employees have access to all relevant information, as well as company procedures and options. For this purpose, hotlines have been set up to make available any and all information about government and legal procedures.

The outcome of the conflict is not the important focus when creating policies. What is important is that the procedures support the policy, and the policy is carried out consistently throughout the workplace.

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