Human rights laws don’t guarantee equal treatment in the general sense. Under the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Canadian Human Rights Act, your workplace must be free of workplace discrimination, harassment, and reprisal or differential treatment due to certain protected characteristics.

It may be considered a human rights violation if you are treated differently because of your:

• age
• race/ethnicity/place of origin/ancestry/citizenship
• religion
• colour
• sex/gender/sexual orientation/gender expression
• family status/marital status
• disability

Human rights cases typically arise in the following situations if they relate to a protected characteristic:

• in an interview or hiring decision
• through disciplined or termination from employment
• through a demotion, pay cut or loss of responsibility
• by being denied a promotion or workplace opportunity
• by being denied benefits available to other employees (i.e., overtime, rate of pay, vacation scheduling)
• by not reinstating you to your original position after a leave of absence (i.e., sick leave, maternity leave)
• by denying necessary accommodations or modified work in the workplace
• by subjecting you to comments, displays, jokes, harassment, or a poisoned work environment
• through drug or alcohol testing