[excerpts]

Employment Equity Act (1995, c. 44 )

PURPOSE OF ACT

Purpose of Act

2.The purpose of this Act is to achieve equality in the workplace so that no person shall be denied employment opportunities or benefits for reasons unrelated to ability and, in the fulfilment of that goal, to correct the conditions of disadvantage in employment experienced by women, aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities by giving effect to the principle that employment equity means more than treating persons in the same way but also requires special measures and the accommodation of differences.

PART IEMPLOYMENT EQUITY

Employer Obligations

Employer's duty

5.Every employer shall implement employment equity by

(a) identifying and eliminating employment barriers against persons in designated groups that result from the employer's employment systems, policies and practices that are not authorized by law; and

(b) instituting such positive policies and practices and making such reasonable accommodations as will ensure that persons in designated groups achieve a degree of representation in each occupational group in the employer's workforce that reflects their representation in

(i) the Canadian workforce, or

(ii) those segments of the Canadian workforce that are identifiable by qualification, eligibility or geography and from which the employer may reasonably be expected to draw employees.

Employer not required to take certain measures

6.The obligation to implement employment equity does not require an employer

(a) to take a particular measure to implement employment equity where the taking of that measure would cause undue hardship to the employer;

(b) to hire or promote unqualified persons;

(c) with respect to the public sector, to hire or promote persons without basing the hiring or promotion on selection according to merit in cases where thePublic Service Employment Actrequires that hiring or promotion be based on selection according to merit; or

(d) to create new positions in its workforce.

Analysis and review

9.(1) For the purpose of implementing employment equity, every employer shall

(a) collect information and conduct an analysis of the employer's workforce, in accordance with the regulations, in order to determine the degree of the underrepresentation of persons in designated groups in each occupational group in that workforce; and

(b) conduct a review of the employer's employment systems, policies and practices, in accordance with the regulations, in order to identify employment barriers against persons in designated groups that result from those systems, policies and practices.

Self-identification

(2) Only those employees who identify themselves to an employer, or agree to be identified by an employer, as aboriginal peoples, members of visible minorities or persons with disabilities are to be counted as members of those designated groups for the purposes of implementing employment equity.

Confidentiality of information

(3) Information collected by an employer under paragraph (1)(a) is confidential and shall be used only for the purpose of implementing the employer's obligations under this Act.

Employment equity plan

10.(1) The employer shall prepare an employment equity plan that

(a) specifies the positive policies and practices that are to be instituted by the employer in the short term for the hiring, training, promotion and retention of persons in designated groups and for the making of reasonable accommodations for those persons, to correct the underrepresentation of those persons identified by the analysis under paragraph 9(1)(a);

(b) specifies the measures to be taken by the employer in the short term for the elimination of any employment barriers identified by the review under paragraph 9(1)(b);

(d) where underrepresentation has been identified by the analysis, establishes short term numerical goals for the hiring and promotion of persons in designated groups in order to increase their representation in each occupational group in the workforce in which underrepresentation has been identified and sets out measures to be taken in each year to meet those goals;

(e) sets out the employer's longer term goals for increasing the representation of persons in designated groups in the employer's workforce and the employer's strategy for achieving those goals; and

(f) provides for any other matter that may be prescribed.

Establishment of numerical goals

(2) In establishing the short term numerical goals referred to in paragraph (1)(d), every employer shall consider

(a) the degree of underrepresentation of persons in each designated group in each occupational group within the employer's workforce;

(b) the availability of qualified persons in designated groups within the employer's workforce and in the Canadian workforce;

(c) the anticipated growth or reduction of the employer's workforce during the period in respect of which the numerical goals apply;

(d) the anticipated turnover of employees within the employer's workforce during the period in respect of which the numerical goals apply; and

(e) any other factor that may be prescribed.

Definitions

(3) In this section, "short term" means a period of not less than one year and not more than three years, and "longer term" means a period of more than three years.

Reasonable progress

11.Every employer shall ensure that its employment equity plan would, if implemented, constitute reasonable progress toward implementing employment equity as required by this Act.

Implementation and monitoring of plan

12.Every employer shall

(a) make all reasonable efforts to implement its employment equity plan; and

(b) monitor implementation of its plan on a regular basis to assess whether reasonable progress toward implementing employment equity is being made.

Periodic review and revision of plan

13.Every employer shall, at least once during the period in respect of which the short term numerical goals referred to in paragraph 10(1)(d) are established, review its employment equity plan and revise it by

(a) updating the numerical goals, taking into account the factors referred to in subsection 10(2); and

(b) making any other changes that are necessary as a result of an assessment made pursuant to paragraph 12(b) or as a result of changing circumstances.

Information about employment equity

14.Every employer shall provide information to its employees explaining the purpose of employment equity and shall keep its employees informed about measures the employer has undertaken or is planning to undertake to implement employment equity and the progress the employer has made in implementing employment equity.

Consultation with employee representatives

15.(1) Every employer shall consult with its employees' representatives by inviting the representatives to provide their views concerning

(a) the assistance that the representatives could provide to the employer to facilitate the implementation of employment equity in its workplace and the communication to its employees of matters relating to employment equity; and

(b) the preparation, implementation and revision of the employer's employment equity plan.

Where employees represented by bargaining agents

(2) Where employees are represented by a bargaining agent, the bargaining agent shall participate in a consultation under subsection (1).

Collaboration

(3) Every employer and its employees' representatives shall collaborate in the preparation, implementation and revision of the employer's employment equity plan.

Rule of interpretation

(4) Consultation under subsection (1) and collaboration under subsection (3) are not forms of co-management.

New employers

16.(1) A person who becomes an employer after the day on which this section comes into force shall, within eighteen months after becoming an employer, comply with sections 9 and 10.

Compliance audit

(2) The Commission may not conduct a compliance audit of the discharge of the obligations of a person referred to in subsection (1) within two years after the day on which that person becomes an employer.

Records and Reports

Employment equity records

17.Every employer shall, in accordance with the regulations, establish and maintain employment equity records in respect of the employer's workforce, the employer's employment equity plan and the implementation of employment equity by the employer.