Casual Legal: Duty to accommodate
DISCLAIMER: This article is meant to provide information only and is not intended to provide legal advice. You should seek the advice of legal counsel to address your specific set of circumstances. Although every effort has been made to provide current and accurate information, changes to the law may cause the information in this article to be outdated.
By Brad Smith
Reynolds Mirth Richards Farmer LLP
Alberta Municipalities Casual Legal Service Provider
The Alberta Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of a range of protected characteristics, including race, religious beliefs, colour, gender, gender identity, gender expression, physical disability, mental disability, age, ancestry, place of origin, marital status, source of income, family status, or sexual orientation.
Discrimination under human rights law does not require intent; it can be any practice or behaviour that treats individuals or groups unfairly based on one or more of the prohibited grounds.
Municipalities are likely to encounter human rights issues in the context of employment, where the Alberta Human Rights Act prohibits employers from refusing to employ or refusing to continue to employ a person or from discriminating against a person with regard to employment or any term or condition of employment on the basis of protected grounds. Alberta’s human rights legislation also prohibits discrimination in relation to goods, services, accommodation, or facilities, as well as discrimination in relation to tenancy.
The prohibition on discrimination is not without limits, however. Courts have interpreted human rights legislation as imposing a duty to accommodate to the point of undue hardship. Keeping with the example of employment, the duty to accommodate means that employers are required to accommodate the needs of individuals with protected grounds, such as a physical or mental disability, up to the point of undue hardship. In employment, examples of reasonable accommodations can include making the premises more accessible, altering job duties, and adjusting workplace policies. The law requires reasonable accommodations that do not impose undue hardship, not an individual’s perfect or preferred accommodations.
What amounts to undue hardship is contextual and depends on a range of factors, including size of the employer, financial cost, health and safety concerns, and disruption to operations. Undue hardship is a high standard to meet, and the duty to accommodate may require employers to endure some hardship in meeting the needs of individuals. Undue hardship is hardship that is significant or substantial in nature.
Issues of human rights law, the duty to accommodate, and determining whether requests for accommodation meet the level of undue hardship are complex and highly contextual. Please contact our office if you have any questions about human rights law and the duty to accommodate to the point of undue hardship.
To access Alberta Municipalities Casual Legal Helpline, Alberta Municipalities members can call toll-free to 1-800-661-7673 or email casuallegal [at] abmunis.ca (casuallegal[at]abmunis[dot]ca) and reach the municipal legal experts at Reynolds Mirth Richards and Farmer LLP. For more information on the Casual Legal Service, please contact riskcontrol [at] abmunis.ca (riskcontrol[at]abmunis[dot]ca), or call 310-MUNI (6864) to speak to Alberta Municipalities Risk Management staff. Any Regular or Associate member of Alberta Municipalities can access the Casual Legal Service.
