Have you ever heard these statements? “Don’t hire him, he’s afraid of cattle.” “Don’t hire her, there’s no way she can lift the feed bags.” “Don’t hire him, his religion won’t let him work on Saturday.”
After reading this series of articles on human resource management (HRM) in farm operations, you’re well on your way (or at least moving in the right direction) to making sound HRM decisions. But wait, there’s more. Your HRM needs to operate within certain laws. Farm and human resource managers need to have some understanding of the provincial laws that impact HRM, such as human rights and labour standards. Your operation may also be subject to occupational health and safety, workers compensation, and trade union legislation.
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Discriminating between candidates occurs all the time. For example, you discriminate between hiring someone who is afraid of cattle versus someone who is not. However, you can’t discriminate on the basis of gender or religion. Human rights laws prohibit discrimination in protected categories. Provincial laws and regulations differ slightly, but the more common categories of prohibited discrimination in all provinces are sex/ gender, religion, race, marital status, and disability.
This protection applies to all HRM functions including compensation, terminations, layoff, performance management, and promotions. In other words, it doesn’t begin and end with hiring.
Two concepts critical to legal discrimination are bona fide occupational requirement (BFOR) and undue hardship. A BFOR is necessary for the performance of the job. In the case of lugging and lifting the feed bags, the BFOR is the ability to frequently lift and move heavy bags. Even though many women can’t lift these bags (and let’s not fool ourselves — there are lots who can), you don’t have to hire anyone who can’t lift the heavy bags regardless of whether they’re a woman or man.
You can discriminate based on a protected category if an accommodation is required that causes your operation undue hardship. For example, if your farm only has one employee and they work weekends, it may be an undue hardship to accommodate a person that can’t work Saturday. However, it may not be an undue hardship for a large farm operation with the ability to adjust a number of employees’ schedules.
Overtime, vacation, hours of work, age of workers, scheduling, record-keeping — if your operation is subject to the Labour Standards Act (LS), there are rules for all these and more. Some agriculture operations are exempt from LS, so check your provincial LS Act to see if your farm operation is exempt. For example, in Saskatchewan most farms are exempt, but commercial hog barns are not. In P.E.I., farms are assessed on a case-by-case situation. In Manitoba, most family-run farms are exempt, but other agriculture operations are not.
Knock yourself out — read the rest of the Act as there may be certain items specific to your operation. However, usually you can find an easy-read LS document on your provincial labour ministry website that provides basic guidance for the more common rules, such as overtime, which is anything over eight hours a day or 40 hours a week. For example, did you know that both of these situations earn two hours overtime: 1) working two days a week, with 10 hours on one day and six hours on another, or 2) working six days a week with seven hours each day.
There is no shortage of LS rules to know. The good news is LS authorities want you to understand and follow the laws. So if you have any questions, contact your LS authority.
Your operation may be subject to Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) and Workers Compensation (WC). OHS is the big book of safety and health regulations. Handling hazardous material, heat and cold stress levels, and noise exposure are some areas covered. WC is an employer-purchased no-fault insurance. If your employee is injured at work, WC provides the employee an income and it can cover retraining cost and also help prevent lawsuits.
Your operation is subject to the Trade Union Act if your employees are unionized or going to be unionized This Act governs how unionization can occur and is the framework for unionized workplaces, so the odds are you’ll know (or I hope you do) if you need to pay attention to this Act.
Last but not least is the fact that most of these laws are complaint based. That means you are only called on the carpet if someone complains. If your organization is subject to an investigation, or challenged under these laws, fines and restitution are only one concern. Time, emotions, and impact on your operation’s reputation must also be considered.
Smart HRM recognizes labour laws are reality and conducts strategic and ethical HRM within the laws. Hopefully this article has increased your awareness of the laws. However, it isn’t meant to provide legal advice… so read your acts.CG
Leah Knibbs is the owner of Knibbs/associates hr consulting and a partner in Knibbs/associates sourcing people. Both organizations provide HR services to agriculture organizations. Knibbs describes herself as a professional HR consultant who never wants to raise pigs again. Contact her at [email protected] or 306-861-9864.
