Human Rights in the Workplace

2008 CLawBie winners announced

Steve Matthews has rounded up the nominations and finalized the results of the 2008 Canadian Law Blog Awards (affectionately known as the CLawBie's).   I'm honored to find myself amongst great company once again, this time as a runner-up in the Best Practitioner Support Blog category. 

It feels very good to know that other lawyers are finding the topics I discuss on my blog to be of use to them.  I know I learn something new virtually every day from the many law blogs I follow. The more knowledge, as a profession, we can share amongst ourselves and our broader readership, the better it is for the people and businesses we serve!     

Here's wishing each and everyone of you a Happy New Year!  

Human Rights in the Workplace now on Alltop!

Ok, so I lied about my last post being my last post for 2008.  Just got the news that my blog has been picked up by Alltop and it was exciting enough for me that I couldn't wait to share it. 

For those unfamiliar with Alltop, it is best described as an "online magazine rack" which gathers all of the top (hence the name Alltop) news websites and blogs from across the web every hour and aggregates them under various topic headings.  It makes for very easy finding and reading of information you are interested in -- all on one page.  It's like being at the grocery store and having the ability to scan all of the headlines while you're waiting to pay...except you don't have to read about how Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are pregnant again if you don't want to.  Here's some further information about Alltop, if you're interested.

My blog is located under the Law topic (yes, I know, you never would have guess that one).  Just scan to the bottom once you click on the link.  Happy reading!  

Holiday wishes and thank you's for 2008 and human rights hopes for 2009

As I am gearing up to celebrate Christmas and to take a break from posting for a bit, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who became a reader of my blog in 2008 and those who continued as readers throughout this year.  I also wanted to express my appreciation to those of you who took the time to comment on what I've had to say and to engage in thought-provoking discussion.  For those of you who introduced yourselves to me when I was out and about, thank you for that, I appreciated the chance to meet you.  It is very humbling to know that there are so many people out there who take time out of their busy lives to read my posts and learn along with me.  I hope to continue to foster that growth in learning in 2009.

Whether you are going to be celebrating an upcoming religious holiday or simply taking time to enjoy the company of family and friends (or both!), I want to extend to you my best wishes for tremendous health, hope and happiness to cap off 2008 and an abundance of everything positive for 2009. 

But, before I bid you adieu until January, as this is the typical time of year that many of us reflect on the past and the future (I certainly do), I'd like to ask that you give some thought to making 2009 the year that you make your workplaces human rights leaders.  

Whether you are an employer, a manager, a union representative or an employee, I believe that each of us has a role to play to make our workplaces spaces that are truly inclusive (inclusiveness breeds happiness!  And, what's that saying about happy employees are productive employees??).  And you don't have to do things on a grand scale to make that happen either.  Simply opening yourself up to learning about the challenges that might be faced by co-workers who have disabilities is one way of effecting change.  Or, being sensitive to how systems set up in your workplaces might pose barriers to people of different races, religious backgrounds, sexes, ages or disabilities and asking questions or making suggestions about how things might be done differently. Even incremental change can have monumental effects not only to people who have historically been disadvantaged by discrimination but to you as a person and to your organization's overall health and wealth.  

Take care of yourself and those around you!  

 

Reaching out -- the web 2.0 way

Today's post takes a bit of a different turn than usual. I'm not going to talk about human rights law but, instead, I wanted to mention other ways that we can get to know one another. 

In addition to writing this blog, which is my primary vehicle for engaging with people who might be interested in what I have to say (and, go figure, to that!), I'm also out and about the world-wide web in other ways too.  In addition to human rights law and its impact on the workplace, one of my other great interests is technology and its impact on the legal profession and the practice of law.  Particularly, I am intrigued about how web 2.0 or the recent trend of using the web for information sharing, collaboration and the creation of communities (social networking sites like Facebook, or professional networking sites like LinkedIn) will change how lawyers interact with their clients or potential clients now and into the future.  Always wanting to stay ahead of the curve (or at least be on it!), I've decided to jump on the web 2.0 bandwagon and learn first-hand what it's all about. 

So, in keeping with this, I thought I would share with you some of the other ways we can connect, engage with and learn about and learn from eachother:

• Twitter: this is a micro-blogging and connecting tool.  I use it as an easy way to share information and have informal discussions with people (you have to sign up to follow people) because you are limited to 140 characters. It also works in real time so the minute I see something I think is of interest to those who follow me, I can do a quick note on it and send out a link and they can access it right away.  Sometimes what I'm reading doesn't merit a full blog post so I'll do a 'tweet' about the topic instead.  Other times, what I'm finding of interest has nothing to do with workplace human rights and so I'll go to Twitter to share it instead.  In still other cases I'm just sharing water cooler-type conversation with others.  I will admit that Twitter takes some getting used to.  Here's a video from Common Craft that explains Twitter simply.  Twitter has been described as 'networking on steroids' and, from my experience, that's pretty darned accurate.
• LinkedIn: This is a business oriented social networking site.  Really, it allows people in business to connect with other people in business.  Here's my profile.  Membership is free and it's easy to join and create your own profile.  Then, please let me know if you'd like to be a part of my professional network.  Send me an invitation and I'll accept.
• Facebook.  This is a more informal way of networking and is the social networking tool I think most people have heard about.  I'm on there too and would invite you to connect.

Have a great weekend!

My 2008 CLawBie pics

Steve Matthews, the brains behind the Canadian Law Blog Awards (among many other things), has notified the blogosphere that the time is yet again upon us to vote for our favorite Canadian legal blogs.  And, in oh so Canadian a fashion, Steve is proposing that those of us in the legal community who spend our time blogging spread link love around by letting our readers know who our top three favorites are.  So, in no particular order, here are my top three picks for the 2008 CLAWbies:

1.    Doorey's Workplace Law Blog: David Doorey is the author of this blog and he is a professor at York University (ok, I'll admit here, I went to Osgoode Hall Law School, York U, so I immediately had an interest in his blog because of that).  But, while the genesis of his blog is a forum for discussion between himself and his students, it is much, much more.  I quite enjoy his posts which cover a wide range of labour and employment law topics, including workplace human rights law issues which, as you know, are near and dear to my heart!

2.    Thoughts from a Management Lawyer: Michael Fitzgibbon is a management-side labour and employment lawyer in Toronto who writes about Canadian labour and employment law, from a -- you guessed it -- employer perspective.  I enjoy reading Michael's blog because I gain from him, among other things, an Ontario perspective of workplace human rights law issues.    Beyond that, I have a soft spot for Michael's blog because it is the very first blog I ever subscribed to and that subscription proved to be the impetus for the birth of my own blog.  So, blame Michael for unleashing me upon you!!

3.    Law21: I suspect that this blog, written by Jordan Furlong, Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Bar Association's National Magazine, will be the runaway hit of the CLawBies.  Oh, forget that, his blog has sent shockwaves throughout the blogosphere, it is just so darned good!  Jordan's blog is a must-read, in my view, for all lawyers in Canada who wish to remain relevant.  He discusses, with great insight, the changes impacting the legal profession in the 21st century.

While Steve had asked us to choose our top 3, I can tell you that this was a difficult task for me.  I am always in awe of the great Canadian legal and legal-related bloggers I follow and thank them for helping me to be better at what I do.  Here are some of the many others I follow: Thoughtful Legal Management (David Bilinsky), All About Information (Dan Michaluk),Slaw, Law Is Cool, Wise Law Blog, The Court, Halo Secretarial Services Blog.

Ok, so those are my picks for 2008.  But, don't let me stop you from having your say!  You can send your vote directly to Steve Matthews at steve@stemlegal.com.

Top 6 ways to avoid a Starbucks-type age discrimination lawsuit

An age discrimination lawsuit brought against Starbucks in the US is being allowed to proceed.  In the civil suit, a 56 year old woman claims that although she applied to a number of Starbucks stores in Portland, Oregon between November 2005 and April 2006, she was never hired.  Her view is that there could be only one reason for not being hired -- her age.

Although Starbucks has denied any discrimination and contends that it "prides itself on embracing diversity", the Plaintiff's lawyer says she has information which shows that:

• Starbucks' hiring practices were ignored by at least one manager at a location the woman applied at;

• of the 19 employees hired by this same manager, none were over the age of 30;

• between 2004 and 2008 (capturing the period of time the Plaintiff applied for jobs at Starbucks), as demonstrated by an analysis of Starbucks' hiring practices by a local sociology professor, a greater percentage of those age 35 or older had applied for but not received a job.

The Plaintiff's lawyer alleges that this all adds up to proof of hiring practices that are discriminatory on the basis of age.

Whether or not Starbucks will ultimately be found to have discriminated against this woman on the basis of her age remains to be seen.  But, I think the case raises some important issues that all employers, whether they are located in the US or Canada, should be continually thinking and doing something about to avoid having to fend off similar legal action.  Here is my list of the top six ways employers can avoid a Starbucks-type lawsuit:

1. Just because you say you support diversity doesn't get you a one-way ticket to slam dunking a discrimination claim if one comes your way.  You need to ensure your hiring practices actually support your message.  This means examining them to ensure they meet human rights law obligations in your particular jurisdiction;
2. If you have established hiring policies and procedures which address diversity and workplace human rights, well, for goodness sake follow them.  Your policy won't be worth the paper it is written on if you find yourself having to defend against a claim of discrimination in your hiring process;
3. Make sure those responsible for hiring know about workplace human rights and how not to violate them;
4. Keep track of who you're hiring and who you aren't -- are there any definable patterns or trends?  If so, those trends could signal systemic discrimination.  Looking back at the Starbucks situation, if you're getting applications from the over 35 set yet when you look around your workplace all you see are 19-20 somethings, might there be barriers in the systems you've established to hire that prevent certain segments of the population from becoming one of your employees?  This not only applies to age-related issues, but all protected characteristics under human rights legislation (eg. disability, race, sex, etc.);
5. Do the people you are hiring reflect the people who are your customers?  The diversity reflected in your employee pool should strive to reflect your pool of customers.  If the diversity equation is out of whack, maybe you should have a look at whether you're just attracting employees who look like who they see when they come to buy your product or service.  Consider reaching out to a broader base of potential employees.  Not only could this enhance the diversity of your employees, it can also have a positive impact on your customer base as well.  Like tends to attract like so one way to expand your customer base is to expand the diversity of your employee population;
6. If you've made attempts and been successful at hiring people from diverse backgrounds and they've stuck with you, find out what worked.  If your attempts have failed, though, try to find out what went wrong so you can improve your processes and garner success the next time. 

Those are my top 6.  Care to add to the list?  If so, feel free to comment.