On November 27, 2018, the Human Rights Code Amendment Act (Bill 50) received Royal Assent. The bill was introduced in early November and proposed two key changes that employers should be aware of:
These features are discussed more in depth in an article our firm published at the time the changes were introduced which can be read here.
Since these changes now have legal effect, it is important to note again that for employers the increase to 12 months for filing a complaint may mean a longer period of uncertainty about potential liability. It also means that employers need to be even more mindful about record keeping practices.
The new legislation provides that the Human Rights Commissioner is responsible for promoting and protecting human rights, including by doing any of the following:
Furthermore, the Commissioner may assist a person or group of persons with any aspect of filing a human rights complaint and will also have the power to launch an inquiry into any matter if such an inquiry would promote or protect human rights.
We are very interested to see how these changes will affect the human rights landscape in BC, particularly for employers. We will continue to provide articles and updates as the effect of the changes begin to crystallize.