1. Learn about harassment, discrimination, and accommodation

There are different ways that employers might treat you unfairly.

Direct discrimination

You might be treated worse than other people because of a personal characteristic that’s protected by the Human Rights Code. This is called direct discrimination.

Here are some examples:

Your employer says you cannot work directly with customers because they want someone who looks like a “normal” man or woman.
During a job interview, an employer tells you that to get the job, you must dress and behave like the sex you were assigned at birth.
You're a man. You wear make-up and jewelry to a job interview. The person interviewing you seems uncomfortable. They do not make eye contact with you and rush through the interview. You do not get the job and the employer does not tell you why.

Constructive discrimination

Sometimes a rule or practice that applies to everyone affects you in a way that’s unfair. This is called constructive discrimination or adverse effect discrimination.

For example, you’re a non-binary person. Your workplace has separate washrooms for men and women. And there’s a rule or practice that people must use the washroom for the sex they were assigned at birth.

Harassment

It’s against the law for an employer or a co-worker to harass you at work because of your gender identity or gender expression. For example:

You tell a co-worker what pronouns you use. But they refuse to refer to you with those pronouns.
Without asking you if it's okay, your boss tells people that your is different than the sex you were assigned at birth.

The law says that employers must prevent harassment and deal with it if it happens.

Accommodation

To make sure everyone is treated fairly, your employer might have to change workplace rules so they work for everyone’s gender identity and gender expression. This is called accommodation.

For example, your employer might have to:

add a washroom that workers of any gender can use
change your name and gender in their employee records, even if this does not match your legal identity documents
change their rules about uniforms so all employees can choose to wear pants or a skirt

The law says that you must work with your employer to find a solution. The accommodation you get might not be the same as what you asked for.

An employer might not have to accommodate you if they can prove that it will cause them undue hardship.

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