Human Rights   To "discriminate," according to the Oxford Dictionary, means "to make a distinction, to give unfair treatment, especially because of prejudice." Everyone is familiar with the "prejudice" part of that definition but many are unaware that discrimination also has the innocent meaning of "making a distinction," that is, choosing between one and the other, which is what the employment selection process means. The contentious issue is making a distinction on the basis of prohibited grounds, which include race, national origin, citizenship, religion, political belief, sex, age, marital or family status, and handicap. All employers except the federal government are under provincial human rights jurisdiction, unless their business is "integrally bound up with a federal work, undertaking, service or business." All employers should be familiar with the basic provisions of their provincial human rights act. One of the important provisions of which many employers are not aware is that there are certain questions that an employer may not ask an applicant. Many employers believe that while it is illegal to make a hiring decision on prohibited grounds, it is acceptable to ask applicants questions related to these topics during the interview or on the application form. It is not acceptable. Questions asked during an interview are not casually "getting to know each other." Legally, they are linked to the purpose of the interview, making a hiring decision. Another myth is that it is "okay" to ask those questions if the employer adds, "You're not required to answer that if you don't want to." The applicant's decision whether to answer or not probably tells the employer that the answer is not what they want to hear. Also, applicants are under tremendous stress to answer every question at the risk of "looking bad."  Remember -- it is illegal to ask, period.

---