Assignment #1A (5%):

1. What are 2 reasons why all employees need to know about and understand

HRM? (2 marks)

The first reason why all employees should know and understand HRM is to

help employees to understand the objectives goals and policies of the

company. It will help the employee to meet these goals in their everyday

activities at work. It will help the improvement of the employee performance.

Secondly, it creates a connection between employees and employers to work

together on getting feedback, leaving concerns and /or giving advices. It helps

to see the human being as a capital value.

2. Assume that you and one of your classmates have been discussing the future

of work flexibility in Canada.  What is important to you, regarding flexibility in a

work setting?

Personally being able to work from work in a hybrid environment is important

to be as it will reduce the stress of travelling and the traffic.

Why? (3 marks)

- Increase my productivity by prioritizing my to do list as it reduce my

traveling time and / or I do not need to deal with unforeseen

circumstances

- I get to prioritize my lunch and break on home duties and get more time

with my family at the end of the day.

 - It help improve my absenteeism ( on cold days, I do not need to leave

home, while when working in an office we might call sick)or health as I do

not need to work in an office environment between 4 walls, when being

home I can work on my balcony or have windows for more lighting.

3. Using any search engine, search the phrase “Gen Z” (total 5 marks).

a. Access 3 entries and create a list of 5 ways Gen Z are described. (4

marks)

- The Gen Z will be the last age group to be predominantly white (Casey ,

2021)

- The Gen Z are true digital natives (Francis & Hoefel, 2020)

- The Gen Z are call identity nomads ((Francis & Hoefel, 2020)

- The Gen Z are entrepreneurial (Clark, 2019)

- The Gen Z are competitive (Clark, 2019)

b. Does the description sound like the people you know in this

generation? Why or why not? (1 marks)

Yes it does. They are born where technology and social media is really

important. They uses social media to create business and be more

entrepreneur and are very competitive.

References list:

- Casey, T. A. E. (2021, January 12). What are the core characteristics of

generation Z? The Annie E. Casey Foundation. Retrieved October 6,
2021, from https://www.aecf.org/blog/what-are-the-core-characteristics-of-
generation-z.

- Francis, T., & Hoefel, F. (2020, December 16). 'True gen': Generation Z
and its implications for companies. McKinsey & Company. Retrieved
October 6, 2021, from https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-
packaged-goods/our-insights/true-gen-generation-z-and-its-implications-
for-companies.

- Clark, D. (2019, January 16). 10 defining characteristics of generation Z.

TTI Success Insights Blog. Retrieved October 6, 2021, from
https://blog.ttisi.com/10-defining-characteristics-of-generation-z.
Assignment 1B (5%):

1.
Discrimination by association is a person that is being discriminated not because of a

specific characteristic about himself but being discriminate because of the person he is

with or because of a group or a person that he identify himself with. That specific

association (group or person) needs to have a protected characteristic under the

Equality Act except for pregnancy, maternity and marriage or civil partnerships. In my

culture, the Jamaican culture, the homosexual are not appreciated. I met a friend,

Andrew. Andrew is gay. I invited him to come to a party with me to meet my other

Jamaican friends. From that day, my Jamaican friends started to treat me less

favourably. Unfortunately, this was clearly a discrimination by association due to my

association with gay people.

Harassment is an inappropriate action by a person that is made to offend another

person. Action are typically verbal abuse or threats, undesirable remarks or jokes,

intimidation on the discrimination grounds such as but not limited to race, religion, sex,

age, disability and at last it can be displeasing physical contact. Even though often

forgotten, bullying is also a type of harassment. After the terrorist attack in the USA,

most Arabic and Muslim peoples were not wanted and were often harass due to their

religion. Any offensive words or actions about their race, ethnic or religion will be

deemed as harassment.

Indirect discrimination is often called systemic discrimination is when a company or

organization that has in their policies or in their action a discriminatory repercussion

without no apparent intention of being discriminatory. The perfect example is the height

requirement for the Jamaica defence force. The minimum height is 5ft 7ins for the men.

Unfortunately, this is s standard and regulations that is implemented and because of

that most men under that height are often discriminated.

2. After researching the political belief in the Canadian Human Rights Act and the

Ontario Human rights code, it was noted that the political belief as a prohibited

ground of discrimination was not included. The action of the picture is not right

but if we follow the regulations and law in place on the federal level and

provincial level (Ontario), the employer can legally fire you for your political

belief.1,2 But according to: "The Charter of Rights and Freedoms" 3, we are also

have the freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom

of the press and other media of communication; or association and the employee

could bring these case at the Supreme Court to dispute.

Race: According to the dictionary racial discrimination is an unfair treatment or

bias against someone or a group of people on the basis of their race. (Collins

English Dictionary). An example of this discrimination is the example of the

Chinese owner in BC who did not want to hire white employees by faking a layoff

or firing them in order to be able to bring cheaper Chinese labor. And the BC

human rights tribunal rule in favor of the white employees as discrimination by

1
RSC 1985, C H-6 | Canadian human rights act | CanLII. (n.d.). Retrieved October 7, 2021, from
https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/laws/stat/rsc-1985-c-h-6/latest/rsc-1985-c-h-6.html.

2
The Ontario Human Rights Code. The Ontario Human Rights Code | Ontario Human Rights Commission. (n.d.). Retrieved October 7,
2021, from http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/ontario-human-rights-code.

3
Branch, L. S. (n.d.). Consolidated federal laws of Canada, the Constitution Acts, 1867 to 1982. Legislative Services Branch. Retrieved October 7,
2021, from https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/page-12.html#h-40.
 race at work is not legal. (Smith, 2019) Employers are not allowed to fire

employees on Race and in this case white employees because their labor cost

more.

Disability: According to the equality human rights "disability discrimination is

when you are treated less well or put at a disadvantage for a reason that relates

to your disability"4. Being discriminated for a disability is not right and it is not

legal, in the real life examples, we have a Starbucks employee was treated less

for having dyslexia. The tribunal ruled in her favor as the company did not adapt

to her workplace to make adjustment for their employee and there were equality

issues at this location. (Staff squared HR, 2019). This is an example that we

cannot be discriminated for having a disability and that employers should make

the adequate adjustment when needed to accommodate an employee in order to

satisfy the equality for all at work. We cannot fire an employee for not writing the

correct number or words due to her disability and in this case the disability is

dyslexia.

Sexual orientation: According to the equality human rights "sexual orientation

discrimination is when you are treated differently because of your sexual

orientation. There are sometimes where it is legal to be treated differently for

your sexual orientation in a workplace. For example any LGBT helpline or

organization where it is specify that the applicants must be homosexual" 5. It is not

4
Disability discrimination. Disability discrimination | Equality and Human Rights Commission. (n.d.). Retrieved October 13, 2021, from
https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/advice-and-guidance/disability-discrimination.

5
Disability discrimination. Disability discrimination | Equality and Human Rights Commission. (n.d.). Retrieved October 13, 2021, from
https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/advice-and-guidance/disability-discrimination.
legal when an employer fire an employee because of his gender or sexual

orientation. For example if the employer saw that the employee has a sticker of

the LGBT on his car and decide to treat him differently and find all errors or

mistakes makes by the employee since they now know the employee support or

is part of that community.

References list:
 RSC 1985, C H-6 | Canadian human rights act | CanLII. (n.d.). Retrieved October
7, 2021, from https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/laws/stat/rsc-1985-c-h-6/latest/rsc-
1985-c-h-6.html
 The Ontario Human Rights Code. The Ontario Human Rights Code | Ontario
Human Rights Commission. (n.d.). Retrieved October 7, 2021, from
http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/ontario-human-rights-code.
 Branch, L. S. (n.d.). Consolidated federal laws of Canada, the Constitution Acts,
1867 to 1982. Legislative Services Branch. Retrieved October 7, 2021, from
https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/page-12.html#h-40.
 Smith, J. R. (2019). White employees at B.C. resort get $200,000 for race
discrimination. Canadian Employment Law Today, 1-1, 6. Retrieved from
https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/white-employees-at-b-c-resort-get-200-
000-race/docview/2193485836/se-2?accountid=3455
 Real life examples of discrimination in the workplace. Staff Squared. (2019, July
31). Retrieved October 13, 2021, from https://www.staffsquared.com/blog/real-
life-examples-of-discrimination-in-the-workplace/.
 Disability discrimination. Disability discrimination | Equality and Human Rights
Commission. (n.d.). Retrieved October 13, 2021, from
https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/advice-and-guidance/disability-
discrimination.
Assignment #1C (5%):

a) Claims agent, Canada Post

b) identify one duty/responsibility statement :

a. Reviews, calculates, authorizes and processes the settlement and

payment of claim refunds to customers, as per Divisional/Regional and/or

Head Office directives in a timely, economical and equitable manner. 6

c) two knowledge/skill requirements

a. Working knowledge of SAP and various MS Office software applications,

such as Excel, Word and Outlook. 7

b. Ability to listen and communicate effectively to identify customers’ key

concerns. 8

d) identify one working condition:

a. Language Requirement: English Essential 

6
Claims agent. Claims Agent. (n.d.). Retrieved October 13, 2021, from https://jobs.canadapost.ca/job/UMO-Claims-Agent-
ON/549431217/

7
Claims agent. Claims Agent. (n.d.). Retrieved October 13, 2021, from https://jobs.canadapost.ca/job/UMO-Claims-Agent-
ON/549431217/

8
Claims agent. Claims Agent. (n.d.). Retrieved October 13, 2021, from https://jobs.canadapost.ca/job/UMO-Claims-Agent-
ON/549431217/
e) List two new/different things that the employer of this job might do to have

you/the employee feel more empowered? Explain your answer. (hint: see

employee considerations in the slide lecture/textbook) (4 marks)

a. There are multiple characteristics explaining an employee considerations 9:

i. Autonomy: independence at work

ii. Variety: diverse task making the job less routine and more variety

iii. Task identity: being able to do a whole project and have the awards

for it and not just doing a part of it and not being able to be part of

the final project and not have the recognition of the work done

iv. Feedback: performance evaluation to feel motivated

v. Task significance: that even small contribution of your work is

important for the success of the team or organization

b. In that position, I like the autonomy my supervisor provided, we knew what

we had to do and we knew how many cases we had to close per hour.

Without being micro manage every minute, I felt free to be able to do my

work properly and by keeping in mind that I have a quota to reach and if I

do not do it then it is my fault as I am not managing my time properly or

need more training. "I could feel the sense of recognition, my self-esteem

was higher, the satisfaction of completed my job was higher and I had a

very good performance which made me feel important in my job".

(Schwind et al., 2021)

In that position, we also have every trimester a performance review, we

are able to see my productivity, the quality and system use to evaluate my
9
Schwind, H. F., Das, H., & Wagar, T. H. (2021). Canadian Human Resource Management: A strategic approach. W. Ross

MacDonald School Resource Services Library.

performance and be able to review any mistakes or errors made and

provide feedback about thing I have notice that needs to be improved or

provide feedback on things that can be changed in the system to be more

efficient. Also, feedback on things that need improvement according to my

supervisor. It made me feel important and work to be better trimester after

trimester. Also based on performance we were coded from 1 to 5 and

depending we were getting a percentage bonus.

 References list:

 Claims agent. Claims Agent. (n.d.). Retrieved October 13, 2021, from
https://jobs.canadapost.ca/job/UMO-Claims-Agent-ON/549431217/.

 Schwind, H. F., Das, H., & Wagar, T. H. (2021). Canadian Human Resource

Management: A strategic approach. W. Ross MacDonald School Resource

Services Library.