Chapter Three

Foundations of Recruitment
& Selection: Legal Issues

© 2010 by Nelson Education Ltd. 1

 Chapter Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter you should be able to:

• Understand the major legal issues affecting recruitment and selection;
• Know how relevant human rights and employment equity legislation
and policies affect recruitment and selection in your organization;
• Understand and be able to describe how legal concerns affect the
practice of recruitment and selection;
• Know, and be capable of explaining, the key legal concepts that have
had an impact on recruitment and selection in this country; and
• Be able to apply the basic concepts and principles discussed in the
chapter to the development of recruitment and selection systems that
meet legal requirements

© 2010 by Nelson Education Ltd. 2

 Legal Requirements of
Recruitment & Selection

• Constitutional Law:
– Is the supreme law of Canada
– It has a pervasive impact on employment practices and
all spheres of Canadian society

© 2010 by Nelson Education Ltd. 3

 Legal Requirements of
Recruitment & Selection

• Human Rights Legislation:

– Prohibits discrimination in both employment and the
provision of goods and services
– There are 19 prohibited grounds for discrimination, yet
only 6 grounds are consistent across all Canadian
jurisdictions
– Human rights commissions or tribunals deal with
complaints involving employment discrimination

© 2010 by Nelson Education Ltd. 4

 Legal Requirements of
Recruitment & Selection
• Employment Equity:
– Promotes the entry and retention of people from 4
designated groups:
• Women
• Visible minorities
• Aboriginal people
• People with disabilities
– Program is indented to correct “past wrongs”

© 2010 by Nelson Education Ltd. 5

 Legal Requirements of
Recruitment & Selection

• Labour law, Employment Standards & Related

Legislation:
– Grants certain employment rights to both employers
and employees but also impose a wide range of
employment responsibilities and obligations.
– See Recruitment and Selection Notebook 3.1 (p. 69)

© 2010 by Nelson Education Ltd. 6

 Legal Requirements of
Recruitment & Selection
• Labour laws
– Rights of the employees to organize trade unions and to
bargain collective agreements
• Employment standards
– Regulate minimum age of employment, work hours,
minimum wage, statutory holidays, etc.
• Related legislation
– Federal Public Service Employment Act
– Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act

© 2010 by Nelson Education Ltd. 7

 Summary

• Legal issues in recruitment and selection are

complex and take a great deal of time, study and
experience to master.
• The impact of the laws discussed in this chapter
mandate recruitment practices that do not
discriminate on the basis of specific circumstances.

© 2010 by Nelson Education Ltd. 8

 Summary

• This chapter presents some practical guidelines that

will assist HR practitioners in developing
recruitment procedures that will meet with legal
acceptance should they have to address a human
rights complaint.

© 2010 by Nelson Education Ltd. 9

© 2010 by Nelson Education Ltd. 10
© 2010 by Nelson Education Ltd. 11
© 2010 by Nelson Education Ltd. 12
© 2010 by Nelson Education Ltd. 13
© 2010 by Nelson Education Ltd. 14
© 2010 by Nelson Education Ltd. 15
© 2010 by Nelson Education Ltd. 16
© 2010 by Nelson Education Ltd. 17
© 2010 by Nelson Education Ltd. 18
© 2010 by Nelson Education Ltd. 19
© 2010 by Nelson Education Ltd. 20
© 2010 by Nelson Education Ltd. 21
© 2010 by Nelson Education Ltd. 22
© 2010 by Nelson Education Ltd. 23
© 2010 by Nelson Education Ltd. 24
© 2010 by Nelson Education Ltd. 25
© 2010 by Nelson Education Ltd. 26