What is preferential hiring?
Employers cannot consider ancestry, gender or other prohibited grounds of discrimination in their hiring decisions that would be a violation of the Human Rights Code. However, approval of an equity plan means an employer can choose to consider a prohibited ground in the hiring process, for the purpose of developing a representative workforce and within the context of certain limits established by the Human Rights Commission. For example, an equity employer (one with an approved plan) may have five qualified applicants for a job opening, including one person with a disability. The person with a disability may or may not be the “most” qualified applicant; all five are qualified for the job, in the employers opinion. Employment equity plans are voluntary, and the employer is not required by the Human Rights Commission to hire the equity group candidate. However, the employer may choose to hire the person with a disability in order to promote equality goals and develop a workforce that is
