The Human Rights Approach To Defining "Employees"

In many jurisdictions, consultants, agents and other workers who are not in a traditional employment relationship, are excluded from the protections of human rights legislation.

For example, section 2 of the Canadian Human Rights Act (which applies to federal employers) states that the purpose of the Act is to give effect to the principle that "all individuals should have an opportunity equal with other individuals". The Act then immediately limits the concept to employees only, in the workplace. Similar limitations apply in provincial legislation throughout Canada leaving consultants with no express protection.

Two recent cases, one from Alberta and one from British Columbia, explore this issue of the concept of "employment" in a human rights context and come to vastly different results.