Business Law Assignment: Alberta Employment Law Analysis

This business law assignment analyzes various employment law issues based on a given set of facts and circumstances. The assignment delves into topics such as discriminatory hiring practices (nationality, parental status, and physical attributes), workplace harassment, and the application of the Employment Standards Code of Alberta. It examines scenarios involving rejection of a minority applicant, discriminatory job advertisements, and workplace conduct violations. The paper also explores the regulations governing employee complaints, including time limitations for filing claims. The analysis provides legal interpretations and references relevant legislation and scholarly articles to support the arguments made. The assignment aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of employment law principles and their application in the context of Alberta.

Running head: BUSINESS LAW
BUSINESS LAW
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Question 1
Under the given set of facts and circumstances the employment law issues that may arise
are set out in seriatim below:
 Yasmin’s rejection due to the fact she was a minority and hence not “Canadian”.
 Yasmin being asked if she had children as part of the criteria for employment.
 The interview advertisement that stated that the Irish need not apply.
 An employee at a cafeteria not allowing Lionel to enter the premises due to the fact that
he was led by a guard dog which was considered a violation of health regulations.
 Brittany being made to attend church as a part of the process of fitting into her place of
employment.
 Yasmin being told that she would need to left-handed to be employed at a store that sells
products for left-handed people.
 The manager making sexual advances towards Yasmin at her place of employment.
Question 2
The issues set out above would be governed and regulated by the Employment Standards
Code Alberta which is the primary piece of legislation that governs employment law in the
province of Alberta (Laporte, Lu & Schellenberg, 2013).
In the first instance, not considering Yasmin a Canadian due to her being conspicuously
part of a minority would be discriminatory and thus it would be prohibited by the code and
would thus be sufficient to initiate a complaint (Barnetson, 2015).

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Advertising for a job and stating that the Irish would not be allowed to apply due to their
nationality would be a violation of the code as it is discriminatory.
Yasmin being asked if she had children as a part of the assessment criteria for a job as
mothers tend to take more leaves would be violation of the code as parental leave is prescribed
by the code itself (Alon-Shenker & Davidov, 2013).
In Lionel’s case, we see that he was prohibited from entering a particular café due to
being guided by a guide dog as the same was considered a health hazard and the same was
against provincial health regulations. This would not a breach of the code as adherence to the
provincial health regulations would be necessary (Adams, 2016).
Brittany being forced to attend a particular church to appease her employers would be
against the basic ideals of secularism which employment law must abide by and thus it would be
a violation of the code.
Yasmin being rejected by a store that sells equipment for left-handed individuals due to
the fact that she was right-handed would not be a violation of the code as the job profile would
require someone who is left handed to adequately discharge the duties required by job.
The acts of Yasmin’s manager would constitute a breach of the code as the same would
amount to sexual harassment at the workplace.
Question 3
In case of employee complaints the same would be undertaken under the provisions of
Section 82 (1) of the code (Barnetson, 2015). Under the provisions of the code, complaints can
be made at any time while the employee is serving his/her term of employment. In case the

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employee has been terminated the complaint would have to be made within 6 months from the
date of termination as per Section 82 (2) of the code (Bowal & Stephenson, 2014).

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Reference list
Adams, E. M. (2016). Human rights at work: Physical standards for employment and
human rights law. Applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism, 41(6), S63-S73.
Alon-Shenker, P., & Davidov, G. (2013). Applying the Principle of Proportionality in
Employment and Labour Law Contexts. McGill Law Journal/Revue de droit de McGill, 59(2),
375-423.
Barnetson, B. (2015). “Fortis Et Liber” Unless You Are a Farm Worker: Workers’
Compensation Exceptionalism in Alberta, Canada. SAGE Open, 5(2), 2158244015575632.
Barnetson, B. (2015). Worker Safety in Alberta. Alberta Oil and the Decline of
Democracy in Canada.
Bowal, P., & Stephenson, L. (2014). Employees on Probabtion.
Laporte, C., Lu, Y., & Schellenberg, G. (2013). Inter-provincial employees in Alberta.
Ottawa: Statistics Canada.

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