• Employment equity means fairness in the workplace. No one should face employment barriers simply by virtue of being a woman, a person with a disability, an Aboriginal person, or a member of a visible minority. Yet, the reality is that qualified individuals from these groups have traditionally been hired, employed, and promoted at rates well below their availability in the labour market. The Employment Equity Act aims at ensuring that members of these four designated groups are treated equitably.
   
• The Act applies to the federal public service, as well as federal Crown corporations and federally-regulated firms employing 100 or more people. These include the post office, airlines, railroads, interprovincial bus and trucking companies, banks and telephone and broadcasting companies.
   
• The Canadian Human Rights Commission is responsible for ensuring that employers comply with the Act. It does so by conducting compliance audits.

• First, employers can be found in compliance with the Act if their workforce is fully representative. In such cases—and these cases are rare—the Commission ensures that employers put in place a few simple measures required by the Act, mainly to ensure that their workforce continues to be fully representative.
   
• Second, employers who do not have a fully representative workforce—and this is the majority—can be found in compliance if they have successfully implemented the measures required by the Act to find the causes of under-representation, and have established an employment equity plan designed to correct employment practices, provide accommodation, take positive measures, set goals, and inform and consult with employees and union representatives. The Act also requires that they make reasonable efforts to implement their plan, monitor its effectiveness, and review it regularly.

What happens in an initial audit

• The employer receives an audit notification letter and is then contacted by a compliance review officer. The officer proposes an audit plan and sends a questionnaire to the employer.
   
• Using the questionnaire’s results, the officer completes a "desk audit" that assesses compliance against the Act’s 12 requirements. The officer then visits the workplace to verify the findings and review the preliminary results with the employer.
   
• If the employer is in compliance, a final audit report is completed. If not, the officer drafts an interim report, indicating the undertakings required for compliance and time limits of up to 12 months for their completion.
   
• The officer and the employer then negotiate the undertakings and time limits in the report. Once an agreement has been reached, the employer signs the report.

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What happens in a follow-up audit

• The employer submits a progress report and a follow-up audit is conducted to assess whether or not the undertakings have been fulfilled.
   
• If the employer is then in compliance, a final report is issued.

What happens after compliance

• Once an employer is found in compliance, the Commission monitors the progress of hiring, promotion and representation. If the employer does not achieve sufficient progress, the Act allows the Commission to conduct another audit—or implementation audit—and require new undertakings. The Act also allows the Commission to take enforcement measures if employers do not implement their undertakings.

When is a direction issued

• If an employer refuses to agree to undertakings, has not completed the work required by undertakings, or does not cooperate with the auditor, the Commission may issue a "direction" to the employer. A direction stipulates the work required and the time limit for its completion. The employer can review the recommendation for a direction and may submit comments to the Commissioners before they decide whether or not to issue it. A follow-up audit after the time limit elapses will assess whether or not the employer has fulfilled the direction.

What is the role of the Employment Equity Review Tribunal?

• Once the Commission has issued a direction, the employer may request a tribunal to reconsider it. The Commission may also ask a tribunal to issue an order when a direction has not been fulfilled.

What is the role of the Federal Court of Canada?

• The Court may carry out a judicial review of a decision of the Commission or a tribunal.
   
• A tribunal order may be registered with the Federal Court, thus giving it the force of a court order.
   
• After a tribunal order or a Federal Court endorsement, the Commission may undertake an audit to ensure compliance.