Illegal HR business practices

What do you do when your boss makes a lewd comment you find offensive? How about if they undercut your pay by not giving you your overtime? Have they somehow managed to pay you less than minimum wage? These are everyday situations many Canadians, and throughout the world have to go through, often alone. In certain places where I've worked, I was told the way to progress is to wear short skirts and low cut tops - certainly the women at the top proved this true; or paid less than the minimum, and so on and so forth. These situations tend to be known organization-wide. So if everyone knows about it, why does it continue?

Mostly, employees fear their jobs would be threatened, otherwise some organizations will simply just rely on their employees being too desperate for work to make waves, or people too invested in the company (a la the proverbial golden handcuffs) to leave. Other employees enjoy having the kind of power you have over a person when you can do something you know is wrong and suffer no consequences. Finally, many people know what has, over the years, become known as the whistleblower's curse, wherein you're commended for unveiling the evils of an organization, and rewarded with the inability to ever find work again.

The resolution? You know, it's really not that simple. Most cultures see the employment relationship as uneven, biased towards the employer, and for these situations to fade from the working world, cultures have to be rewritten to understand that authority does not mean unsurpassable power. So I suppose I'm not optimistic about eliminating this type of working relationship, but that doesn't mean there isn't anything we can do. 

We can, for example, make it easier for people to come forward. 

• All these protections we supposedly have for whistleblowers have to actually be in place and actionable. 
• Whenever an employee comes forward with an issue, it needs to be dealt with swiftly and publicly (within reason). 
• Make use of the new legislation changes to the Health and Safety Act (Bill 168) to make the steps for what to do if an employee suffers harassment or violence in the workplace clear and easy to follow. Make the most of the evaluations the Act requires you conduct.
• When in doubt, an open door policy is always in order. At least the employees should feel safe coming to HR with their issues.

As always, whatever the problem, HR is always part of the solution.