Marital and Family Status

"Marital status" is the status of being married, singled, widowed, divorced or separated and includes the status of living with a person of the opposite sex in a conjugal relationship outside marriage. Employer policies and procedures relating to hiring, probation, benefits, promotion, discipline and dismissal cannot have the effect, directly or indirectly, of discriminating on the basis of marital status. Family status involves the status of being in a parent and child relationship. This would include both a biological and adoptive parent.

An example of discrimination on the basis of marital status would be where an employer prefers to hire a married man over an unmarried man in the belief that the married man may be more stable and less likely to move on to alternate employment in the short term. Similarly, an employer's reluctance to hire young married woman out of concern that they may become pregnant which could lead to a disruption of the individual's employment. Some employers may prefer to hire single people in the belief that they have few outside responsibilities and are therefore more likely to be dedicated to their work. All of these considerations are prohibited under both the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Federal Canadian Human Rights Act.

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