Employment

Trans people in British Columbia have:

• Trans people who need regular access to medical professionals due to transition may be excluded from military service.

• The right to equal access to employment. This means an employer cannot refuse to hire us because we are trans. An employer cannot fire us because we disclose we are trans or because someone outs us. There are some very narrow exceptions:

• In BC, there is an exception in the BC Human Rights Code that allows non-profits that serve an identifiable, ‘vulnerable’ group (such as women) to discriminate against trans people. This was used to prevent one woman from volunteering with a domestic/sexual violence organization because she was trans (Nixon v. Vancouver Rape Relief Society, 2005 BCCA 601). Fortunately, many women’s organizations (including every organization affiliated with the Ending Violence Association of BC) welcome and include trans women.

• Unless the employer falls under one of these two categories, they must not discriminate against trans people.

• The right to equal pay for equal work. This means an employer cannot pay us differently from other employees because we are trans.

• The right to fair access to promotion and training opportunities. An employer cannot deny us a promotion or training opportunity because we are trans.

• The right to have our chosen name and pronouns used in the workplace, regardless of our legal name and legal sex. This includes all internal forms, work email addresses, and ID badges. If our chosen name is not the same as our legal name, our employer may need to include our legal name on some government forms. We can ask our employer to include a note with these forms that indicates our chosen name.

• The right to change your gender identity and presentation on the job. This will likely go much smoother if we talk to our supervisor or human resource person first. This applies even if we do not plan on having surgery.

• It’s not fair, but you may have to educate your employer about what it means to be trans. It might help you feel less nervous if you plan out what you want to say ahead of time. You might want to give your employer some pamphlets, links to websites, books, or other information to help them understand. Many employers are open to accommodating trans employees, but are unsure of how to help and nervous about doing the wrong thing.

• Work with your supervisor or human resource manager to come up with a plan for transition that works for you and your employer. There is no one way that someone should transition at work. It all depends on what you are comfortable with. Some people choose to transition slowly, while others take a few days off and present in their affirmed gender as soon as they get back.

• The right to access a washroom or change room that is appropriate for your gender.

• The right to wear a uniform that corresponds to your gender identity.

• The right to be protected by the employer from bullying and harassment we might face related to your gender identity or expression.

• The right to keep our trans status confidential, if we so choose. If our employer is aware that we are trans, they must keep that information confidential.

• The right to take time off work for medically necessary treatments, including gender-affirming surgeries. We do not need to tell our employer what kind of surgery we are having. Our employer has the right to know and ask:
  • When we expect to be off.
  • How long we will be off.
  • Whether the procedure might affect our ability to do our job, and if so, how.
  • Whether we will need any special accommodation on our return to work.

Our employer can ask for a note from our doctor confirming any of these things. We can lessen the risk that we will have problems in the workplace by:

• Providing our employer with a doctor’s note confirming our need for time off and the dates we are expected to be off.

• Giving our employer as much notice as possible that we will need time off.

• Working with our supervisor and co-workers to make sure our work can be covered while we are off.

• Staying in touch with our employer while we are off, even just to check in and see how things are going.

• Giving our employer regular updates if our return to work date changes.