Human Rights is defined as rights that belong to an individual as a consequence of being human. The term came into wide use after World War II, replacing the earlier phrase "natural rights," which had been associated with the Greco-Roman concept of natural law since the end of the Middle Ages.

As understood today, human rights refer to a wide variety of values and capabilities reflecting the diversity of human circumstances and history. They are conceived of as universal, applying to all human beings everywhere, and as fundamental, referring to essential or basic human needs.

Human Rights have been classified historically in terms of the notion of three "generations" of human rights, with a fourth found in industrial countries in recent times.

The first generation of civil and political rights, associated with the Enlightenment and the English, American, and French revolutions, includes the rights to life and liberty and the rights to freedom of speech and worship.
The second generation of economic, social, and cultural rights were associated with revolts against unregulated capitalism from the mid-19th century, including the right to work and the right to an education.

The third generation of solidarity rights, associated with the political and economic aspirations of developing and newly decolonized countries after World War II, includes the collective rights to political self-determination and economic development. Since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, many treaties and agreements for the protection of human rights have been concluded through the auspices of the United Nations, and several regional systems of human rights law have been established.

Around the world 110 National human rights institutions have been set up to protect, promote or monitor human rights in a given country. Not all of them are compliant with the United Nation’s advisory standards, but the number and effect of these institutions is increasing.

The fourth generation of human rights is the one in which people of western industrialized countries know from a more practical perspective. These rights are enshrined in human rights and civil rights legislation pertaining to freedom from discrimination and harassment based on a list of characteristics, such as race, sex or gender, place of origin, colour of skin, sexual orientation and disability (just to mention a few).

While people might feel slighted by individuals in a passing encounter, not all feelings of human rights violations will be protected by law. Usually, human rights legislation will protect people from discrimination and harassment in employment, housing (renting or owning), services available to the general population, union affiliation and associations as well as publication and advertising.

Not all of the list of characteristics will be available for all the areas of protection, so it becomes important to find out exactly which characteristics are protected in which circumstances.

Stephen Hammond’s book Managing human rights at work: 101 practical tips to prevent human rights disasters includes Tip#16 “Majority rules” doesn’t apply to human rights, Tip #63 Human rights aren’t confined to a commission, Tip #70 Discuss human rights issues regularly and Tip#71 Encourage real dialogue on human rights issues. Over 10,000 copies of this book have been sold to managers and supervisors.

Stephen Hammond’s book, Steps in the Rights Direction: 365 human rights celebrations and tragedies that inspired Canada and the world reveals all sorts of interesting facts and history regarding human rights in Canada and around the world. Each fact from the book can be read on Stephen’s site via his human rights calendar or you can listen to one human rights fact per day on his podcast.


In Stephen Hammond’s e-newsletter titled: Managing Human Rights Tip #1 - Watch Your Mouth he points out that respecting workplace human rights doesn't have to include judges, tribunals, or even confrontation. Most employees and customers don't face outrageous human rights issues. Problems usually arise from careless comments or holding onto outdated language that can be changed quite simply.

Click here for Stephen Hammond’s previous newsletters on human rights.