New Workplace Harassment Protections for Federal Employees in Canada

For Canadian workplaces that are federally-regulated under the Canada Labour Code, there will be new and revamped Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations, which came into effect on January 1, 2021. This is a very important development of which both employers and employees should be aware.

Most importantly, this new law recognizes and responds to the significant impact that workplace harassment and violence can have on employee physical and psychological health, as well as on overall workplace morale and productivity. This is critical, since workplace harassment and violence in a federally-regulated workplace can increase employees’ stress and anxiety, harm workers’ health and reduce employee engagement and productivity, and form a typical case of constructive dismissal, wrongful dismissal and the need for employees to negotiate a severance package.

The objective of this new law is to ensure a healthy and safe working environment that prevents and stops all forms of workplace harassment and violence. While there already exists some protections in the Canada Labour Code , this new law will strengthen those requirements by establishing a clear, comprehensive set of rules to address all forms of workplace harassment and violence. The cornerstone of this new law is a requirement that all federally-regulated employers prevent, respond to and provide support to employees affected by workplace harassment and violence.

In many ways, this is a long overdue revamping of the Canada Labour Code’s protections against workplace harassment and violence, and allows it to catch up the more robust protections existing at the provincial law under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act.

A key snapshot of the new workplace harassment enhancements to the Canada Labour Code:

requiring employers to have a process is in place to deal with workplace harassment and violence, and to ensure that issues are resolved in a timely and transparent manner;
identifying risk factors that contribute to harassment and violence in the workplace and developing and implementing preventative measures to mitigate these risks; and
developing harassment and violence training and ensure that all parties in the workplace, including the employer, participate in this training.

So, put simply, the 3 main goals of the new federal workplace law are to require employers to: (i) prevent workplace harassment and violence; (ii) respond to reports/complaints of workplace harassment and violence; and (iii) provide support to victims of workplace harassment and violence.

What is Workplace Harassment?

It refers to “any action, conduct, or comment, including of a sexual nature, that can reasonably be expected to cause offence, humiliation or other physical or psychological injury or illness to an employee, including any prescribed action, conduct or comment.”

Key Points

The Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations augment the Canada Labour Code applies to all federally-regulated workplaces, such as banks, railways, federal public service, national trucking companies and airlines.

This new law addresses significant inadequacies under the previous framework in the Canada Labour Code dealing with workplace harassment and violence, in part by:

expressly requiring employers to prevent workplace harassment and violence and of physical and psychological injuries and illnesses
conduct an assessment to identify risk factors that can lead to harassment and violence, including taking into account workplace culture and organizational structure, and implement preventative measures to mitigate rusk risks within 6 months
develop emergency procedures to quickly respond to situations where an employee’s health and safety are in danger
appoint a “Designated Recipient” to whom employees can report an occurrence of workplace harassment and violence, but this person cannot be in a management position
establishing that a workplace harassment complaint can be brought either in writing, orally, or anonymously, and that employers must review the complaint and contact the complainant and witnesses within 7 days
specifying that a workplace harassment or violence complaints should not involve:
- situations involving a perpetrator that is neither the employer or a fellow employee
- the incident complained of as workplace harassment and violence is a “normal condition” of the person’s job
- the employer already has measures or a complaint mechanism in place to address workplace harassment or violence
conduct a full investigation into the workplace harassment or violence occurrence using an investigator that is trained and qualified in investigation techniques, workplace harassment and human rights law – and by no later than 1 year after the workplace harassment and violence complaint
provide an investigation report to the complainant and responding party that describes the workplace harassment or violence occurrence, conclusions and recommendations to eliminate or minimize the risk of a similar occurrence (without naming anyone’s identity)
extends employers’ obligations to former employees by allowing them to bring forward a formal complaint regarding workplace harassment and violence as long as they do so within no later than 3 months after their employment ends (termination of employment)
requiring employers to provide all employees with workplace harassment and violence prevention training, including informing them of their rights and responsibilities, and how to recognize, minimize, prevent and respond to workplace harassment and violence
record and report all occurrences of workplace harassment and violence on an annual basis to the federal Minister of Labour
restricts policy committees, work place committees and health and safety representatives from participating in investigations related to an occurrence of harassment and violence in the work place (such as by requiring the victim’s permission before providing such representatives with any information likely to reveal their identity)

Contact Employment Lawyer

If you are an employee or an employer seeking an experienced employment lawyer to help with workplace harassment issues, please contact Bune Law today at 647-822-5492.

Disclaimer: The content on this website and blog is not legal advice or legal opinion of any kind, and is only general information. It is in no way particular to your individual case and should not be relied upon in any way. The outcome of a legal matter depends on its unique circumstances, and prior successes are not indicative of future results. No portion or use of this website or blog will establish a lawyer-client relationship with the author, this law firm or any related party. Should you require legal advice for your particular situation, please fill out the form below, or call 647-822-5492, to request an initial consultation.