A Respectful Workplace:
What Every Employer Should Know
About Workplace Harassment
Noel Flynn
Alegria Associates
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Our Changing World
Society is constantly evolving. Technological and
social changes raise corresponding ethical and moral
challenges
Communications/social media –
race relations and reporter incidents
Medical advances – stem cell
transplants and assisted suicide
Fracking – social, environmental and
safety concerns
Cultural and lifestyle diversity in the
workplace – interpersonal implications
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History of Workplace
Health & Safety
 Physical Safety – late 1800’s early 1900’s
 Emotional/Psychological Safety - last 25 years
• Sexual Harassment Policies - early 1990’s
• Respectful Workplace Policies - late 1990’s
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Topics Covered
 What employers/employees need to know
 Legislation
 Current Issues and Trends
 Case Law
 Preventative Initiatives
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Legal Responsibility
 Human Rights Code
 OH&S Legislation
 Owners/Senior Management/Supervisors
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Cost of Harassment to the
Company and Employees
 Morale/Absenteeism/Presenteeism
 Financial ($16,000 per complaint handled internally –
$48,000 for court cases)
 Safety/productivity
 Recruiting
 Image in the community (RCMP, CBC, Dalhousie)
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Current Canadian OH&S
Legislation
 Three provinces include workplace harassment
provisions in OHS legislation:
• Sask., Man. and Ont. define “harassment” and outline
procedures.
 Quebec in the Act Respecting Labour Standards:
“Every employee has a right to a work environment free
from psychological harassment.”
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Current NL OH&S Legislation
 Nfld. OH&S Act Sect 5: “the employer shall, where it is
reasonably practicable, provide and maintain a workplace
and the necessary equipment, systems and tools that are
safe and without risk to the health of his or her workers”
 Nfld, OH&S Act Sect 7: “A worker shall co-operate with his
or her employer and with other workers in the workplace to
protect:
(i) his or her own health and safety,
(ii) the health and safety of other workers engaged in the work
of the employer,
(iii) the health and safety of other workers or persons not
engaged in the work of the employer but present at or near
the workplace
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Canadian Standards
Association Report (2013)
 Psychological health and safety in the workplace
 Commissioned by the Mental Health Commission of
Canada
 Detailed guidelines for companies and organizations
 www.csagroup.org
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CCOHS Top Four Factors Affecting
the Psychological Health of the
Organization and Employee
 Psychological support
 Organizational culture
 Clear leadership and expectations
 Civility and respect
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What Employees
Need to Know
 Human Rights Code
 Company Expectations:
• Respectful behavior
• Unacceptable behavior
• What to do when being harassed
• Complaint process
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Types of Harassment
Personal
Sexual
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Personal Harassment
 Personal harassment is defined as comments or conducts
which are abusive, offensive, demeaning or vexatious to an
employee, that are known or ought reasonably to be known
to be unwelcome, may endanger an employee’s job,
undermine job performance, or threaten their economic
livelihood. It may be intended or unintended.
 It may consist of one, or a series of repeated incidents.
 It may be in person or through e-mail, text or social media
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Examples of Personal Harassment
 Yelling
 Bullying
 Gossip
 Favourtism/Ostracizing
 Cursing or swearing at
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Sexual Harassment
“Unwanted and unwelcomed behavior of a
sexual nature. It is one-sided, coercive,
unsolicited sexual behavior, comments,
gestures, physical conduct, advances, or
solicitation that an individual finds unwanted,
unwelcome, objectionable or offensive (onetime basis or series of incidents)”
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Examples of Sexual Harassment
 Quid pro quo
 Offensive material
 Unwelcome remarks
 Unwelcome physical contact (e.g. touching, patting etc.)
 Leering, staring, ogling
 Unwelcome enquiries about a person’s sex life
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Angus Reid Poll (Nov 2014)
 Online survey of 1,054 Canadians currently working, or who
have worked, outside of the home
 30% have been on the receiving end of unwelcome sexual
advances, requests for sexual favors, or sexually charged talk
while on the job or at an office function
 76% said it happened more than once
 28% said it happened more than five times
 20% reported incident(s) to their employer
 Of the 80% who didn’t:
• 40% confronted the harasser directly
• 35% spoke to someone else (family member or friend)
• 25% did nothing, requested a transfer, or left their job
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Why People Engage in Harassing
and Disrespectful Behavior
 Learned behavior
 They don’t know its unacceptable
 They are insecure
 They are allowed:
• Star performers or producers
• Management and supervisory staff want to avoid conflict and
are unwilling, or ill equipped, to appropriately confront
harassers
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Who Gets Targeted?
 Women
 People who are different
 Persons with a mental illness
 Passive or insecure people
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Canadian Scene in Past Year
 Air Canada Pilots
 CBC (Janice Rubin report)
 MP’s (Cynthia Petersen report)
 Dalhousie Dental School
 RCMP
 Provincial Govt.
 Canadian Armed Forces (Marie Deschamps report)
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Canadian Case Law
 $1.46 million Wal-Mart Canada – 2013 (personal
harassment and bullying)
 $23,000 Payette v Alarm Guard Security Service, 2011
(sexual harassment)
 $15,000 Simpson v Tim Hortons, 2010 (personal
harassment)
 $22,500 Farris v Staubach, Ontario Inc. 2010 (sexual
harassment) – Owners/Managers held personably liable
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The Perfect Storm
 No policy in place
 Insufficient education/training
 Ignore inappropriate behaviors (harassment and
disrespect)
 Poor response to complaints:
• Minimize/rationalize nature of complaint
• Poor investigative process
• Lack of follow-up
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Organizational Dynamics
Similar to Addiction
 Outsiders recognize the problem
 Denial
 Emotional cost
 Financial cost
 Intervention required for resolution
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Preventative Action
 Policy (by itself – not enough)
 Executive/Senior Management leadership
 Employee education
 Management and Supervisory training
 Making respect an inherent element of the
organizational culture
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Rethinking Respect
Respect in the workplace is more
than the absence of harassment
Speak out against disrespect, show
support and be a champion
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Alegria Associates
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