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Canadian employment and labour quarterly
This newsletter will keep employers up to date on Canadian employment and labour developments and best practices.
Global | Publication | November 2015
As part of the Ontario government’s March 2015 report “It’s Never Okay: An Action Plan to Stop Sexual Violence and Harassment” a new bill is before the Ontario legislature. Bill 132, Sexual Violence and Harassment Action Plan Act (Supporting Survivors and Challenging Sexual Violence and Harassment), 2015 (the Bill), which has already passed its first reading in Ontario’s parliament, includes a number of amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act (the Act). It’s important for all employers to be aware of the Bill and its new requirements.
The Bill’s amendments include an addition to the current definition of “workplace harassment” under s. 1 of the Act. Currently, “workplace harassment” is defined as “engaging in a course of vexatious comment or conduct against a worker in a workplace that is known or ought reasonably to be known to be unwelcome.” This would be supplemented by the term “workplace sexual harassment,” which is defined as:
These changes incorporate the grounds for discrimination under the Ontario Human Rights Code.
In addition, the proposed amendments to the definition of workplace harassment would be subject to the following exception:
The Act currently requires the employer to develop and maintain a program to implement its workplace harassment policy that includes measures and procedures for workers to report incidents of workplace harassment to the employer or supervisor, and sets out how the employer will investigate and deal with such incidents and complaints. Under the Bill, these requirements would include the following:
The Act currently requires the employer to provide the worker with any information and instruction that is appropriate for the worker on the contents of the workplace harassment policy and program. The Bill would create new requirements for employers, including that:
In addition, employers may be subject to an order to cause such an investigation to be conducted, at the expense of the employer, by an impartial person possessing such knowledge, experience or qualifications as are specified by the inspector and to obtain, at the expense of the employer, a written report by that person.
Many additional changes are also found in the Bill, a copy of which can be accessed here.
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