Question Period Note: Harassment And Sexual Violence In Federal Workplaces

Harassment and violence, including domestic violence, continues to be an ongoing issue in workplaces within the federally regulated sector. As highlighted in an article published by Le Droit on January 29th, investments are needed to support training on how to respond to domestic violence in the work place. The Government has already strengthened provisions in the Canada Labour Code and passed new Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations on January 1, 2021 and continues to prioritize the effective implementation of these changes.

• Bill C-65 (the Bill) received Royal Assent on October 25, 2018. The Bill and associated Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations (the Regulations) came into force on January 1, 2021.

• This historic piece of legislation creates a more robust and integrated regime protecting employees from harassment and violence in federal workplaces – including the federally regulated private sector, the federal public service and parliamentary workplaces.

• Under the new Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations (the Regulations), federally regulated employers, including Ministers, are required to take steps to prevent, protect against, and respond to occurrences of harassment and violence in the workplace, which includes a spectrum of reprehensible behaviours ranging from teasing/bullying to sexual harassment and physical violence.

• Further, employers have key obligations including conducting workplace risk assessments; developing workplace harassment and violence prevention policies; developing or identifying training on harassment and violence; and, following specific steps and timelines in a resolution process when responding to notice of occurrences of harassment and violence.

• Budget 2018 committed $34.9 million over five years, starting in 2018-19, and $7.4 million per year ongoing to support this regime. It also provides several other measures to support victims of violence, including guidance documents, a roster of investigators developed through a tripartite working group, and paid leave for victims of family violence in the federally regulated private sector.

• The Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Fund ($3.5M/year) was established to support implementation and help guide culture change around harassment and violence in the workplace. Seven projects are currently underway and include the development of tools and resources and training materials for a variety of workplaces across Canada, including workplaces in First Nations communities and in the marine, trucking, banking and performing arts sectors.

• The Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women & Children at Western University was awarded $2M in funding in 2019 to develop tools and resources for employers to respond effectively to harassment and violence associated with domestic violence in the workplace. The project will contribute to the physical and psychological health and safety of employees in federally regulated workplaces and beyond.

Mandate letter commitment

• One of the priorities in the Minister of Labour’s December 2021 mandate is to “continue to support employers and unions to strengthen harassment and violence prevention measures in federally regulated workplaces”.

Bill C-65

• Following comprehensive consultations by the Labour Program with federally regulated employers, unions and subject matter experts, Bill C-65 was drafted and tabled on November 7, 2017, and received Royal Assent on October 25, 2018.

Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations Consultations

• The consultations, which started in March 2018, were held in three phases: in-person roundtables across the country, WebEx sessions, and online. The online consultations were open to the public from July 24th to October 5th, 2018.

• Over 1,000 Canadians participated in the round tables, WebEx sessions, and requested presentations. In addition, approximately 18,000 Canadians visited the consultations and survey websites, over 1,000 completed the online survey and close to 60 individuals and organizations submitted detailed responses. Survey respondents were overwhelmingly supportive of the proposed regulations.

• Key elements of the new regulatory framework includes requiring employers to:
o Co-develop with their workplace committee or representative a comprehensive harassment and violence prevention policy and mandatory training programs specific to the context of their workplace;
o Provide employees who are the object of a harassment and violence occurrence with options for the resolution process;
o Implement measures to mitigate the risk of family violence from entering the workplace;
o Provide support to employees who have been affected by harassment and violence; and,
o Report on all occurrences in the workplace to the Labour Program to improve data collection.

• The new draft Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations were pre-published in Canada Gazette, Part I on April 27, 2019, for a thirty-day public comment period.

• Key issues raised included:
o Inability to assess the occurrence against the definition of “harassment and violence”;
o No exception for work places where harassment and violence are a normal condition of work e.g., Correctional Services Canada and Royal Canadian Mounted Police;
o Timelines for the resolution process were protracted;
o Inability to continue or initiate conciliation if an investigation has begun; and
o Burden of requiring to work jointly with employee representatives.

• The above issues were considered and addressed as part of the review and revision of the draft Regulations.

• Regulations were published in the Canada Gazette, Part II, on June 24, 2020, and came into force on January 1, 2021.

Bill C-65: Harassment and Violence Regime

• Bill C-65 amends the Canada Labour Code to create a single, integrated regime that will protect federally regulated employees from harassment and violence in the workplace. More specifically, it would:

o Expand the current violence prevention requirements under Part II (Occupational Health and Safety) to ensure that employers take the necessary steps to prevent and protect against both harassment and violence in the workplace;
o Repeal the sexual harassment provisions currently found in Part III (Labour Standards);
o Require employers to investigate, record and report occurrences of harassment and violence, subject to regulatory requirements;
o Protect the privacy of employees who report occurrences of harassment and violence in order to encourage potential victims to come forward;
o Narrow the grounds for exemption from the establishment of a workplace committee;
o Extend coverage of Part II of the Code to cover staff in ministers’ offices, also known as “exempt staff”;
o Incorporate by reference Part II of the Code within the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act to ensure that parliamentary workers benefit from the same occupational health and safety protections as other federally regulated workers; and
o Provide the Minister of Labour with the power to establish pilot projects to test new amendments under the Code to determine if they would lead to better outcomes for employees and employers.

• In Budget 2018, which was announced on February 27, 2018, the Government committed $34.9 million over five years, starting in 2018-19, and $7.4 million per year ongoing to support activities included in the proposed regime under Bill C-65. This new funding will be used for assisting workplace parties in resolving harassment and violence complaints, establishing an outreach hub to support employees, regulatory development and enforcement activities, training programs for inspectors, an awareness campaign, education materials and tools, and funding other initiatives related to harassment.

• Budget 2018 also contains several other measures to support victims of violence, including amendments to the Canada Labour Code to provide a total of five days of personal leave per calendar year, with the first three days paid, to workers in the federally regulated private sector for reasons including to treat an injury or illness, take care of health obligations for any member of a worker’s family or care for them, and manage any urgent situation that concerns the worker or a family member. This paid leave will build on the new 10-day unpaid leave for victims of family violence that was introduced in the Code and came into force September 1, 2019. This will help employees protect their financial security while they seek the support they need. Research shows that financial dependence is one of the most significant reasons why victims of family violence stay with their abuser, or return after leaving.

• Statistics Canada released a report on December 5, 2019, titled: Gender-based violence and unwanted sexual behaviour in Canada, 2018: Initial Findings from the Survey of Safety on Public and Private Spaces.

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