Stephen Hammond's
Tip #3 — HARASSMENT BY THE BULLY
Most employees in Canada work in a jurisdiction requiring employers to have policies, procedures and education regarding bullying, not just human rights harassment like sexual harassment or racial harassment. These expanded forms of protections for inappropriate workplace behaviours are often referred to as bullying, psychological harassment, general harassment or personal harassment.
Behaviours of this nature are often dealt with through various departments such as labour, health and safety, or workers’ compensation. If I had a complaint of bullying, most of these jurisdictions will deal with my complaint as follows:
- Ask me to put it down in writing (or they can help)
- They’ll talk to my employer about my concern
- If my employer has the required policies and procedures on bullying & other forms of harassment, they’ll ask them if they are following it
- If they are following it, they’ll ask them to please deal with this issue of bullying
- There’s a certain “hammer” that can be used against employers who don’t deal with bullying, but so far it’s not like the “hammer” found under human rights legislation. Regardless, a smart employer will fix any problems they discover at their workplace. And the formula is pretty simple when it comes to changing inappropriate workplace behaviours.
With any clients I work for, they all have workplace policies that give employee protection against bullying and all forms of harassment. Many go beyond the minimum requirements of the law, because they fear being a bad employer more than they fear breaking the law. Deal with behaviours in a common sense manner and you won’t have to worry about the law.
SUPERVISORY SUGGESTIONS:
Educate employees to change their behaviour – in many ways. Education can be done in formal training with "bums in seats" or through online courses. But it can also be done through informal discussions where everyone is clear on the policies and expected behaviours.
Encourage employees to speak up - all the education in the world is only as good as people's ability to speak up and assert those various policies. Employees learn pretty quickly if the education they received had any merit to it. If they see that supervisors and managers can get away with bullying behaviour, it's unlikely they will speak up. If employees are supported when they speak up over legitimate concerns, they will speak up more often.
Ensure there are consequences for bullies - part of speaking up is knowing that if bad behaviour continues, there will be consequences. There may be no consequences needed if something is resolved amicably or a misunderstanding is cleared up. However, if bad behaviour continues, there must be consequences... hopefully the kind that leads bullies to stop their bullying ways. You always want a positive change in behaviour as the end result.
Tip #4 — THERE ARE NO LOOPHOLES FOR 3RD PARTY HARASSMENT
Is there a loophole if harassment is overheard by a "third party" - someone to whom the comment or joke wasn't directed? There’s no loophole for addressing such behaviour.
Remember that in 1989, the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously said "sexual harassment in the workplace may be broadly defined as unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that detrimentally affects the work environment or leads to adverse job-related consequences for the victims of the harassment." And remember this definition also applies similarly to other forms of protected human rights grounds, such as race, place of origin, religion, etc.
As per the definition of harassment, if a person hears comments that are unwelcome and cause a negative impact, then you've either got harassment, or the beginnings of harassment. So, if you get the sense that your employees assume they can say whatever they want at their desks and in the lunch room and tough luck for anyone who happens to be within earshot, set them straight. Harassment is harassment and it doesn't matter whether a person is a first, second or third party to the harassment.
SUPERVISORY SUGGESTIONS:
Just think of the definition - and don't worry about side issues. What a wonderful loophole it would be if someone wanted to get to me with an outrageous comment, just by saying, "it wasn't intended for your ears". If the comments fit the definition of harassment, then that's what you deal with.
Opinions also count - and aren't another loophole. Many people say, "well, it's just my opinion," thinking that's not hurtful or a legal problem. Who knows what is opinion and what is not? If comments are hurtful and they have a negative impact, that's what you need to deal with.
Facts also count - regardless of what they feel. I've heard people say, "it's a fact" as an excuse for allowing all kinds of outrageous comments. For example, "this group is cheap" or "that group can't drive and causes all the accidents." In almost all cases there are few facts and loads of stereotypes. And let's even go out on a limb and say there are some facts that have some truth to them. So what? That doesn't mean it has to be repeated at work when it has a negative impact.
These are TIPS 3 &
4 of 26 BI-WEEKLY TIPS for managers and supervisors.
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