What Employers Need to Know about Workplace Bullying and Harassment: Difference between revisions
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What Employers Need to Know about Workplace Bullying and Harassment (view source)
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# Understand your duties to prevent and address workplace bullying and harassment; | # Understand your duties to prevent and address workplace bullying and harassment; | ||
# Do not take part in bullying and harassment of workers and supervisors; | # Do not take part in bullying and harassment of workers and supervisors; | ||
# Develop a written policy statement. This policy statement should state clearly that workplace bullying and harassment is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. You must make sure that workers are aware of the policy statement; | |||
policy statement should state clearly that | # Develop and implement policies and procedures for workers to report incidents and complaints of workplace bullying and harassment; | ||
workplace bullying and harassment is | # Develop and implement procedures for investigating incidents and complaints; and | ||
unacceptable and will not be tolerated. You | # Inform and train workers and supervisors about the following: | ||
must make sure that workers are aware of | |||
the policy statement; | * how to recognize bullying and harassment | ||
* how workers who experience or witness bullying and harassment should report it | |||
procedures for workers to report incidents | * where workers can go for help and what help will be provided | ||
and complaints of workplace bullying and | * who the contacts are for reporting incidents | ||
harassment; | * who is responsible for following up on complaints and incidents | ||
investigating incidents and complaints; and | ==Working to prevent and reduce workplace bullying and harassment== | ||
about the | As an employer you must take actions to prevent or reduce workplace bullying and harassment as much as possible. For example, if you are aware of circumstances that present a risk of workplace bullying and harassment you might need to: | ||
* provide direction and supervision to affected workers | |||
* offer training on managing difficult situations | |||
* make workplace arrangements to reduce the risks of bullying and harassment. | |||
==Reporting incidents== | |||
As an employer you must put procedures in place that state how you will deal with incidents of bullying and harassment in the workplace. | |||
Your procedures should: | |||
* provide a reasonable response | |||
* aim to fully address the incident | |||
* make sure future bullying and harassment is prevented or reduced as much as possible | |||
* indicate to workers how to report bullying and harassment | |||
* advise workers whom they should report to | |||
* state what should be included in the report | |||
* provide details on how an investigation will be conducted | |||
* what follow-up will occur, including the time frame for addressing the behaviour and possible corrective actions. | |||
The procedures about reporting should also include what the worker can do if the bully is: | |||
* the employer, a supervisor, a person acting on behalf of the employer or | |||
* a client, a customer, or someone else outside the workplace structure. | |||
If you have a small business with few personnel, then your procedures can say that workers can contact the WorkSafeBC prevention information line to report the incident. | |||
Lower mainland 604.276.3100 | |||
Within B.C. 1.888.621.7233 | |||
==Conducting an investigation== | |||
The purpose of conducting an investigation is to determine whether bullying and harassment has occurred. | |||
An employer needs to make it clear to workers that complaints will be treated seriously and addressed promptly. Investigations should: | |||
* take place promptly and be as thorough as is necessary | |||
* be fair and impartial | |||
* be sensitive to everyone’s interests and maintain confidentiality as much as possible | |||
* provide assistance with the process to the people involved if they ask for it or if they need it. | |||
WorkSafeBC’s website on bullying and harassment has an investigations guide that includes sample questions employers can ask as part of an investigation process. It is available in the resources section of the website. | |||
==Inspections== | |||
WorkSafeBC will inspect workplaces to make sure employers have taken reasonable steps to develop and implement an effective program to prevent and address workplace bullying and harassment. | |||
{{REVIEWED | reviewer = [[People's Law School]], 2014}} | {{REVIEWED | reviewer = [[People's Law School]], 2014}} | ||