Combating the Varieties of Violence at Work

How Canada Is Addressing On-the-Job Aggression

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Workplace violence prevention regulations recently went into effect in Canada on a federal level. Now employers under federal jurisdiction must develop workplace violence prevention policies that identify all factors contributing to workplace violence, including bullying, teasing, and other harmful behavior.

Some Canadian provinces have also passed legislation dealing with this problem. In 2004, Quebec amended its Labour Standards Act to deal with psychological harassment in the workplace. Saskatchewan made workplace bullying illegal in 2007 by passing the Occupational Health and Safety Harassment Prevention Amendment Act. The act broadened the definition of harassment to include psychological harassment.

In Ontario, Bill 29 was introduced in 2007 and would amend the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act. Bill 29 proposes to protect workers from harassment and violence in the workplace and includes protection from psychological abuse and bullying behaviors in the workplace. Similarly, Bill 168 would amend the Occupational Health and Safety Act and address harassment and violence at work.

In Canadian courts, significant precedent has been set that has caused employers to seriously consider formally addressing many types of workplace harassment, including bullying. In one example, the province of Newfoundland was ordered to pay $875,000 in damages to a disabled government worker whose employment was terminated after a campaign of harassment by his coworkers. The verdict showed there are serious consequences for allowing the continuation of workplace bullying (Canada Safety Council, 2004).

The United States is also making progress in this area. In 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court substantially enhanced legal protection against retaliation for employees who complain about discrimination or harassment on the job. The decision adopted a broadly worded and employee-friendly definition of the type of retaliation that is prohibited by the basic federal law against discrimination in employment (Greenhouse, 2006).