HR should make it clear 'that harassment can include communications made in cyberspace, on social media, via text via email, in blogs,' says lawyer
For a lot of people, the COVID pandemic changed the way they work – and that extended into harassment on the job.
That’s evident from a new report out of Alberta which found 37% of workers experience sexual harassment in the form of online messaging and text messages, while another 54% have witnessed this behaviour.
“The findings are not surprising, they are disappointing, because what this tells us is that no matter whether it’s in-person, or virtually, this problem persists, it just changes form,” says Carolyn Krahn, executive director of the Workers’ Resource Centre (WRC) in Calgary, which helps people file quasi-judicial claims through employment legislation.
WRC commissioned the report using funding from the federal department of justice, based on a survey between May 5 and 12.
Isolation breeds new area of concern
The results identified a troubling new aspect with the rise of work from home, according to Krahn.
“In a lot of ways, virtual harassment is almost more isolating than workplace harassment when you’re in a physical location because if you’re working from home, and you don’t have those colleagues and those work friends and HR to reach out to for support, it can be very confusing and isolating to know what to do when these types of situations happen.”
The study showed that 11% of respondents have experienced harassment while working remotely.
“That’s placing a lot of people into a high degree of isolation in remote or virtual work environments, in a time when job safety, it could be precarious, in terms of employment and retaining employment,” says Krahn.
For an employment lawyer, the findings are not unexpected.
“If anything, the remote-work scenarios created a breeding ground for that sort of thing because of people working in an isolated context, and perhaps not feeling properly supervised or properly supported,” says Kelly Nicholson, partner and a member of the Calgary labour and employment group at Field Law in Calgary.
“There’s also a point your laptop presents an obstacle to reporting where a complaint is warranted.”
In addition, the type of content has not changed.
“In terms of sexual harassment, the most commonly experienced one is sexual jokes and inappropriate comments,” she says. “The types of harassment have not changed, it’s just that you might be sitting in your office/bedroom as opposed to an office.”
Where to look for help
The WRC recently launched a new website that aims to help address the issue, Hereforhelp.ca.
“We had a number of conversations over the pandemic in our Zoom meetings about ‘How do we support people who experienced this?’ because what ends up happening inevitably is that someone has experienced sexual harassment at work, and will call somewhere, and then they’ll tell their story, which is extremely traumatizing and then that person will give them a number and they’ll call the other number and then another. So that person is having to tell their story five times and trigger themselves five times just to get the types of support that they require,” says Krahn.
Instead, WRC employed a “gender-based violence PhD educator” to design a site that sends employees directly to the right source.
“It’s a one-stop shop and it’s meant to cut down on that endless circular cycle of referral and really adopt a trauma-informed lens when supporting these victims of sexual harassment,” she says.
For those employers who are serious about eliminating harassment in the workplace, training is important, says Krahn, pointing to the Association of Alberta Sexual Assault Services (AASAS) as an excellent resource.
But providing education is not only the prudent thing to do, “it’s a really good way to save you some money down the line because an investment in this training, which is very inexpensive, helps establish that sexual harassment is not going to be condoned in this office, and will save employers money down the line in terms of civil claims filed through the Canadian Human Rights or the Alberta Human Rights Commission,” says Krahn.
Don’t turn a ‘blind eye’ to allegations of harassment
Employers would be wise to take complaints prudently and quickly, says Nicholson.
“It’s very important that employers treat complaints of harassment seriously and respond as promptly as the circumstances allow. It won’t do to shove this sort of thing under the carpet or turn a blind eye. The situation will only fester and get worse, and it’s in those scenarios that litigation of one kind or another tends to follow.”
The role for HR is clear in combatting this type of unwelcome behaviour, he says.
“Have a two-pronged strategy of having proper policies and proper training or education, so that everyone knows what the rules are and they know what the consequences are for breaking those rules. Making sure that training with respect to establishing and maintaining a respectful workplace has been delivered throughout the organization.”
As well, let employees know about these policies.
“Making sure that people understand they’re supported, that even though they’re sort of alone facing some other employee or group of employees who are bashing away at them, there is a mechanism there provided by the employer to help,” says Nicholson.
In-person and virtual harassment
Designing a robust policy is also a good idea to show that harassment is not tolerated in the workplace, he says.
“It’s important for employers to respond properly to developments in technology and the law so it might be that employers have entirely appropriate policies that address workplace behaviour, but that they have a standalone cyber-bullying policy or cyber-harassment policy that makes it clear that even if communications are exchanged outside the workplace, they may still fall within the scope of harassment policy.”
So, what should be included in the policy document?
“You have to properly define the conduct that the policy is addressing, so define what harassment is and make sure that it’s clear that harassment can include communications made in cyberspace, on social media, via text via email, in blogs. So any kind of physical communications can serve as a vehicle for harassment. It’s not just a physical thing, and it’s not just verbal exchanges in the workplace, it can also include digital communication,” says Nicholson.
