'Now's the time for employers to make sure their policies and practices are tight, and to update them where necessary'
On Jan. 30, the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 190 (C190), the Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019, formally entered into force in Canada, just one year after its ratification. C190 is the first-ever global treaty on ending violence and harassment at work.
Governments that ratify C190 are required to implement laws, policies and collective bargaining agreements that prohibit, prevent and address violence and harassment at work.
For Canada, this involves collaboration between the federal government, provinces and territories to ensure that all parties meet this standard and framework, said Isabelle Keeler, a labour and employment lawyer at Cox & Palmer.
Legislation addressing workplace harassment in Canada
Prior to C190, Canada's approach to workplace harassment has varied between federal and provincial regulations, leading to a system that was fragmented in the sense that protections fell under various pieces of legislation, Keeler said.
"We had a patchwork of protections under different legislation, such as human rights laws, employment standards, and occupational health and safety regulations, and I do think things are evolving now," she said.
Workplace harassment and violence prevention has been a key focus across jurisdictions in Canada since around 2016, and in January 2021, Bill C-65 came into play at the federal level with the goal of strengthening the legislative framework for harassment and violence protection in the workplace at the federal level, said Aleksandra Pressey, lawyer and workplace investigator at Williams HR Law.
“Really, the current federal government has been trying to be at the vanguard of workplace equity issues,” she said.
Employer requirements under C190
C190 requires the countries that ratify it to respect, promote and realize the right of everyone to a world of work free from violence and harassment. It requires Canada to adopt laws and regulations to define and prohibit violence and harassment in the workplace, including gender-based violence and harassment, Keeler said.
Through adopting laws and regulations to define and prohibit violence and harassment in the workplace, C190 includes requirements for employers to take appropriate steps to prevent violence and harassment so far as reasonably practicable. It also requires employers to implement a workplace policy regarding violence and harassment and to identify hazards and assess the risks of violence and harassment.
The standards that are outlined in C190 contain an application section that is quite broad nature and language, which allows for its application to work performed in remote workspaces, Keeler said.
“The treaty specifically states that it applies to violence and harassment occurring in spaces linked with or arising out of the workplace, including public and private spaces when they are a place of work. So remote workplaces are a private space, but if that’s your workplace, that's a place of work” she said. .
The impact of C190 on employers
The implementation of C190 doesn't necessarily mean major changes for employers; however, it does show a commitment for enhancing safety in the workplace, Keeler said,
“C190 ensures, from the top down… that all Canadians are free from workplace harassment and violence, and provides a very clear framework for governments to follow to legislate if they haven't already,” Keeler said.
Despite many employers having harassment polices in place, seven in 10 workers have experienced a form of harassment and violence at work, and nearly one in two workers have experienced sexual harassment and violence in the last two years, according to the first National Survey on Harassment and Violence at Work from the Canadian Labour Congress and researchers from the University of Western Ontario and the University of Toronto.
C190 is less about implementation and more about compliance and the application of policies and practises that organizations should already be employing, Pressey said. For employers, this means looking at the extent to which they have kept up with their policies, conducted regular training and reviews and ultimately ensured compliance.
While the treaty doesn’t create any new penalties for non-compliance, this could be a time of increased scrutiny they should be ensuring compliance. , she said.
“Now’s the time for employers to make sure their policies and practices are tight, and if not, to update them where necessary,” Pressey said. “Where a lot of organizations fall down is when, even though senior leadership or HR might be well aware of how to address a harassment complaint, if the complaint doesn’t get to them, the employer isn’t able to do anything about it.”
The importance of education and training
Keeler also emphasized the importance of employers providing education and training on harassment.
Employees need to be able to understand the policies their employer has in place, so they know how to report instances of harassment if they experience it or see it in the workplace.
“Policy is a piece of paper; to make it meaningful, you need that education and training in place,” Keeler said. “Aside from ensuring you’re complying with the law and protecting yourself against human rights and employment law liability, you’re also ensuring that you have a healthier workplace.”
