April 12, 2010 – Bill 168, the Occupational Health and Safety Amendment Act (Violence and Harassment in the Workplace) comes into force on June 15, 2010 and requires all provincially-regulated employers in Ontario to protect workers against violence and harassment in the workplace.

An employment and labour law update by Sherrard Kuzz LLP explains that “Workplace violence” is defined broadly in the Act to include:

• The exercise of physical force by a person against a worker in a workplace that causes or could cause physical injury.

• An attempt to exercise physical force against a worker in a workplace that could cause physical injury.

• A statement or behaviour that is reasonable for a worker to interpret as a threat to exercise physical force against the worker, in a workplace, that could cause physical injury.

“Workplace harassment” means a course of vexatious comment or conduct against a worker in a workplace that is known or ought reasonably to be known to be unwelcome. This is the same definition used in the Ontario Human Rights Code. However, the provisions in the Code prohibit harassment in employment on the basis of specifically prohibited grounds of discrimination, namely: race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, family status or disability. The new law against workplace violence and harassment has no such restriction, and as such offers broader protection for employees than currently available under the Code.

Employer Obligations

Every employer governed by the Act will be obliged to:

• Undertake a risk assessment process to measure the risk of workplace violence.

• Develop a workplace violence and harassment policy to address the risks identified.

• Develop programs and procedures to implement the policy.

 
To see the update in full, go to

www.orhma.com/.../Sherrard_Kuzz_-_Workplace_Violence_-_February_2010.pdf