HR DEPARTMENT
Harassment in the Workplace
Let’s start the conversation
A survey by Angus Reid (Angus
Reid Institute, 2014) report-ed
that 28 per cent of people
in the workplace have been sexually ha-rassed.
Of those, only 20 per cent reported
it and of those that reported it, only one
in five employers “conducted a serious in-vestigation
and took appropriate action.”
Keep in mind, this is sexual harassment
only. In Saskatchewan, sexual harassment
is “conduct, comments, gesture or contact
of a sexual nature that is offensive, un-solicited
or unwelcome” (Saskatchewan
Government, 2016). What about all of the
other types of harassment? How many
times are they occurring in the workplace
and is the employer taking appropriate
action?
There are two types of harassment – ha-rassment
based on human rights prohib-ited
grounds (race, physical size, etc.) and
personal harassment (bullying). Don’t be
afraid of harassment in the workplace.
You can still maintain legitimate manage-ment
functions, manage employees’ per-formance
and you can still discipline. In
your organization, start the conversation,
By Leah Knibbs, Knibbs/associates HR Consulting
KPG PAYLESS2/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
saskheavy.ca | Quarter 1 2017 | Think BIG 45
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