After an alarming number of complaints relating to bullying and harassment in 2021, WorkSafeBC is focusing on new initiatives to strengthen employers’ responses to bullying and provide healthier workplaces in 2022.
In 2021, the agency received more than 3,400 enquiries related to bullying and harassment, responding to 931.
According to WorkSafeBC, bullying and harassment in the workplace can include verbal aggression, personal attacks, and other intimidating or humiliating behaviours and is not limited to interactions between coworkers.
Bullying and harassment of workers can also occur between workers and management, by customers, clients, and other members of the public.
“Workplace bullying and harassment can have far-reaching impacts on a worker’s psychological health and safety — it can lead to anxiety, depression, absenteeism, and lower productivity,” said Al Johnson, Head of Prevention Services with WorkSafeBC.
“No one should be subject to bullying and harassment at work.”
Of the inquiries last year, 17% came from the health care sector; 10% from hospitality; 8% from construction; and 8% from the retail industry.
As a result, WorkSafeBC is focusing on new initiatives in 2022.
“The goal of our initiative is simple — we want to ensure that employers meet their obligations to keep workers healthy and safe and free from bullying and harassment in the workplace,” said Johnson.
“We are also focused on providing employers and workers with information on how to appropriately respond to harassment in the workplace.”
Focuses include:
- Promoting employer compliance to prevent and minimize bullying and harassment, including employers having effective policies, procedures, and training in place.
- Providing prompt responses to complaints of prohibited action, in which an employer penalizes a worker for raising a health and safety issue at work.
- Ensuring employer responses to workplace harassment are fair and impartial (including investigating and implementing preventative and corrective measures.)
- Responding to complaints of inadequate harassment procedures or inadequate responses to harassment by employers.
- Conducting targeted outreach and inspections for employers in the hospitality, retail, and small business sectors. In addition, WorkSafeBC will look at harassment prevention in the health care, construction, and agricultural sectors.
WorkSafeBC said they work to ensure employers have the proper policies, procedures, and training in place to address bullying and harassment, and that complaints are investigated and addressed.
