Harassment and Violence Rules Start Jan 1, 2021

Summary#

This Order (SI/2020-45), published in the Canada Gazette on June 24, 2020, sets January 1, 2021 as the day when sections 0.1 to 16 and 18 of An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code (harassment and violence), the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act and the Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 1 come into force. In practice, that activates a set of new rules and employer duties aimed at preventing and responding to harassment and violence in federally regulated workplaces.

What it does#

• Introduces a broad legal definition of harassment and violence that includes behaviour of a sexual nature and a range of harms from insults to assault.
• Requires employers to investigate, record and report occurrences of harassment and violence, and to take measures to prevent and respond to them.
• Extends some employer duties to cover incidents reported up to 3 months after an employee leaves a job.
• Requires training for employers, employees and people designated to receive complaints.
• Bars workplace policy committees, health and safety representatives and similar bodies from taking part in investigations (except where a refusal to work for danger applies), and protects complainant identities from being shared with those committees without consent.
• Repeals the separate sexual harassment rules in Division XV.1 of Part III so all harassment and violence rules are handled under Part II of the Canada Labour Code.
• Puts in place an annual reporting requirement for the Minister on harassment and violence in workplaces covered by Part II.
• Brings in the Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations (replacing Part XX of the Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulations) to set out more detail on prevention policies, training, resolution options and data collection. These Regulations come into force on the same day as the Code amendments.
• The government also plans supporting work: awareness campaigns, hiring and training extra health and safety officers, development of guidance and investigator lists, and a harassment and violence prevention hub.

Who's affected#

• Employers and employees covered by Part II of the Canada Labour Code — that is, workplaces under federal jurisdiction (for example, federal public service, banks, air and rail transport, some communications and interprovincial industries).
• Sectors the government identified as at higher risk include police, military and corrections, public transportation, banking and retail, call centres, security and other front-line or lone-worker settings.
• The Order and related supports may particularly affect groups that experience higher rates of workplace harassment and violence, including Indigenous peoples and other disadvantaged or marginalized workers.
• If it is unclear whether a specific workplace is federally regulated, the source does not resolve that; affected employers should confirm whether the Canada Labour Code applies to them.

Why it matters#

• The changes aim to make federally regulated workplaces safer by standardizing prevention, training, reporting and investigation rules across sectors covered by the federal Code.
• Employers will likely face some new administrative and financial costs to meet these duties. The government expects those costs could be offset over time by fewer incidents, less lost work time, and lower related costs (like disability claims and litigation).
• For employees, the rules are meant to make it easier to report problems and get support while protecting privacy and reducing retaliation.