Kevin Marshall
February 4, 2019
Building healthy workplace relationships is the best defence against allegations of bullying.
The lines can often be blurred between a supervisor who exercises firm but legitimate control over subordinates and an overbearing manager who crosses boundaries.
“The definition of bullying varies from one person to the next.” “The critical question is the nature of the relationship between the employee and the employer. If the underlying relationship is unhealthy, then otherwise innocuous actions may be perceived as bullying, but when the relationship is based on mutual respect, these same actions may be viewed very differently.”
I urge employees to exercise common sense when assessing whether they have been bullied at work.
“You’re going to be more inclined to overlook an off-colour comment if the relationship in the bigger picture is a healthy one, and if you perceive a good person as having a bad moment.” “There’s forgiveness for those kinds of transgressions.”
Investment in a preventative strategy often pays off because of the upheaval associated with bullying allegations, and the investigations, human rights complaints or constructive dismissal lawsuits that may follow.
“The process can be a nightmare for the employer," he says. "Even if you’re vindicated, you can be dragged through the wringer in terms of legal fees, stress and time. The best case for employers is to avoid the allegation in the first place by having healthy workplace relationships.”
The situation will be different in every workplace, depending on such factors as the size of the company and the nature of the work being done, says Marshall.
"The dynamic is completely different in a mom-and-pop shop where the owners are the managers, as opposed to a large corporation with many layers of management,” he says. “There’s no one-size-fits-all policy.”
When complaints are made, it triggers duties owed by companies under the recently passed Bill 132, which amended Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) by mandating employers to conduct investigations into incidents of alleged workplace harassment.
The bill also explicitly expanded the definition of workplace harassment to include sexual harassment and provides provincial inspectors with the power to order an impartial investigation at the employer's expense.
The new law was a supplement to the earlier Bill 168, which introduced requirements for risk assessments and policies regarding workplace violence and harassment when it was passed at the end of the last decade.
In many cases, employers will be able to investigate internally, except in cases where the complaint involves someone at the very top of the company.
“If the manager complained about is also the owner of the business, there’s an obvious conflict, and you will have to use an external investigator.”
