Harassment

There are many forms of harassment and what one person deems as harassment another may not, everyone has a different idea of what acceptable behaviour is and when the line is being crossed.It is because of this moving line that harassment becomes a very complicated subject.  To add to this confusion some jurisdictions have specific laws against workplace harassment, others depend solely on the prohibited grounds under human rights.

The Canadian Human Rights Act is based on 11 protected grounds.  It states, you must let someone know their behaviour towards you is unacceptable.  If they do not stop their behaviour it is considered harassment.  However, the commission also states that if a reasonable person ought to have known the behaviour would be unwelcome then it is considered harassment.  We suggest applying this same principle to any incident of harassment, protected grounds or not. 

It is unfortunate that some jurisdictions do not have laws that cover harassment that doesn’t fall under a protected grounds, it is this behaviour that can lead to toxic workplaces and violence.
           
           

Harassment Prevention -- Course Summary

The “Harassment Prevention” program developed by Firm Foundations is designed to be interactive and encourage open discussion around the subject.   Participants will discover what harassment is, including what behaviours could be received as harassment. 
 
We will learn what is meant by “reasonably ought to have known” and how to establish our own “line”.  We will work on how to respond to harassment and develop our own personal response to use should we find ourselves in that position.  Participants will learn how to protect themselves from being harassment and from being accused of harassing others.  We will review how to report harassment as well as the roles and responsibilities we have in preventing it.

Participants will learn when harassment becomes a human rights violation, what is meant by protected grounds and how these grounds may differ.         

Each session will conclude with a quiz which will test for understanding of the course material.  This quiz will be review in class to ensure all participants have full understanding before course completion.