On March 8, 2016, the Ontario Legislature passed Bill 132, the Sexual Violence and Harassment Action Plan Act, which amended a number of statutes by adding provisions regarding sexual harassment and sexual violence. In particular, Bill 132 included a series of changes to various provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. These amendments, which will be in force on September 8, 2016, could profoundly change how workplace harassment is addressed in Ontario workplaces and create new and challenging issues for employers.
This three hour seminar will be conducted by occupational health and safety and human rights law specialists and will explore various issues arising from the Bill 132 amendments to the OHSA including:.
- What needs to be done to be compliant with the new OHSA workplace harassment requirements
- The history and development of Bill 132 and workplace harassment in OHS legislation across Canada
- How media attention in sexual assault and harassment cases could result in significant increased attention on this matter as an OHS issue
- How OHSA harassment will continue to intersect with Human Rights Code related issues and complaints
- Current OHSA workplace violence and workplace harassment provisions and interplay with other Ontario legislation
- The new additional definition of “workplace sexual harassment” in the OHSA
- Clarification to the OHSA workplace harassment definition to exclude reasonable management action
- Expanded employer obligations to develop harassment programs in consultation with the JHSC or representative as appropriate
- Expanded OHSA obligations to investigate and inform the parties involved of the results of the investigation
- New confidentiality and non-disclosure provisions
- New powers of Ministry of Labour inspectors to order impartial third party investigations at the employer’s expense, and when that might occur
- Bill 177: Other potential OHSA and ESA changes relevant to workplace harassment and violence
- Important distinctions between OHSA workplace violence and workplace harassment provisions including determining the scope and content of human rights and health and safety policies and determining the processes for investigating incidents or complaints of violence and workplace harassment in light of the Bill 132 changes
- Practical advice from scenarios exploring thorny human resources and implementation issues including: responding to OHSA harassment complaints appropriately in the circumstances; documenting investigations; due process in investigations; preparing and distributing information to alleged victims and perpetrators as required; maintaining confidentiality where appropriate or required
This seminar can also be delivered for your organization by one of our specialists at a fixed fee. If interested, please contact seminars@mathewsdinsdale.com for further details.