Preventing Violence And Harassment At Work – Workers' Compensation Enters The Equation

The modern workplace poses many challenges for employers, and in recent years, one of the more rapidly evolving of those challenges has been the treatment of workplace violence and harassment. Since the implementation of Bill 168, employers have had an obligation to put written policies in place to address both workplace violence and harassment, although the rights and recourse of employees on the receiving end of alleged harassment were not directly affected by the changes in the law that were coming into place. Rather, the implications were left to be developed over time, primarily through decisions of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario ("HRTO") and the courts.

Having adopted the necessary policies, employers have been well advised to have workplace investigations carried out to look into allegations of harassment. There is little disputing the point that this has been a positive development and that the risks – both of violence and of harassment in the workplace