Digital Signature Lawfulness for Addressing Harassment in Canada

How to eSign a document: digital signature lawfulness for Addressing Harassement in Canada

we're all entitled to work in a harassment free workplace a point that's been underscored by the me2 movement but when the work environment has become poisoned an employee may be entitled to compensation we're going to explore what constitutes workplace harassment and how to deal with it appropriately on this episode of the employment law minute [Music] welcome to the employment law minute where we talk about common workplace issues and explore practical solutions for both employers and employees I'm your host John Scoles and I'm joined by Ottawa employment lawyer Alex lucha Ferro partner it's an fie route to marken LLP Alex there's been a lot of scrutiny on this topic recently from a legal perspective because your lawyer that's why you're here what constitutes workplace harassment and what are the obligations of the employer in that regard sure well done the the legal definition of workplace harassment is actually quite broad and all-encompassing really what it means is it refers to any behavior or conduct in the workplace that's either unwanted on the part of an employee or untoward and you know really that that means that things like obviously bullying in the workplace is a is an easy example of what we've considered harassment but things along the lines as well of limiting an employee's ability to do their job or you know creating a work environment around an employee where that employees is ostracized from general workplace activities and even social events all of that kind of stuff can be considered workplace harassment and certainly an employee is entitled to take action if that's how they feel in the workplace there are a number of options that an employee has and there are also a number of obligations that the employer has on their in the things well for the employee side then what's the saw should someone do if they feel they're being harassed in the workplace so they're effectively kind of two options for employees here there's an internal option let's call it an external option internally and this is the first step in employees should take you want to be able to try and deal with the situation within the company within your employment and that means reporting it if you're in a large well-organized company you should be reporting it to their HR department or to the HR person put your complaint on the record the employer will then have an obligation to investigate if you're not you know if you're working for a smaller company maybe you're a handful of employees and there's only one owner or one boss you want to also be able to report the incident or the incidents or series of incidents to your boss whoever your manager is whether your direct bosses you want to give your employer the obligation or the opportunity to fix the problem right that's the first step that's internal solution number one there's also an external solution if the company is not willing to play ball if they're not willing to take the action that's needed in order to correct the issue you should be speaking with an employment lawyer the employment an employment lawyer will probably advise you if the company hasn't dealt with the harassment that this is a constructive dismissal situation meaning the company's lack of ability or lack of desire to resolve the situation will allow you to leave your employments and obtain a severance package that severance is likely going to be significant if you're a longer term and employee and that's the external option that you would have claiming constructive dismissal leaving that toxic work environment and obtaining a severance pay that external option is also the option if you as my boss or the one I'm supposed to report to but you're the one harassing me that's right I don't have anybody above you and that's what happens in smaller workplaces as I mentioned if there's no one there that you can go to because the boss is doing the harassment you've got to take that external option and a constructive dismissal is likely the way thou should the employer react to that irassman charge or claim of harassment so an employer actually you know it's not a choice for the employee the employer has an actual positive obligation John to investigate and to take steps and take actions to correct any workplace harassment that's fine that's not something that's a maybe situation John an employer absolutely has to investigate has to absolutely take those take those that report or those allegations seriously if they don't they could be in hot water again the employee would likely be able to claim constructive dismissal which is not something you want to get into as an employee got it good stuff Alex we're gonna leave it there for now are you experiencing issues in the workplace contact us now help at employment law minute CA the phone number is 185 five eight two one fifty nine hundred go to employment law minute CA you'll find past episodes of the show resources for employers and employees as well as contact information to help you find practical solutions to workplace problems employment law minute I say thank you so much for watching until next time [Music]