Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER November 16, 2015 14 EXECUTIVE SERIES/EMPLOYMENT LAW already gained a fraction as it has recently been followed by WSIAT in Decision No. 1945/10, to grant a worker entitlement to benefits for mental stress. In tandem with legal develop- ments, there has been a growing body of guidelines and policies encouraging employers to create psychologically safe workplaces. One such guideline is the Cana- dian Standards Association's Na- tional Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Work- place, which proposes establish- ing and maintaining a psychologi- cal health and safety management system for the workplace. is includes the identification and elimination of workplace hazards that pose a psychological risk, an assessment and control of workplace hazards, implement- ing practices that support a psy- chologically safe workplace, and creating a workplace culture that promotes psychological health and safety. While these are voluntary stan- dards, employers should note they build on existing employer obli- gations under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Specifically, an employer is re- quired to take every precaution reasonable to protect employees, to inform employees of potential workplace hazards, and to identi- fy, eliminate or reduce workplace risks. Employers are increasingly rec- ognizing the potential impact of bullying and psychological harass- ment on employee engagement, employer brand and bottom-line performance. Also, in accordance with legislative requirements, em- ployers are implementing com- prehensive workplace violence and harassment policies, which can be effective tools to address psychological harassment. But harassment in all forms remains an ongoing threat to em- ployee health and safety, and to the success of organizations that employ them. Strategies to reduce risk With this in mind, here are four strategies to help mitigate much of the risk posed by psychological harassment and bullying in the workplace: Develop an effective em- ployee policy manual. A com- prehensive employee policy manual should include a Code of Conduct, which clearly de- fines acceptable behaviour in all realms — including the physical workplace and online with email and social media. A policy manual's anti-bully- ing measures should include the following: • A zero-tolerance commitment statement from the organiza- tion's leadership team. • Clauses outlining the policy's applicability to management, employees, clients, and other third-party vendors. • A clear definition of workplace bullying and examples of unac- ceptable behaviour. • A clear process for employees to follow when reporting incidents. • A clear outline of the organiza- tion's workplace investigation process . • An outline of steps the organiza- tion will follow to take corrective action when a bullying incident is confirmed. • A commitment to confidentiality and discretion. • A no-reprisal and non-retalia- tion statement. Provide management train- ing. is is a glaring oversight for so many organizations that may be inclined to reward employees with promotions to managerial roles, without properly assess- ing managerial competency or providing adequate management training. To avoid ongoing exposure to lawsuits or human rights com- plaints, any comprehensive man- agement training program must cover psychological harassment and bullying. Managers should be coached on everything from identifying bullying to managing complaints, then dealing with these often difficult situations in a way that ensures legislative compliance and minimizes the impact on employee productivity and workplace culture. Investigate all harassment and bullying allegations. Al- legations of harassment must be properly investigated and documented. If not, an organization could face lawsuits, human rights or Ministry of Labour complaints. If a company lacks an HR team or staff member with investigation experience, management should be prepared to outsource the task to a third party, such as an experi- enced employment lawyer. When conducted properly, the process will take time, involve internal interviews to conduct fact- finding relating to the allegations, provide the responding party with an opportunity to respond to allegations, and include a thorough review of all information collected over the course of the investigation process. e parties should also be allowed to respond to any allegations made against them. Focus on cultural fit during the hiring process. e best way to avoid hiring bullies is to ensure an employer's recruitment pro- cess involves some combination of psychometric testing, attitudi- nal assessment and a staged inter- view process. Many companies focus solely on skills or operational matches, but cultural fit should be a major focus of the process. ere are times, however, when even the most comprehensive recruitment process fails to weed out potential bullies. In those cases, management should consider terminating the employment relationship with confirmed offenders. Employees who psychologically harass or bully their colleagues are a toxic workplace presence. e longer they're allowed to linger, the greater the risk and negative impact on workplace culture and employee engagement. For more information see: • Decision No. 1945/10, 2015 Car- swellOnt 1801 (Ont. W.S.I.A.T.). Laura Williams is the founder and principal of Williams HR Law, a hu- man resources law firm in Markham, Ont., serving employers exclusively. She can be reached at (905) 205-0496 or lwilliams@williamshrlaw.com. Managers need coaching HARASSMENT < pg. 5 Recruitment should involve psychometric testing, attitudinal assessment and a staged interview process. way. And certainly there are times when that can be true, he said. "(But) we can't make decisions without some kind of emotion. If you take out the emotional tag, we're lost. ere's no way for a hu- man being to decide what's better," he said. "Knowing that it's right — that's a feeling. And we can't make that decision without a feeling." Motivations are also tied into emotions, said Davis. "Emotions are absolutely part of everything we're doing all day long, even if we're pretending and telling ourselves that we're trying to get (rid of ) our emotions." So how do people use their emotions to their advantage? ere is another part of the brain — a collection of brain structures — called the limbic system. "ese are parts of the brain that drive an emotional reaction. Something out there in the world triggers us, is worth our attention, potentially threatening, poten- tially exciting — and these parts of the brain can immediately, in less than 200 milliseconds, already get the process started where your heart rate can accelerate, your palms can get sweaty, you have a change in hormone levels," he said. "All of those things can start to happen really quickly — and then when we feel all of those chang- es, that's when we're feeling the emotion." The limbic system can also begin to take over. With certain emotions — for example, when people get anxious — that can re- ally narrow their focus. "at's going to push you to certain actions — to lash out, to run away. So then we have a com- peting action from the prefrontal cortex to control that, to change course," said Davis. "You've got these two parts of the brain competing with each other, in those cases. So what we really want to do then is find some way to kind of damp down limbic activity." In that case, it's about minimiz- ing limbic activity and facilitating prefrontal cortex activity. "You're not getting rid of emo- tions, you're just shifting the bal- ance a bit," he said. ere are several methods that can be used to achieve this — one of which is simply labelling the emotion. "What happens when we put a label on the emotion is we activate some linguistic parts of the brain," he said. "If I say, 'I'm nervous' or 'I'm happy,' I'm just putting a label on it — I'm not actually re-think- ing it. "What that will do is it activates some of the linguistic parts of the brain, and it will have this effect of decreasing limbic activity and it will shift us out of that mode… It's really a small shift, but it might be enough to shift you out of the state that you're in and help you focus." Shift the balance REWIRING < pg. 10 "It's really a small shift but it might be enough to shift you out of the state that you're in and help you focus." HR Manager's Guide to Employment Files and Information Management: Legislation and Best Practices uniquely addresses the management of all types of employee information throughout the employment lifecycle, from recruitment to termination. Employment information and documentation management carries legal requirements that protect an organization from litigation, and are essential to the creation of sound policies for efficient, effective, and ethical business practices. Easy to read and understand, this new guide provides Human Resources professionals and others who deal with employee files, either electronically or in paper format, with: • Key legislation and emerging case law • Best practices in the areas of privacy, records retention, human resources information systems (HRIS), and information security • Practical guidance, tools and templates, such as sample policies • Information on all Canadian jurisdictions Available risk-free for 30 days Order online: www.carswell.com Call Toll-Free: 1-800-387-5164 In Toronto: 416-609-3800 Order # 986618-65203 $70 Softcover approx. 100 pages April 2015 978-0-7798-6618-2 Shipping and handling are extra. Price(s) subject to change without notice and subject to applicable taxes. 00228VC-A49657-E98871 New Publication HR Manager's Guide to Employment Files and Information Management: Legislation and Best Practices A Canadian HR Reporter Special Report Howard A. Levitt, B.A., LL.B., and Tanya Neitzert, B.A., CHRP Brought to you by:

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