Canadian Safety Reporter

3 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2015 News | December 2015 | CSR The good fight against workplace bullies 4 strategies to help mitigate the risk to employers posed by workplace bullying and harassment BY LAURA WILLIAMS OF THE MANY workplace issues faced by employers in Canada, workplace psycholog- ical harassment and bullying is becoming increasingly promi- nent and in turn, recognized in employment law. Courts across the country are actively acknowledging the impact that workplace harass- ment can have on an employ- ee's physical and mental well- being — not to mention their workplace productivity — and delivering rulings designed to compensate employees for psychological injuries. is is a major departure from decades past, when a touch of bully- ing was considered a veritable rite of passage in the corporate world. A boss picking on an employee was not only accept- able, but a part of life. Many bullied employees would even- tually mete out similar treat- ment to colleagues and their direct reports. Further spiking the inci- dence of this misconduct is the prevalence of cyberbullying, which can extend well beyond the workplace. Cyberbullying is just as insidious in its reach and impact, and with email and social media, far easier to carry out. Cyberbullying policy enforcement, on the other hand, poses a far greater challenge for time-pressed and resource-limited employers. As a result, many incidents of online psychological harass- ment go unnoticed by employ- ers struggling to manage and grow their businesses, let alone monitor their employees' elec- tronic communications both inside and outside the work- place. Negative eff ects for both sides Despite the increasing aware- ness of harassment and bully- ing in the workplace, the inci- dence of psychological abuse is still substantial. According to a 2012 survey by Ipsos Reid of more than 6,600 employees, 70 per cent of Canadian em- ployees report some concern related to psychological health and safety. e toll of this kind of harassment has on employ- ees and employers cannot be underestimated. As the Cana- dian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety notes on its website, victims of workplace psychological harassment can experience a range of debili- tating health eff ects, including anger, feelings of frustration, inability to sleep, stomach pains, headaches, inability to concentrate, and low morale and productivity — and these can only hurt the employer's bottom line. Harassed workers hurt the bottom line In addition to the health prob- lems for employees, psycho- logical harassment can nega- tively aff ect an organization's performance. For example, a study by the Mental Health Commission of Canada indi- cated that lost productivity related to absenteeism, presen- teeism and employee turnover costs employers $6.3 billion each year. ese costs include expenses related to stress-re- lated illnesses, short and long- term disability claims, use of Employer Assisted Plans, hu- man rights violations, health and safety breaches and low employee morale. One recent case law de- velopment demonstrates the trend of recognizing the eff ects of psychological harassment and bullying on employees, as one tribunal expanded entitle- ment to workers' compensa- tion benefi ts for mental stress. In April 2014, Ontario's Work- place Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal (WSIAT) declared ss. 13(4) and (5) of the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Act relating to mental stress to be unconstitu- tional and refused to apply the provisions. e legislation distinguishes physical from psychological injuries, and ss. 13(4) and (5) disqualify employees from making workers' compensa- tion claims for mental stress, except where employees suff er from traumatic mental stress, that is caused by "an acute re- action to a sudden and unex- pected traumatic event arising out of and in the course of… employment." As such, entitle- ment would only be granted where there is a "sudden" or "traumatic" event, and would be denied for mental stress caused over a period of time by ongoing circumstances. Compensation rules for mental stress challenged ese provisions were consid- ered by the WSIAT in a case involving an Ontario nurse who faced psychological ha- rassment and bullying from a doctor for whom she worked for 12 years. e nurse was regularly embarrassed in front of her peers and patients, and was required to communicate with the doctor only through written notes, among other demeaning abuses. When the nurse raised her concerns to a team leader, she faced eff ec- tive demotion with a reduction in responsibilities, although her job title went unchanged. She would soon develop a psy- chological injury that included anxiety and depression, and was unable to work. e nurse's subsequent workers' compensation claim was denied because her men- tal stress was not "an acute reaction to a sudden and un- expected traumatic event" as per the legislation's criteria for receiving benefi ts relating to Credit: Shutterstock Guidelines > pg. 7

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