Harassment Policy
Preamble
The Institute is committed to providing a collegial working environment in which all individuals are treated with respect and dignity. Each individual has the right to work in a professional atmosphere which promotes equal opportunities and prohibits discriminatory practices.
1. Effective Date
This policy is effective as of August 11, 2007.
2. Policy Objective
To maintain a working environment that is free from harassment, and to alert all employees and members of the Institute to the fact that harassment within the Institute is in direct violation of Institute policy and/or the law.
3. Definitions
Harassment is any unwelcome or unwanted action by any person(s) that occurs in an Institute-related setting (such as Institute office, other worksites, business-related trips, lunches or social functions) that humiliates, insults, demeans, embarrasses or degrades. The action can be verbal or physical, on a single or repeated basis.
Unwelcome or unwanted in this context means any actions which the person knows, or ought reasonably to know, are not desired by the victim of harassment. The courts have determined reasonableness from the point of view of the victim. In other words, unwelcome and unwanted behaviour is considered harassment based on what a reasonable person would find to be harassment.
4. Policy Requirements
The Institute, as a union and as an employer, will provide and maintain a harassment-free environment for all its employees and members at all Institute-related activities. The Institute will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on race, creed, colour, place of origin, sex, age, family or marital status, sexual orientation, religion, physical or mental disability, abuse of authority or any other prohibited grounds as defined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Federal and Provincial legislation.
Harassment by an Institute employee or member may be considered a matter subject to disciplinary action
Every individual employee and member has the responsibility to adhere to this policy and to conduct him/her self accordingly. Any employee or member who witnesses harassment taking place in any form at Institute activities must take appropriate steps to end the harassment. The Institute encourages reporting of all incidents of harassment, regardless of who the offender might be.
Complaints shall be filed in accordance with the Institute’s Dispute Resolution Policy. All complaints and investigations initiated under this policy will be handled in a confidential manner. False complaints made with malicious intent are in themselves harassment.
Retaliation against an individual for having invoked this policy (whether on behalf of oneself or another individual), or for having participated or cooperated in any investigation under this policy, or for having been associated with a person who has invoked this policy or participated in these procedures will be treated as harassment.
The Institute recognizes that its employees and members may be subjected to harassment by others who conduct business with the Institute. In these circumstances, the Institute acknowledges its responsibility to do everything within its power to prevent harassment, and to support and assist the employee(s) and/or member(s) subjected to such harassment.