1. Preventing Workplace Bullying
and Harassment
Training Materials for
School District No. 71 (Comox Valley) Staff
November 2013
Description: Employers can use this presentation to train workers and supervisors on workplace bullying and harassment, as required under OHS Policy D , sub-section f. Employers should insert workplace-specific information in all places indicated by bold writing. Employers can add to or change this presentation as appropriate, but must ensure they train supervisors and workers as required under OHS Policy D Employers can develop their own training tools and are not required to use this presentation.
Each slide in this presentation contains suggested speaking notes for the presenter in the “Notes” field.
Paul Berry
District Principal, Health and Safety
School District No. 71 (Comox Valley)

2. Training Overview Why a Health and Safety Concern?
Workers Compensation Act
Recognizing what is and is not workplace bullying and harassment
Employer, supervisor and worker obligations
Reporting procedures
Investigating incidents or complaints
What co-workers can do to stop bullying and harassment
Talking to a bully
Scenarios
Additional information-your questions
Suggested Script: Thanks for coming to our training session today on workplace bullying and harassment. Employers, workers, and supervisors all have legal duties regarding occupational health and safety, including workplace bullying and harassment. Today’s session meets part of our workplace obligation to train supervisors and workers about this issue. We’ll talk about:
Our legal duties under the Workers Compensation Act
Recognizing the potential for workplace bullying and harassment
The legal duties of employers, workers, and supervisors for preventing and responding to workplace bullying and harassment
Our workplace reporting procedures
How our workplace will deal with incidents or complaints, including investigations
What co-workers can do to stop bullying and harassment
Tips for how to talk to a bully, if you’re a target or witness of bullying and harassment, and
Additional information and resources about workplace bullying and harassment

3. Effects and Potential Indicators: Why a Health and Safety Issue?
Workplace bullying and harassment might result in:
health and safety issues- Section 5.1 Mental Disorder Claims;
distracting someone who is performing dangerous tasks;
physical and/or psychological injury;
lower productivity;
lower morale;
higher absenteeism;
staff turnover — targets of bullying and harassment and their co-workers.
Suggested Script: Bullying and harassment is a health and safety issue and has many effects. It can distract someone while they’re performing tasks that require concentration, which can lead to physical injury. And it can also lead to physical illness and psychological injuries, such as anxiety, depression or thoughts of suicide.
In the workplace, you might notice lower productivity, lower employee morale, higher rates of unexpected absenteeism, and staff turnover. Studies show that bullying affects co-workers as well as the target, and that co-workers are as likely or even more likely than the target to leave their jobs if they work in a bullying environment. (Reference: Houshmand et al., 2012)

4. Video:What Does Workplace Bullying and Harassment Mean For you?
Note: Please click on the link below to view the video.  Once the video has played, click your browser’s ‘back’ arrow to continue on with the training presentation.

5. Workers Compensation Act
Duties of employers (sect:115), workers, (sect:116) and supervisors (sect: 117)
ensure or protect health and safety;
includes workplace bullying and harassment;
inform, instruct, train and supervise;
take reasonable steps to prevent and or remedy hazardous situations
bullying and harassment
Suggested Script: The Workers Compensation Act sets out the general duties of employers, workers, and supervisors to ensure or protect the health and safety of workplace parties. These duties include preventing and addressing workplace bullying and harassment.
WorkSafeBC issued Occupational Health and Safety policies on workplace bullying and harassment, that came into effect on November 1, The policies describe the steps workplaces can take to prevent and address this issue.
This presentation will explain the legal duties of employers, workers, and supervisors, as well as the policies and procedures we have in place here at [insert company name].

6. What is Workplace Bullying and Harassment?
Behaviour that humiliates or intimidates
Examples might include:
verbal aggression or insults;
vandalizing personal belongings;
sabotaging work;
spreading gossip or rumours;
humiliating initiation practices/hazing;
personal attacks based on private life, personal traits;
aggressive/threatening gestures;
cyber-bullying;
physical assaults.
Can come from co-workers, supervisors, employers, external sources
Suggested Script: So what is bullying and harassment? It includes any inappropriate conduct or comment towards a worker that the person knew, or should have known, would cause that worker to be humiliated or intimidated.
Some examples might include:
Verbal aggression, insults, or calling someone derogatory names
Vandalizing a worker’s personal belongings
Sabotaging another person’s work
Spreading malicious rumors
Carrying out harmful or offensive initiation practices or hazing
Making personal attacks based on a worker’s private life or personal traits
Making aggressive or threatening gestures
Cyber-bullying is another form of bullying and harassment. It can include sending harassing s or text messages, or posting humiliating or intimidating information on social media or websites.
Bullying can come from many sources including co-workers, supervisors and employers, or from external sources such as clients, customers, members of the public, or workers from other organizations.
Each situation has to be considered in context. For example, yelling to warn someone about a hazard might be appropriate given the situation, but calling someone demeaning names in front of clients or other workers is probably not.

7. WSBC Definition Bullying and Harassment includes:
inappropriate conduct or comment(s) by a person towards a worker;
the person should have known or reasonably ought to have known that the conduct was humiliating or intimidating.

8. What is not Bullying and Harassment?
expressing differences of opinion;
offering constructive feedback;
making a legitimate complaint about another worker’s conduct;
Reasonable management action, including decisions about:
job duties and work to be performed;
workloads and deadlines;
layoffs, transfers, promotions, and reorganizations;
work instruction, supervision, or feedback;
work evaluation;
performance management;
discipline, suspensions or terminations.
Suggested Script: Not every unpleasant interaction, instance of disrespectful behaviour, or workplace conflict is bullying and harassment.
Expressing a difference of opinion, offering constructive feedback or advice about work-related behaviour or performance, and making a legitimate complaint through established procedures about a manager’s or another worker’s conduct are not bullying and harassment.
It’s also important to note that reasonable management action is not considered workplace bullying and harassment. Managers and supervisors have many responsibilities — including directing and supervising how work is performed, monitoring workflow, and providing feedback on performance. As long as those actions are taken in a respectful manner, they do not constitute bullying and harassment.
Reasonable management action might include decisions relating to:
Job duties and/or work to be performed
Workloads and deadlines
Layoffs, transfers, promotions, and reorganizations
Work instruction, supervision, or feedback
Work evaluation
Performance management, or
Discipline, suspensions, or terminations

9. Employer’s Duties: Section 115
ensure health and safety;
draft a workplace policy statement;
prevent or minimize bullying and harassment;
develop reporting procedures;
develop procedures for dealing with investigating incidents or complaints;
inform, instruct, train workers and supervisors.
Suggested Script: Everyone in the workplace has a role to play when it comes to preventing and addressing bullying and harassment. Employers, workers, and supervisors have a number legal duties.
We’ll go through each of these employer duties in more detail on the following slides, but as an overview, employers must:
Have a policy statement that workplace bullying is unacceptable and not tolerated
Take steps to prevent or minimize workplace bullying and harassment
Have procedures for workers to report if they feel bullied and harassed, including how to report if the employer or supervisor is the alleged bully
Have procedures that explain how our organization deals with bullying and harassment incidents or complaints, and
Provide training about bullying and harassment to workers and supervisors, which is why we’re here today

10. Supervisor’s Duties: Section 117
Supervisor’s duties includes:
not engaging in bullying or harassment of workers, other supervisors, the employer or persons acting on behalf of the employer; and
applying and complying with the employer’s policies and procedures on bullying and harassment.

11. Worker’s Duties: Section 116
Worker’s duties includes:
protecting own safety;
protecting the safety of others;
take reasonable steps to prevent and address hazardous conditions;
not engaging in bullying or harassment of other workers, supervisors, the employer or persons acting on behalf of the employer;
reporting if bullying or harassment is observed or experienced in the workplace - a requirement under legislation;
applying and complying with the employer’s policies and procedures on bullying and harassment.
Hazardous Conditions = Bullying and Harassment

12. OHS Policy D Workers must report if bullying or harassment is observed or experienced in the workplace.

13. Policy Statement
Workplace bullying and harassment is unacceptable and not tolerated
Policy 3065 and 3065R1(Regulation) Bullying and Harassment Prevention
Suggested script: As a workplace, we have a policy statement that workplace bullying is unacceptable and not tolerated.
The policy statement will be reviewed each year, and all our workers will be made aware of it.
[Employers might choose to insert a slide with their workplace policy statement, or distribute a copy of it to workers and supervisors at this point in the presentation.]

14. Bullying and Harassment Prevention
Policy 3065
Bullying and Harassment Prevention
1. The Board and its employees recognize the right and responsibility of employees to work in an environment free from bullying and harassment.
2. It is in the interests of all concerned that the Board and its employees cooperate in attempting to resolve, in a confidential manner, any complaints of workplace bullying and harassment which may arise in work-related situations.
3. It is in the interests of all concerned that those who conduct business with the Board and its employees do so in an environment free from workplace bullying and harassment.
4. Complainants who are covered by a collective agreement shall follow
the provisions of their applicable collective agreement. This policy covers circumstances where the employee complainant does not have specific recourse through a collective agreement.
5. The Board affirms that workplace bullying and harassment is not acceptable and will not be tolerated.

15. Procedures for Reporting, Investigation and Remedy
Reporting the Incident
Persons who believe that they are being bullied or harassed should take the following steps to stop the harassment and prevent reoccurrences:
communicate immediately their disapproval or unease to the offending person;
if unable or unwilling to do so, to report the incident to an appropriate third party, and keep a written record of dates, times, the nature of the behaviour, and witnesses, if any;
if the incidents do not stop after item #1, individuals who believe that they have been bullied or harassed should report the incident(s) to the immediate supervisor;
if the alleged bully or harasser is the immediate supervisor, the report should be directed to the Superintendent of Schools or designate;

16. Procedures for Reporting, Investigation and Remedy cont..
Reporting the Incident (continued)
at all times, incidents of a serious nature should be reported to the immediate supervisor or, if the alleged harasser is the immediate supervisor, to the Superintendent of Schools or designate;
if the alleged harasser is the Superintendent of Schools, the report should be directed to the Chair of the Board of Education.

17. Investigation
Complaints of alleged harassment shall be handled with all possible confidentiality, sensitivity and dispatch by the immediate supervisor. If deemed desirable, when receiving a report, the Superintendent of Schools or designate, (or the Board Chair) may refer the matter to a third party to undertake an investigation and provide a report.
In some cases the immediate supervisor or senior district official may choose to involve representatives of the Union(s) to resolve the matter, particularly when the dispute is between two members of the same Union(s).
If the complainant consents, a meeting may be sought with the alleged bully or harasser with a view to resolving the dispute on the basis of a resolution that is satisfactory to the complainant and the harasser.
The name of the complainant or the circumstances of the complaint will not be disclosed to any person except where disclosure is necessary to investigate the complaint, or to take related disciplinary measures, or where disclosure is provided for at law. No documentation on the harassment will be placed in the complainant's personnel file.

18. Investigation cont…
If the investigation fails to find evidence to support the complaint, there
will be no documentation concerning the complaint placed in the file of
the alleged harasser.
In all circumstances, an individual who is accused of harassment will be
given the opportunity to fully explain themselves to the investigator and
have those explanations properly considered.
At any time during the course of the investigation the parties may reach
resolution or settlement of the matter. Where both parties agree,
mediation may be used to facilitate resolution. Any resolution or
settlement agreement reached shall be put in writing and signed by
both parties. At this point the process is discontinued.

19. Resolution of Bullying and Harassment Complaints Policy 3065R1
Where it is found that bullying or harassment has occurred the following may be forms of action:
education and training of individuals or groups;
monitoring of the behaviour of individuals or groups in the workplace
and/or learning environment;
effecting changes in the workplace and learning environment including
but not limited to transfers, reassignments, and schedule changes;
corrective and/or disciplinary action ranging from warnings up to and including dismissal;
other strategies designed to eliminate and/or prevent harassment and any other remedies or penalties appropriate to the particular circumstances of the matter;

20. Resolution of Bullying and Harassment Complaints Policy 3065R1 Cont…
review of related policies, procedures and/or practices in the workplace;
should the Superintendent of Schools or designate, (or the Board Chair) conclude that a complaint is not filed in good faith she/he will consider
appropriate disciplinary actions;
persons who make bona fide complaints of harassment will not be subject to
threat of reprisal or discipline.

21. INVOLVING THE SITE SAFETY COMMITTEE IN THE INVESTIGATION
The extent to which employers are required to involve worker and employer representatives of the site health and safety committee, as well as whether the employer must provide the site health and safety committee with the results of a bullying and harassment investigation, is currently being reviewed for further policy development by WorkSafeBC. Further direction on the obligations of employers in conducting investigations will be communicated by that policy.
While more detailed policy on the role of the site health and safety committee is being developed, it is important to note that section 115(2)(g) of the Act requires employers to consult and cooperate with site committees and worker health and safety representatives at the employer's workplace. It is expected that employers will engage in ongoing consultation with the site health and safety committee or worker health and safety representative regarding the nature and effectiveness of their bullying and harassment program, and to engage with the site health and safety committee in the course of the annual review.
Printed from the WorkSafeBC OH&S Guidelines

22. Video:Worker-to-Worker Bullying and Harassment
Note: Please click on the link below to view the video.  Once the video has played, click your browser’s ‘back’ arrow to continue on with the training presentation.

23. What can co-workers do to stop workplace bullying and harassment?
listen to the target;
don’t gossip;
offer support (e.g. employee assistance program, counsellor);
document details of what you see to share in an investigation;
Dates
Details
Witnesses
tell the bully to stop.
Suggested script: That brings an end to the legal duties of employers, workers, and supervisors. Now we’ll move on to talk about some extra things you can do for someone who is being bullied, if you want to provide support.
It can help your co-worker if you listen to them with empathy, and don’t gossip about what they tell you. You can also offer support by providing information about counsellors or other resources you may know about. [If your workplace has an employee assistance program, you could talk about it here.]
You can also document what you see, so you can share it during an investigation. Include details such as dates, what happened, and who else might have witnessed it. These details can be extremely helpful in an investigation.
If you witness bullying and harassment, tell the bully to stop. Sometimes confronting an alleged bully can cause their behaviour towards the target to get worse, but other times it makes that person aware that his or her actions will not be tolerated, which results in a change in behaviour.

24. Video:Employer Addresses a Bullying and Harassment Complaint
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25. Talking to An Alleged Bully
If you are the target of, or witness to, bullying and harassment:
tell the bully what behaviour was inappropriate;
make it clear the behaviour is unwanted and unacceptable;
stay calm;
don’t retaliate;
report it.
Suggested script: So how do you talk to someone who is bullying and harassing you or others? It’s possible that the person engaging in the bad behaviour was unaware of its effect, and the situation might get better after you talk to them. If you feel it’s safe talking to the alleged bully, be specific about what behaviour was inappropriate. You could even show the person a copy of the workplace bullying and harassment policy and explain why you think the behaviour was inappropriate. Be clear that the behaviour is unwanted and unacceptable. Stay calm and don’t retaliate. You are also required to report any bullying and harassment you witness or experience.
Our workplace takes bullying and harassment seriously and we will follow our procedures for dealing with incidents and complaints.

26. Video:When the Employer is the Bully
Note: Please click on the link below to view the video.  Once the video has played, click your browser’s ‘back’ arrow to continue on with the training presentation.

27. Acknowledgement of New Employee
Please sign the acknowledgement of completion of this training on the New Employee document list.
Thank you.
(rev. Mar 6/14)