1. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com Workplace Harassment How Psychologists Can Help: An Introduction to the Harassment Education Advisory Response Team (HEART) Program

2. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com Lori Dupont

3. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com “Bill 168” Amendment to Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) to include violence and harassment as workplace safety hazards Applies to all companies with five or more employees

4. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com Workplace Investigations 1,600 reported incidents of workplace violence/ harassment The Ministry of Labour (MOL) has investigated and laid charges against many of these companies

5. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com Not Your “Same Old” Health & Safety Violence and harassment are not standard “hard hat” health and safety concerns They are “soft skill” disturbances that interfere with the emotional and interpersonal safety of workers

6. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com Not Your “Same Old” Health & Safety Harassment, bullying and violence create psychological hazards that require expertise in dealing with interpersonal and behavioral challenges

7. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com Requirements Under OHSA: Violence & Harassment Every workplace is required to put in place 1. Policies 2. Measures (surveys) 3. Procedures & Programs…

8. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com to protect every worker from the risk of violence and harassment: managers, employees, union workers, owners, contract employees, even volunteers The Goal

9. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com Did You Know… Bullied employees take on average 7 more sick days than others The cost of employee absence in Canada due to these interpersonal hazards is $12 Billion per year (Statistics Canada) Workplace violence and harassment is responsible for more lost productivity than all other causes combined?

10. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com Some Concerning Facts Targets generally endure two years of bullying before filing a complaint or leaving Targets have a 70 % chance of losing their jobs when they complain 78 % of bullies out rank their targets

11. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com What Is Violence? Workplace Violence is defined by the OHSA as: 1. The exercise of physical force by a person against a worker in a workplace that causes or could cause physical injury to the worker

12. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com What Is Violence? Workplace Violence is defined by the OHSA as: 2. An attempt to exercise physical force against a worker in a workplace that could cause physical injury to the worker

13. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com What Is Violence? Workplace Violence is defined by the OHSA as: 3. A statement or behaviour that is reasonable for a worker to interpret as a threat to exercise physical force against the worker, in a workplace, that could cause physical injury to the worker

14. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com OHSA Harassment Definition “Engaging in a course of vexatious comment or conduct against a worker in a workplace that is known or ought reasonably to be known to be unwelcome.”

15. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com What is “vexatious?” Troublesome Aggravating Mean Unpleasant Upsetting Abusive Provoking Irritating

16. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com Harassing Behaviours Extremely broad category that is open to personal interpretation Flirtatious comments Providing wrong instruction to a worker on purpose Deliberately leaving a person out of the information loop over time Yelling, Screaming, Swearing Insults

17. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com OHSA Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act addresses Violence AND Harassment. Why haven’t companies dealt with the Harassment part?

18. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com Barriers What are the Barriers we need to overcome to ensure workplaces understand and address Harassment issues effectively?

19. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com 1. Knowledge and Expertise Don’t know enough about harassment to put in place the appropriate processes to prevent, manage and respond Inadequate interviewing skills for investigation of sensitive and emotional experiences Lack of awareness of how to protect the dignity of victims or harassers through their processes and procedures Insufficient knowledge of how to deal with the trauma and the fallout associated with harassment for the victim(s) and employees at large Relationship between harassment and mental health issues in the workplace

20. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com 2. Policies But No Practices Most companies hang up a policy in their lunchroom and believe they’ve met their obligations Generally there are no measures, no procedures and no programs Not enough education and training Limited tools and resources to work with Workplaces know what they need to do but not how to do it

21. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com 3. Culture of Silence: Barriers to Reporting 78% of the time, the harasser outranks the victim Victims are typically told to confront their harasser Victim blaming Protection of top performers at expense of victims Targets have a 70% chance of losing their jobs when they report There’s no one properly trained for the victim to turn to

22. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com 4. Reactive Not Proactive Limited focus on education and prevention Issues aren’t addressed in early stages Lack of prompt effective response leads to collusion and/or enabling harassers We need to be proactive and move from crisis response to harassment prevention

23. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com

24. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com What is the HEART™ Program?

25. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com How Does The HEART Program Work? HEART HR Management Admin Union Rep Finance IT Production Support Staff Sales

26. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com Why Does This Approach Work? HEART transcends the hierarchy of power HEART members are trained and educated to make psychologically informed responses, protect the dignity and safety of all parties, advise on their rights and responsibilities under the legislation and conduct fair, thorough investigations and decision making processes. HEART increases the safety and likelihood of reporting HEART ensures a safe and meaningful response HEART brings the breadth and spirit of the legislation into the workplace.

27. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com Why Does This Approach Work? A focus on prevention Prevention of harassment in the workplace leads to prevention of mental health issues. Prevention of harassment in the workplace leads to prevention of stress leave and disability leave. A focus on prevention breeds a culture of respect

28. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com How Do We Train The HEART Team? The HEART Program Manual Map to creating a safe, respectful workplace for the HEART team It acts as their support system and empowers the HEART members with the knowledge and tools to create lasting change in their unique workplace

29. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com HEART Manual Legislation information and interpretation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA): Violence and Harassment in the Workplace is presented in an organized, visually pleasing format. Templates of required policies can be customized to your company. Step by step procedures with forms and handouts for both victim and accused are provided in a fillable format. How to deal with Domestic Violence in the Workplace with template and script An investigation format leads the HEART team/HR through conducting a thorough, legally and psychologically safe and sound investigation. A process for coming to a sound, proper decision and judgment is outlined in a simple to understand process. Prevention programs that create a workplace with zero tolerance for harassment Indicators of when you may need to contact a labour lawyer are identified throughout the process.

30. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com How Do We Train Employees? An integral part of the HEART Program is the alignment of all employees through streamlined consistent messaging. Our online employee compliance training program educates employees on: Understanding their rights and responsibilities under this legislation Educating them with the principles that the HEART program is built upon Fostering a spirit of respect

31. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com Creating A Culture of Respect Duties of Employers, Supervisors Employers and supervisors must take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of a worker. Workers Workers must report to his or her supervisor any contravention of the Act or the regulations or the existence of any hazard of which he or she knows.

32. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com Ongoing Support for HEART Teams Supplementary Courses Victim support and empowerment Bully and Harasser Rehabilitation Coaching, Consulting and Therapy OPA support and strategic alliance

33. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com We Have The Solution: HEART Certification Cost effective, ready to go, easy to roll out and implement. HEART Manual HEART Member Training Online Employee Training Supplementary Courses and Consulting as needed

34. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com Benefits Enjoyed by Companies Who Have HEART Improved Mental Health Reduced Disability, Stress Leave Less Toxic Work Environment Improved Employee Relations Enhanced Productivity, Contribution and Employee Engagement

35. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com How Psychologists and Mental Health Professionals Can Help 3. Assessments 2. Workplace Consulting and Employee Advocacy 1. Awareness and Education

36. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com 1. Raising Awareness and Education Tips: Don’t encourage them to confront harassers How to protect your patients from backlash of reporting Teach patients communication skills for safety As advocates for Mental Health, psychologists need to be: Aware of the legislation Educate patients on rights and responsibilities Understand complexities of the workplace

37. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com 2. Workplace Consulting and Employee Advocacy Lunch and Learns on PTSD and Stress Management Assertive Communication Skills Educate companies on HEART Be a HEART certified trainer

38. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com 3. Assessments 1.Psycho-Legal Assessments for lawyers dealing with psychological impact of harassment and bullying 2.How to write patient reports to let HR and Insurers understand that the psychological injury is due to workplace harassment

39. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com Without a solid harassment prevention and education program implemented in every company to instill a culture of respect and accountability we may be enabling harassment instead of stopping it If the right approach isn’t in place, we end up with Lori Dupont and Jian Ghomeshi

40. Contact Us 1504 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto ON M4T lZ6 www.bizlifesolutions.com GotHeart