WHEREAS every working person has the right to be treated with respect and dignity in their workplace; AND WHEREAS workplace bullyingharassment has become an internationally recognized occupational health and safety issue; AND WHEREAS it has been estimated that workplace bullyingharassment costs the Canadian economy billions of dollars a year; AND WHEREAS workplace bullyingharassment continues to cause both mental and physical illness, loss of employment, long-term psychological trauma, and impacts both personal and professional well-being; AND WHEREAS British Columbia can be a role model in creating and maintaining productive work environments that benefit people, business and society as a whole; AND WHEREAS the local governments of British Columbia are committed to the elimination of workplace bullyingharassment of all kinds, and are further committed to increasing awareness about resources to combat workplace bullyingharassment: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that UBCM call upon citizens, businesses and governments to take a stand against bullyingharassment in British Columbia workplaces.
Ministry of Jobs, Tourism Skills Training Minister Responsible for Labour The Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Minister Responsible for Labour, which is responsible for WorkSafeBC and the Workers Compensation Act, takes the safety of all workers in British Columbia most seriously. Government has recognized that it is important to treat job-related mental disorders the same way physical illness and injuries are treated. Mental disorders have a significant impact on workers, their families and the workplace. Government passed Bill 14, Workers Compensation Amendment Act, 2011, in May 2012. The primary change was to amend the mental stress provisions of the Workers Compensation Act, which previously compensated acute reactions to a single, sudden and traumatic event, but excluded chronic stress conditions arising from the workplace. The Workers Compensation Act now provides that mental disorders resulting from one or more traumatic events, as well as mental disorders resulting from significant work related stressors such as bullying and harassment i.e., chronic stress, are now compensated. There is explicit recognition of bullying or harassment as significant work-related stressors that can result in a compensable mental disorder. Government made its position on bullying and harassment clear by stating that these destructive behaviours are simply not acceptable at any level. As part of this initiative, WorkSafeBC was tasked with developing a policy on bullying and harassment under the existing Occupational Health and Safety Regulation to prevent and address this behavior in the workplace. WorkSafeBCs Board of Directors approved this policy at its March 2013 meeting and WorkSafeBC has posted the approved policy on its website and has sent e-news notifications to over 10,000 stakeholders in BC. The policy becomes effective on November 1, 2013. Like all other employers in BC, municipalities are also responsible for ensuring that they adhere to this policy. WorkSafeBC is also developing a workplace toolkit to assist workers and employers in understanding, preventing and addressing bullying and harassment in the workplace.
Employment Social Development Canada The Labour Program shares in your determination to eliminate workplace bullying and harassment, and brought into force Violence Prevention in the Workplace VPW regulations on May 8, 2008 under the Canada Labour Code CLC Part II, requiring federally regulated employers to prevent workplace violence. Within the federal jurisdiction, physical violence as well as bullying, teasing, harassment of any kind and abusive or aggressive behaviour perceived by an employee to cause harm or illness is considered as an act of violence. The VPW process requires employers to establish a policy on violence prevention to educate employees on best practices and to identify workplace factors that contribute to violence in order to prevent or mitigate their occurrences. Incidents of violence must also be reported and investigated.