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UPFRONT
STANDALONE POLICIES ARE ESSENTIAL
TO PREVENTING SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN
THE WORKPLACE
A new paper by the Human Resources Professionals Association
(HRPA) explores how prevalent the issue of sexual harassment is
in Canadian workplaces and makes recommendations to business
and government leaders to combat and prevent harassment within
their organizations.
“Sexual harassment has no place in our workplaces, and orga-nizations
are rightly under immense pressure to address and
prevent it,” said Scott Allinson, vice-president of public affairs
at HRPA. “Employers have a key role to play and must do their
duty and understand how Canadian law defines sexual harass-ment
to properly implement policies and procedures to combat
this serious issue.”
The paper, entitled Doing Our Duty: Preventing Sexual
Harassment in the Workplace, found 40 per cent of HRPA mem-bers
surveyed reported that their workplace still takes a reactive
approach to sexual harassment, and 17 per cent report witnessing
an employee being sexually harassed or assaulted. In addition, close
to 20 per cent of members reported an increase in sexual harass-ment
claims in recent months. These responses differ significantly
from findings by Gandalf Group that showed that 94 per cent of
Canadian executives surveyed believe that sexual harassment is
not a problem in their workplaces.
“We recommend that all private and public institutions adopt
a stand-alone sexual harassment and assault policy or revisit
their current policy to ensure it is adequate,” said Allinson.
“Organizations should also empower HR staff to implement,
train and enforce sexual harassment policies to ensure that sexual
harassment is not only addressed, but prevented from happening
in the first place. HRPA members are in the unique position of
being at the forefront of addressing and preventing sexual harass-ment
in the workplace.”
The full report can be found here: Doing Our Duty:
Preventing Sexual Harassment in the Workplace and the info-graphic
can be found here: Sexual Assault & Harassment in the
Canadian Workplace.
nexusplexus / 123RF Stock Photo
ORGANIZATIONS SHOULD
ALSO EMPOWER HR STAFF
TO IMPLEMENT, TRAIN AND
ENFORCE SEXUAL HARASSMENT
POLICIES TO ENSURE THAT
SEXUAL HARASSMENT IS
NOT ONLY ADDRESSED, BUT
PREVENTED FROM HAPPENING
IN THE FIRST PLACE.
– SCOTT ALLINSON, HRPA
HRPROFESSIONALNOW.CA ❚ MAY 2018 ❚ 9
