Federal harassment and violence prevention training: what federally regulated employers must do

Federally regulated employers must provide harassment and violence prevention training under Part II of the Canada Labour Code and the Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations (SOR/2020-130). The training must be developed or identified jointly with your policy committee, work place committee or health and safety representative, and it must be specific to your workplace. This guide covers who is included, when federal harassment and violence prevention training is due, what it must contain and the related duties; provincially regulated Ontario workplaces follow different rules, set out in our guide to mental health obligations for Ontario employers.

Who is covered

The rules apply to federally regulated workplaces. The Government of Canada’s list of federally regulated industries includes, in the private sector:

• banks, including authorized foreign banks
• air transportation, including airlines, airports, aerodromes and aircraft operations
• road transportation services, including trucks and buses, that cross provincial or international borders
• railways that cross provincial or international borders, and some short-line railways
• telecommunications, such as telephone, Internet, telegraph and cable systems
• radio and television broadcasting
• postal and courier services
• port services, marine shipping, ferries, tunnels, canals, bridges and oil and gas pipelines that cross international or provincial borders
• grain elevators, feed and seed mills, feed warehouses and grain-seed cleaning plants
• uranium mining and processing and atomic energy
• most federal Crown corporations, and certain activities of First Nations band councils and Indigenous self-governments
• any business that is vital, essential or integral to one of these activities

In the public sector, Part II also applies to the federal public service and to Parliament. The requirements took effect on January 1, 2021. If you are not sure whether your organization is federally or provincially regulated, check the federal list before you plan training.

The legal basis

Section 122(1) of the Canada Labour Code defines harassment and violence as “any action, conduct or comment, including of a sexual nature, that can reasonably be expected to cause offence, humiliation or other physical or psychological injury or illness to an employee.” The definition covers psychological harm, not only physical harm.

Section 125(1) sets out the employer’s training duties:

• (z.16) take the prescribed measures to prevent and protect against harassment and violence, respond to occurrences and offer support to affected employees
• (z.161) ensure that employees, “including those who have supervisory or managerial responsibilities,” receive prevention training and are informed of their rights and obligations
• (z.162) undergo the training themselves
• (z.163) ensure the person designated to receive complaints has knowledge, training and experience in harassment and violence issues and knows the relevant legislation

The details are in the Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations. Many duties must be done “jointly” with the applicable partner. That means the policy committee or, if there is none, the work place committee or the health and safety representative. If the two sides cannot agree on a joint matter, section 2 says the employer’s decision prevails, and section 35 requires a record of that decision and the reasons.

When training is due

Section 12 of the Regulations sets the timing. Here it is by audience.

Employees

Under subsection 12(4), the employer must ensure each employee is trained:

• within three months after the day their employment begins
• at least once every three years after that
• following any update to the training, or their assignment to a new activity or role “for which there is an increased or specific risk of work place harassment and violence”

Employees already working when the Regulations came into force had to be trained within one year of that date.

The designated recipient

The designated recipient is the person or work unit the employer names to receive notice of an occurrence. Under subsection 12(5), they must be trained before assuming those duties and at least once every three years after that.

The employer

Under subsection 12(6), the employer must undergo the training within one year after the Regulations came into force and at least once every three years after that.

The training itself

Under subsection 12(3), the employer and the applicable partner must jointly review and, if necessary, update the training “at least once every three years and following any change to an element of the training.” Each update then triggers retraining for employees under subsection 12(4).

What the training must cover

Subsection 12(1) says the employer and the applicable partner must jointly develop or identify the training. Subsection 12(2) says it must be “specific to the culture, conditions and activities of the work place” and include:

1. the elements of the employer’s harassment and violence prevention policy
2. a description of the relationship between harassment and violence and the prohibited grounds of discrimination in subsection 3(1) of the Canadian Human Rights Act
3. a description of how to recognize, minimize, prevent and respond to harassment and violence

The Labour Program publishes a sample training syllabus with seven modules. They cover the legislation, a review of the employer’s policy, the prohibited grounds of discrimination, recognizing harassment and violence, prevention, minimizing and responding (including de-escalation and the role of bystanders), and family violence in the workplace. The page says the syllabus is for educational and guidance purposes only and should be adapted to your workplace.

The workplace assessment

Training sits inside a wider program. Section 5 requires the employer and the applicable partner to jointly carry out a workplace assessment. It has two parts: identifying risk factors (section 8) and developing and implementing preventive measures (section 9). Our guide to the federal workplace harassment and violence assessment covers it step by step.

Section 8 lists what to take into account when identifying risk factors, inside and outside the workplace:

• the culture, conditions, activities and organizational structure of the workplace
• circumstances outside the workplace, such as family violence, that could lead to harassment and violence at work
• reports, records and data related to harassment and violence
• the physical design of the workplace
• “the measures that are in place to protect psychological health and safety in the work place”

Within six months after the risk factors are identified, the parties must jointly develop preventive measures, write an implementation plan and put the measures in place (section 9). The assessment must be monitored and updated when risk factors change or a measure stops working, and reviewed every three years (subsections 5(2) and 5(3)). Section 6 also requires a review after certain occurrences, for example when the responding party is not an employee or the employer. Section 7 requires the people doing this work to be qualified by training, education or experience.

The prevention policy and related duties

Section 10 requires a jointly developed harassment and violence prevention policy with 11 elements. These include a mission statement, the roles of each party, the risk factors, a summary of the training, a summary of the resolution process and the designated recipient, emergency procedures, privacy protections, other recourse, support measures, and the name of the person who receives complaints under the Code. The policy must be available to all employees. It must be reviewed at least once every three years and after any change to one of its elements.

Other duties in the Regulations:

• Emergency procedures (section 11) for an occurrence that poses an immediate danger, or the threat of one, reviewed after every use.
• Support measures (section 13): make information available about medical, psychological or other support services in employees’ geographical area.
• Records (section 35): most records must be kept for 10 years.
• Annual report (section 36): due to the Head of Compliance and Enforcement on or before March 1 each year. The Government of Canada says to file it even if there were no occurrences.
• Fatality report (section 37): within 24 hours after the employer becomes aware that an occurrence resulted in an employee’s death.

Where psychological health training fits

Psychological health training can still support your program. Section 8 asks you to consider the measures you have to protect psychological health and safety. The Code’s definition of harassment and violence includes psychological injury. And section 13 expects employees to know where support is available.

Bedrock Minds builds the skills around those duties:

• The Responder stream teaches all staff the 4C Pathway: Check, Connect, Care and Close the loop. That includes encouraging supports, agreeing on one next step, and reporting the workplace hazard rather than the person. It also covers critical events.
• The Champion stream is for supervisors, HR, committee members and program leads. It covers finding hazards, building the plan and measuring results, and ends with a written 90-day plan for the learner’s own organization.
• The course is mapped to the voluntary CSA Z1003 standard and its 13 workplace factors, which gives your committee a structure for looking at psychosocial hazards.

If you also run provincially regulated operations in Ontario, see our guides to Ontario harassment policy and program requirements and WSIB chronic mental stress claims.

This article is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

• Justice Laws Website, Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations (SOR/2020-130)
• Justice Laws Website, Canada Labour Code, ss. 122(1) and 125(1)
• Government of Canada, List of federally regulated industries and workplaces
• Government of Canada, Requirements for employers to prevent harassment and violence in federally regulated workplaces
• Government of Canada, Sample harassment and violence prevention training syllabus