MOOSE JAW — City hall is updating its anti-harassment policy to clarify language in the document and ensure it continues to align with provincial legislation.
City administration presented the updated policy during city council’s recent executive committee meeting, with council unanimously accepting the amended document.
The recommendation will become official at council's July 14 regular meeting after members accept the executive committee minutes.
City hall last updated the anti-harassment policy in April 2022, while it reviewed the document this year as part of the ongoing policy review process, a council report said. Moreover, an occupational health and safety (OH&S) officer from the Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety also reviewed the document during a regular site visit.
“Overall, the officer was pleased with the updates made in 2022, however, (the officer) recommended some minor additional changes to ensure alignment with the provisions of The Saskatchewan Employment Act,” the report continued.
Some changes include:
- Updating the definition of harassment based on the exact language in the Act
- Explicitly stating that city hall will make “every reasonable effort” to ensure no worker is subjected to harassment and that it will take corrective action where it finds harassment
- Clarifying that city hall will communicate the results of an investigation in writing
- Clarifying that nothing in the policy “is intended to prevent or discourage an employee (from) exercising other legal avenues available,” including referring a complaint to the ministry’s OH&S Branch or the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission
- Making minor changes to language in the document for clarity
According to The Saskatchewan Employment Act, harassment is defined as any inappropriate conduct, comment, display, action or gesture by a person towards a worker that:
- Is based on any prohibited grounds that are defined in The Saskatchewan Human Rights Code, or on physical size or weight
- Adversely affects the worker’s psychological or physical well-being and that the offender knows or ought reasonably to know would cause the worker to be humiliated or intimidated
- Constitutes a threat to the health or safety of the worker
- Is of a sexual nature
- The offender knows or ought reasonably to know is unwelcome
To constitute harassment, the Act says certain criteria must be established. Specifically, the offender must repeat the conduct, comments, displays, actions or gestures, or there must be a single and serious occurrence of conduct, or a single and serious comment, display, action or gesture, which has lasting, harmful effects on the worker.
The next executive committee meeting is Monday, July 14.
