Now that Ontario’s workplace violence and harassment requirements are in effect, guest blogger Robert Smithson ponders whether these new requirements are necessary—and will they work?
Ontario’s New Requirements
Ontario has introduced its Occupational Health and Safety Amendment Act (Violence and Harassment in the Workplace).  This legislation will …

Workplace bullying can be a problem in any workplace. And all Canadian employers have a duty to prevent and address it. Bullying impacts workers in many ways. It can lead to depression and drive workers to quit. It can escalate into violence, resulting in suicides …

On Dec. 15, 2009, Bill 168 received Royal Assent. That means Ontario companies that are subject to the OHS Act have until June 15, 2010 to comply with the new requirements by conducting risk assessments for violence, developing violence and harassment policies and programs and training …

Canada has Take Your Kids to Work Day—Nov. 4 this year. The U.S. has something similar. But they also got something Canadians can only envy: Take Your Handguns to Work Day.
I jest, of course. No such holiday exists south of the border. You see, in America, …

Ontario is one of the few provinces that still doesn’t specifically require employers to prevent workplace violence (although the obligation is implied under the general duty clause). But that’s about to change. The province is expected to pass a bill adding workplace violence to the …