Part III of the Canada Labour Code (Labour Standards)
Division XV.1 of Part III of the Canada Labour Code
establishes an employee's right to employment free of sexual
harassment and requires employers to take positive action to prevent
sexual harassment in the work place.
The following questions and answers will be of interest to
employers and employees under federal jurisdiction. Pamphlet 1 of
this series describes the types of businesses covered by the Code.
It is available from any Labour Program office of Human Resources
Development Canada and on the HRDC website.
1. What is sexual harassment?
The Code defines sexual harassment as any conduct,
comment, gesture, or contact of a sexual nature that is likely to
cause offence or humiliation to any employee or that might, on
reasonable grounds, be perceived by that employee as placing a
condition of a sexual nature on employment or on any opportunity for
training or promotion.
2. Who is entitled to protection from sexual harassment?
Under the Canada Labour Code, every employee is entitled
to employment free of sexual harassment.
3. What are the employer's responsibilities for the
prevention of sexual harassment?
Employers are required to make every reasonable effort to ensure
that no employee is subjected to sexual harassment. Every employer,
after consulting with employees or their representatives, must issue
a policy on sexual harassment. The policy must contain at least the
following items:
- a definition of sexual harassment that is substantially the
same as the one in the Code;
- a statement to the effect that every employee is entitled to
employment free of sexual harassment;
- a statement to the effect that the employer will make every
reasonable effort to ensure that no employee is subjected to
sexual harassment;
- a statement to the effect that the employer will take
disciplinary measures against any person under his or her
direction who subjects any employee to sexual harassment;
- a statement explaining how complaints of sexual harassment may
be brought to the attention of the employer;
- a statement to the effect that the employer will not disclose
the name of the complainant or the circumstances related to the
complaint to any person unless disclosure is necessary for the
purposes of investigating the complaint or taking disciplinary
measures in relation to the complaint;
- an explanation of the employee's right to make a complaint
under the Canadian Human Rights Act.
4. How should employers inform employees about the sexual
harassment policy?
Every employer shall post, and keep posted, copies of the sexual
harassment policy where they are likely to be seen by employees.
For information only. For interpretation and application
purposes, please refer to Part III of the Canada Labour Code
(Labour Standards), the Canada Labour Standards Regulations,
and relevant amendments.
Additional copies of this publication can be obtained
from:
Public Enquiries Centre
Human Resources Development Canada
140 Promenade du Portage, Phase IV, Level 0
Gatineau, Quebec
K1A 0J9
Fax (819) 953-7260
www.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca
�Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, 2002
Cat. No. MP43-345/12-2002
ISBN 0-662-66806-5
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