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Important

This is not legal advice! What you are getting here is just general legal information. It is not a substitute for advice from an actual lawyer about your specific situation. If you need legal advice, we urge you to find a lawyer who can help you.

If you suspect you’re being punished for complaining about workplace sexual harassment, you’re probably right. It’s very common.

Let’s talk about why punishment happens, and what it looks like.

When you complain about being sexually harassed, you might expect that people would feel bad for you and want to help you. But that’s not usually what happens. What’s more common, researchers say, is that you end up getting blamed for complaining.

This happens because people are misunderstanding the problem. The actual problem is the harassment, which means the person to blame is the harasser. But when somebody complains about harassment, people often react as though the problem is actually the complaint. Which leads them to blame you.

Why does that happen?

  • Supervisors can be uncomfortable handling sexual harassment complaints, because sexual harassment complaints are legally sensitive and…well, awkward. It’s really common for the person you tell to feel burdened and resentful.
  • Sometimes your employer is afraid of the person who harassed you, or is friendly with them, or thinks they are more valuable to the workplace than you are.
  • People will often sympathize with the harasser, and worry about their reputation or ability to make a living. They may think it’s reckless or mean for you to complain.
  • The harasser will often argue that you are making a big deal out of nothing. If there are no witnesses (and there usually aren’t), it becomes a “he said, she said” situation, and people at your work may argue with each other and pick sides. This can be disruptive, and you may get blamed for it.
  • People may decide you’re a drama queen, a liar, or have a chip on your shoulder. This is especially likely if you’re racialized, Indigenous, queer, young, or new to your workplace.
  • It’s pretty common for harassment complaints to result in everybody needing to take sexual harassment training. A lot of people think that’s a waste of time, and will blame you for having to do it.
  • The longer your complaint process drags on (even if the slowness has nothing to do with you), the likelier it is that people will decide you are impossible to satisfy.
  • If you’re suffering, people may feel guilty about not helping you, and that may make them dislike you.

So what does punishment look like in practice?

Even if you don’t know what is being said about you, even if you don’t know who is saying what, you can feel what is being said in how people react to you, speak to you, address you, in sideways glances, how you are dropped, the invitations you stop receiving, how you are dropped from texts, how they stop referring to your work, how they turn away when you turn up. 

Sara Ahmed, Complaint!

Punishment takes many forms. Sometimes it’s subtle, and sometimes it’s not. Here are some common ways that people get punished:

  • You get scheduled to work less often, or you get less-good shifts.
  • People stop doing you favours and treating you well.
  • You start getting frozen out socially by your co-workers.
  • People start withholding information from you that you need to do your job.
  • You start getting told you’re hard to work with.
  • You get a bad performance evaluation.
  • You get formally reprimanded or fired.

What to do if you’re being punished

It depends on who’s punishing you.

Punishments by your boss

If you’re being punished by your boss or someone in a position of authority at your workplace, that might legally be considered a reprisal.

A reprisal is an action, or threat, that’s meant to punish someone who’s standing up for their rights. In the case of sexual harassment, it means that you have complained about the harassment and are being punished because of your complaint.

 If you answer yes to any of these questions, you may be experiencing reprisals:

  • Have your job duties changed since your complaint?
  • Were your performance reviews mostly positive before the harassment and now they’re mostly negative?
  • Has your rate of pay or hours of work decreased?
  • Have you been demoted?
  • Are you being disciplined more than before you complained?
  • Does your manager or supervisor behave differently toward you?
  • Are you being denied opportunities, like a promotion or training?
  • Has a person in authority made comments that made you feel they’re upset you reported?
  • Have you been disciplined or fired because of your complaint?

In Canada, reprisals are illegal. That’s why it’s important to understand whether you’re experiencing a reprisal or just an ordinary punishment. If your employer fires you because you’re always late, that’s not a reprisal and the law isn’t going to protect you. If an employer fires you because you complained about sexual harassment, that’s a reprisal. It’s illegal, and the law is on your side.

It’s not usually hard to prove that the reprisals happened. What’s hard is to prove that they happened because you complained. If you’re considering making a case that you’re experiencing reprisals, it’s important to gather as much evidence and documentation as you can, linking the punishment to your complaint.   

Where to report reprisals

Human rights bodies take cases based on reprisals. So do labour boards and civil courts. If you are unionized and you have started a grievance, the reprisal can be added to the grievance and dealt with at the same time.

If you start experiencing reprisals after you’ve started a case, or even after the case has already been decided, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s too late to include them in your case. Talk with your lawyer, union rep, or union staff right away. They can help you add evidence about the reprisals so that everything gets handled together.

If you haven’t yet started a sexual harassment case or if you told your employer about the harassment and then started being punished, the human rights body is a good place to start.

What else can you do?

Most of these avenues are slow and expensive, and there is no guarantee of success.

Punishments by your co-workers

If you’re being punished by your co-workers, that might or might not be legally considered a reprisal. If a boss or another person with authority over you has some control over the situation, it’s a reprisal. If they don’t, it isn’t.

That doesn’t mean punishment by your co-workers isn’t damaging. It definitely can be. It just means it’s not legally considered a reprisal, which means your employer can’t be held accountable for it.

Here are some common ways in which co-workers punish people:

  • They leave you out of social gatherings.
  • They refuse to talk to you.
  • They talk about you negatively to other people.
  • They drop you from email or text exchanges.
  • They don’t help you with work tasks, or they set you up to fail at them.
  • They don’t help you if you’re in an unsafe situation.
  • They play abusive pranks on you or tell offensive “jokes” at your expense.
  • They use slurs to describe you.
  • They threaten or bully you, verbally or physically.
  • They damage your personal property.

If it’s bad enough, then your workplace might be what’s called “toxic.” That’s a legal term.

There is no single legal definition of a toxic work environment. But generally it’s considered to be a workplace where there is so much harassment and abuse that a reasonable person would find it intolerable to work there.

It can be hard to tell if your workplace is toxic. There are lots of bad workplaces, but not all of them are toxic.

It’s not necessarily a toxic workplace if:

  • People don’t like you.
  • People are rude to you.
  • People ignore you.
  • People play a lot of pranks and tell crass jokes.
  • People make it hard for you to do your job.

But it may be a toxic workplace, especially if:

  • You are being harassed all the time.
  • You feel unsafe or threatened.
  • Any reasonable person would find what’s happening to you intolerable.
  • Your employer knows about it and doesn’t do anything to stop it.

There’s an important distinction between a workplace that’s “toxic” versus one that’s “poisoned.” In a toxic workplace, you personally are being treated badly. In a poisoned workplace, sexual harassment is not just hurting one or two people but is creating a poisoned environment by sexualizing the workplace for everyone. Everyone is being affected. If you’re trying to prove that you’re experiencing reprisals because you complained about being sexually harassed, you can show evidence that it has become toxic for you or you can also show how it has poisoned the workplace for everyone. Or both. 

If this all sounds complicated, it is! That’s why we advise you to get a lawyer if you can.

How and where to get help

Your employer has a legal obligation to provide you with a harassment-free environment. If your workplace is getting toxic to the point where it’s intolerable, there are places you can go for help.

  • First, you can report it to your employer or union, and remind them of their obligations. If they don’t address the problem, that may violate health and safety laws.
  • If you belong to a union, you can ask it to bring a grievance against your employer.
  • You can file a complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal, saying that your employer failed to protect you against harassment, allowing your human rights to be violated. If you have already started a human rights complaint for compensation, you can add the impact of the reprisals to your complaint.
  • If you’re not a union member, you can start a civil action against your employer saying you have experienced constructive dismissal, because your employer’s failure to protect you against harassment amounts to a fundamental change to your employment agreement. If you are considering this, consult a lawyer first.

Your union represents you and other members by negotiating things like better working conditions with your employer, including freedom from harassment in the workplace. Its duties include helping you protect your rights in the workplace. One of the things it’s supposed to do is make sure that your employer takes steps to keep you safe from workers who have sexually harassed people.

What your union should do for you

Ideally, unions act to give employees more power in the workplace. You should be able to go to your union for help when you report workplace sexual harassment. If it agrees that harassment happened or may have happened, it should support you when dealing with your complaint to your employer.

Unions don’t always back you up, though. That’s because your union’s job is to represent both your interests, and the interests of its other members. When it comes to sexual harassment, those two things can come into conflict. The union is supposed to keep you safe, but also defend the harasser. And so, although your union should help you, you may find it isn’t as helpful as you’d hoped.

Unfortunately, in cases where there is a male-dominated union membership, often with an exclusively male executive, there can be a tendency to focus on representing the interests of a male harasser to the detriment of a female co-worker in the bargaining unit minority.

Susan Hart, associate professor, faculty of business administration, Memorial University.
“Women’s Rights and Labour Arbitration of Co-Worker Sexual Harassment Cases in Canada.”

The union’s main job is to make sure your employer is following the law and the collective agreement when it comes to handling your complaint properly.

The collective agreement will cover all areas of the work relationship. It explains the rights and obligations of your employer, the union, and the union members. Your collective agreement is specific to your union and employer, and may cover things like wages, hours, working conditions, and benefits. Collective agreements sometimes have specific references to harassment and discrimination, although the majority don’t. If yours does, it can give you more information about how your sexual harassment claim will be handled by your union and your employer.

If you don’t have a copy of the agreement, it should be available through a union representative or perhaps online at the union’s website. Sometimes the union and the employer don’t agree on what wording in the collective agreement means, and there may be other documents online that will help interpret it.

No matter what your agreement says, your employer has a legal duty to investigate if you report being harassed. If they refuse, or the investigation isn’t done properly, your union can file a grievance.

Important

The law says that every employer must follow human rights law and health and safety laws, whether the collective agreement says this or not.

How to talk to your union

It’s your union representative’s job to help you understand your collective agreement and what your rights are under it. This person, who may also be called a shop steward, a union steward, or a bargaining unit representative, is who you can ask for help when you are reporting sexual harassment. In general, discussions between you and the union representative are confidential. They should be able to give you information about your options under the collective agreement and what the union can do to help you.

Unfortunately, people who have experienced sexual harassment can feel disconnected from their union representatives and other staff members of the union. Many unions don’t have diverse representation among their staff, especially in leadership positions. As a result, you might find they don’t support you.

If you don’t feel comfortable talking to your union representative, you can contact your union’s office to see if there is someone else you can talk to. For example, there might also be a women’s caucus, a human rights division, or a labour relations officer who can help with issues like sexual harassment.

Before speaking to your union representative, document everything.

Think about what supports and outcomes you want so you make clear to your union representative what you would like to see happen.

How your union can help you

A good union can help you in a number of ways:

  • locating witnesses and persuading them to testify
  • providing evidence of previous incidents of harassment by the harasser
  • protecting you from retaliation, both from your employer and from other workers, who may be upset that you have complained about a colleague
  • providing moral support

Important

The union brings the grievance against the employer on your behalf. It is not a complaint against the harasser. Once a grievance is filed, the union may ask your opinion, but it decides whether it wants to settle the grievance, withdraw it, or change it.

What if I don’t want to pursue a grievance?

You might not want your union to launch a grievance. However, if you’re a unionized worker, you have limited legal options outside of the grievance procedure when it comes to making a sexual harassment complaint. Depending on the situation, your union might be able to help you with one or more claims for other legal supports and remedies, including making a workers’ compensation claim.

Other routes, like making a claim at a human rights body, may or may not be possible. Being a unionized worker makes it impossible to sue your employer in civil court. Workplace issues have to go through the collective agreement process and cannot be dealt with in court.

What if my union doesn’t help?

Your union has the legal responsibility to fairly represent you when it comes to issues in your workplace. It is also supposed to treat you in a way that is not discriminatory under human rights laws. In general, your union owes you what’s called a duty of fair representation. This means it isn’t supposed to treat you, or your sexual harassment case, in a way that is arbitrary, discriminatory, or in bad faith.

Each word has a legal definition.

“Arbitrary” behaviour is actions that are “indifferent, unreliable, implausible, or unreasonable.” Unions themselves aren’t responsible for investigating a complaint; that is the employer’s job. But a union must investigate and pursue grievances if your employer fails to explore a harassment complaint or some other violation of a workplace harassment policy or program. If your union meets with your employer and believes the employer’s version of what happened and drops the grievance without giving you a chance to respond to your employer’s report, that would be an arbitrary decision.

“Discriminatory” behaviour involves your being discriminated against for things like your race, sex, gender, or sexual orientation. For example, it would be discriminatory if your union refused to launch a grievance because you are trans. Or if your union treated two similar sexual harassment complaints differently based on the race of the people involved, that would be discriminatory too.

“Bad faith” actions are driven by malice, ill will, dishonesty, and other kinds of improper motivations. If you and your shop steward have a bad relationship and so they don’t respond to your complaint, that’s bad faith.

The complication here is that often the harasser is a co-worker, so the union owes the same duty to that person. Throughout the process, the union must take steps to make sure it isn’t in a conflict of interest while it’s representing both you and the harasser. This means:

  • The union staff who are helping you shouldn’t have a personal connection to the person who harassed you.
  • The same union staff shouldn’t be helping both you and the harasser.
  • The information you give to the union shouldn’t be given to the staff who are helping the harasser, or vice versa.
  • The union can’t refuse to listen to your problems with your employer’s workplace investigation or refuse to deal with reprisals against you.

But this dual duty of fair representation can be bad news for you because it’s well documented that in grievance processes the interests of harassers often win out over those of people who are being harassed.

Unions have a mixed record when it comes to fighting sexual harassment, especially in cases that involve harassment by union members. Union responses to sexual harassment have been shaped by their position in labor markets that remain highly segmented by gender and race, with male-dominated unions playing a passive role vis-à-vis female targets of sexual harassment, and too often siding with male harassers.

Ana Avendaño, vice-president for labor engagement, United Way Worldwide.
“Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: Where Were the Unions?”

If you believe that you have a breach of duty of fair representation case against your union, a provincial labour relations body may be able to help you, or you may need to hire a lawyer. You may be able to make a claim against your union to a human rights tribunal.

The grievance process

Filing a grievance is normally the first step in the formal grievance process. Your collective agreement may have more information about what to expect. We suggest you look up what the agreement says about how your union’s process works.

Your harasser can’t directly be held responsible for the harassment through the grievance process. This means your union can’t make your employer discipline or fire your harasser. Your union can, however, make the employer responsible for doing a proper investigation into your sexual harassment complaint. Your harasser could be disciplined or fired based on the findings of that investigation.

Your union can’t force you to participate in the grievance process. But it can refuse to deal with your grievance if you don’t participate.

Who’s who

Parties

Each side is called a party. Your union and employer are the parties in the arbitration process.

Grievor

You are the grievor, or the employee the union is representing.

Mediator

The mediator’s job is to try to help your union and your employer reach a settlement, though your union will consult with you and consider the outcome you want from the process.

Arbitrator

The arbitrator is the final decision-maker. They are a neutral third party hired to listen to legal arguments and evidence from the union and the employer at the arbitration stage. During the hearing, the arbitrator may ask the union representative questions and take notes. They’ll be considering all of the evidence, legislation, case law, and arguments that both sides present.

Possible outcomes

The arbitrator may be able to order awards such as:

  • an alteration in your work location or shift time
  • a flexible work schedule or a change to your workload. This might be so that you can attend medical and/or legal appointments, take time off, or take a temporary leave of absence. You might also get enhanced security at work, like a security guard walking you to your car
  • an apology from your employer
  • certain actions by your employer, like requiring training on understanding and preventing sexual harassment, and learning about equity and anti-oppression in the workplace
  • an appropriate investigation into your workplace sexual harassment complaint that could involve interviewing you, the harasser, and any witnesses
  • a revised workplace policy that will prevent the same or similar discriminatory practices from happening again in the future.

The grievance process step-by-step

The process for filing a grievance looks different from union to union. Usually, it starts with you filling out your union’s grievance forms and submitting them to the union representative in charge of receiving grievances. You’ll want to read your collective agreement and speak to your union representative to figure out exactly what steps you need to take and any important deadlines.

What happens after a grievance is filed

Once a grievance is filed, your employer will review it and try to get more information about the facts of the complaint. This may be either an informal or formal process. If the issue is that the employer failed to investigate a sexual harassment complaint, the filing of a grievance may prompt them to carry out an investigation. If the complaint is that the investigation they did do was unreasonable, insufficient, or came to the incorrect conclusion, they may speak to the people who led the investigation. This is because, if they don’t carry out a thorough investigation, any decisions they make as a result may be found to be unfair if challenged by the union in arbitration. As a part of their investigation, they may meet with you and ask questions. Alternatively, they may put questions directly to the union.

Typically, employers are required to provide a “reply” to the grievance, indicating whether they accept or deny it. Denying means they take the position that it did not violate the collective agreement. Acceptance means that they recognize that they have not met their obligations to you and will provide the remedy requested by the union. After the employer’s response is received, it could take weeks or even months before your grievance is dealt with, depending on the size of your workplace and union.

Ideally, the grievance is resolved at this stage. If a resolution doesn’t occur, the grievance might be referred to arbitration, mediation, or some other type of dispute resolution allowed by your collective agreement.

How long does the grievance process take?

The length of time of the grievance process can vary. In general, it might take weeks. While it’s very unlikely you would end up in arbitration, that process could take months or longer. Your collective agreement may provide expected timelines. It’s up to your union to decide how it wants to proceed, including if it wants to mediate at all. Your union will consult with you and consider your views, but it will decide what witnesses will be heard, what evidence will be given and what legal positions will be argued if the process reaches that stage.

Filing a grievance shouldn’t cost you anything. If a grievance is complex, your union may pay a lawyer to handle it.

Mediation

Your collective agreement may say if your grievance can be referred to mediation. Grievance mediation is a confidential and informal way for the union and the employer to try to resolve your issue. The mediator will listen to the union and employer and try to find an agreement that works for both. This is called a settlement.

Unless otherwise noted in your collective agreement, mediation is voluntary—there’s no obligation for either your union or employer to participate or accept any proposed settlement that comes out of the mediation. However, it’s extremely uncommon for sexual harassment cases to go to arbitration.

Your union and employer are the parties to the mediation. You aren’t a party to the mediation and there are no witnesses.

The mediator isn’t making a final decision. Instead, they’re trying to find an agreement that works for both your union and your employer.

Settlement

You might be unhappy with the final settlement. Unfortunately, most settlement agreements contain a clause that says that this will be the only decision and that you will not make any legal claims on the same facts in any other legal forum, like at a human rights tribunal. If you don’t believe your union followed the law in dealing with your case, depending on your situation, you might be able to make a duty of fair representation application or human rights complaint against the union.

Mediation settlements are usually confidential and there’s no public hearing or declaration of wrongdoing. Any settlement will be between your union and employer. Your union might sign a non-disclosure agreement. NDAs or confidentiality agreements are standard in settlement agreements. If there’s a confidentiality clause in the settlement or if your union signs a NDA, it won’t apply to you unless you also agree to sign.

Your employer and union might tell you that you have to sign off on the terms of settlement. Technically, you don’t have to, but you won’t get whatever benefits are included in the settlement unless you do. Also, if you don’t sign, your employer might refuse to settle your grievance. Same thing for your union.

Your union monitors the settlement. It wants to make sure that the employer is sticking to the agreement and that the workplace is now safer for you and for other union members. If any of the settlement terms are not being met, you can report that to your union representative. 

Grievance arbitration

While in theory your case could escalate to grievance arbitration, it’s very unlikely that this would happen. The vast majority of cases that reach arbitration involve harassers who have been suspended, fired, or otherwise disciplined by employers. So the employer is the party defending the affected person’s rights while the union is supporting the harasser, to whom it owes a duty of fair representation, in a highly adversarial environment. More than half the time, the harasser wins.

In the limited number of grievance arbitration cases where a sexually harassed person is the grievor, their union is also representing the harasser. The people who have been harassed generally find the situation extremely stressful, as they are aggressively questioned and their integrity doubted.

Let’s start with sexual assault.

Sexual assault is a crime under the Criminal Code of Canada. Sexual assault is any type of sexual contact that happens without your consent. It also includes situations in which a person has threatened you to convince you to have sexual contact with them.

There are three degrees of sexual assault

  • Level 1: Touching, kissing, intercourse, penetration and any other sexual activity that is done without the consent of the other person.
  • Level 2: When the accused has a weapon, or threatens to use a weapon, when the accused threatens to cause physical harm, causes physical harm, or if the affected person has been sexually assaulted by more than one person in the same incident.
  • Level 3: Also known as aggravated sexual assault, this occurs when the person who has been sexually assaulted is wounded, maimed, or their life has been endangered. It is also a Level 3 sexual assault if the accused has a gun and threatens to use it.

So it’s sexual assault if:

  • A co-worker kisses you without your permission.
  • You get drunk at an office party and wake up realizing someone you work with has had sex with you when you were too intoxicated to consent.
  • A customer at the restaurant where you work slaps your ass.

But it’s not sexual assault if:

  • Someone insults you or calls you names.
  • Someone leers at you, catcalls you, or propositions you.
  • Someone hugs you or touches you non-sexually.
  • Someone yells at you or chases you.

It’s important to know that, even if someone’s behaviour meets the legal definition of sexual assault, that doesn’t necessarily mean the police will take it seriously. The police are likely to take action if they think what happened to you was serious. If they think it was trivial or unimportant, they may not.

Should you go to the police if you’ve been sexually assaulted?

Most people don’t. Only about 5% of people who were sexually assaulted go to the police.

Why? Many people believe the police won’t take them seriously. Some are afraid of being judged. Some feel ashamed or guilty, as if what happened was their fault. If they know the assaulter, they may be afraid of retaliation. And some—especially Indigenous, racialized and 2SLGBTQIA+ people—just don’t trust the police at all.

This isn’t unjustified. The police have a really lousy record of handling sexual assault cases. To begin with, they refuse to believe 10% of the people who report assault, and classify their cases as “unfounded.” They’re more likely to believe you if you’re white, if you were injured, if the person who assaulted you was a stranger, if they used a weapon, if you fought back hard, and if you were sober.

A police investigation itself can be traumatizing. Some people have described their experience with the police as so bad it was like a “second rape.” Officers can be rude, abrupt, and judgmental, and some believe outdated rape myths and stereotypes.

Common rape myths:

  • If it didn’t end in sex, it’s not really rape.
  • Women “ask for it” by the way they dress or behave.
  • If someone is drunk or high, it’s their fault.
  • Women lie about being raped because they regret having sex.
  • If someone didn’t scream and fight, it wasn’t really rape.
  • Men don’t get raped.

Even though many people have bad experiences with the police, people who work at sexual assault crisis centres say they would never advise someone not to go the police. They believe it’s important for the person who was assaulted to make their own decision about what to do.

Some people who have been assaulted say publicly seeking justice is a way for them to regain control. Some say that, even though they were pretty sure that the perpetrator wouldn’t be punished, going to the police still made them feel better.

Calgary Communities Against Sexual Abuse (CCASA) has created this list of questions to ask yourself when you’re deciding what to do:

  • What’s my motivation for reporting to the police?
  • What will it be like to share detailed information about a traumatic event?
  • How will I feel if the person who hurt me is not found guilty?
  • Am I willing to wait for one to two years for the process to be over?
  • Do I know how to access support if and when I need it?
  • How will I feel if I don’t report?
  • How will reporting impact my relationships with my family and friends?

If you go to the police

If you’ve been assaulted and go to the police, you might decide to undergo a medical exam to collect evidence from your body and your clothing. This is called a rape kit, and it has different formal names. It could be a sexual assault evidence kit (SAEK), or sexual assault nurse examination (SANE). The results and any clothing you were wearing could be essential evidence for a later prosecution.

If you decide to go through with a rape kit procedure, experts say you should try to do it within 72 hours of the assault, and you shouldn’t shower first.

The procedure is done at a hospital, and the people there won’t report what happened to the police. You can have the evidence gathered and decide later what you want to do. In some places, you can contact a local sexual assault centre and they will send someone to be with you during the process. You can call 211 to see if there’s a centre close to you.

CCASA has produced a document called Navigating the Criminal Legal System that includes a clear, straightforward guide about what to expect if you go to the police. The details may be different depending on where you live, but overall you can expect the process to be pretty similar to what CCASA describes.

Important

If you go to the police, you don’t have any control over what happens afterward. You don’t get to make the decisions about whether there’s an investigation or prosecution. Those decisions are made by the police and by prosecutors. If the case goes to court, you’ll just be a witness.

If the police decide there’s enough evidence to charge the person who assaulted you, this may eventually lead to a trial, but it could be months or even years before your case comes up.

Court is an adversarial process, and the accused’s lawyer will do what they can to make you seem unreliable and untrustworthy. That could be retraumatizing. It’s important to know that court outcomes are totally discouraging too: Only about one in 10 results in a conviction.

What other types of sexual harassment might break criminal laws

There are other things that harassers do that are illegal under Canadian criminal law and that you might decide to report to the police. Or you might want to tell your HR department, your boss, or your union rep, if you have one. Even if what’s happening isn’t serious enough for you to want to go to the police, your employer may be willing to take steps to protect you. It’s possible to go to the police and raise the issue within your workplace. Doing one doesn’t mean you can’t also do the other.

If you’re considering reporting any of these behaviours, you should collect and save as much evidence as you can. Don’t delete texts or emails. Keep recordings, if you have any. Take screenshots. Take pictures.

Sharing sexual imagery

It’s a crime in Canada to share sexual images of someone without their consent. Under the Criminal Code, this is called “non-consensual distribution of intimate images.”

If someone at work shares sexual pictures or videos of you with other people, they are breaking the law. It doesn’t matter how they got the images, or how they share them.

Indecent communications

It’s a crime for someone to send you sexual images of themselves or other people, including commercial pornography. The Criminal Code prohibits what it calls “indecent communications,” which includes sending sexual communications “with the intent to alarm or annoy.”

Defamation

If someone lies about you in a way that hurts your reputation, exposing you to hatred, contempt, or ridicule, in Canada that can break both civil and criminal laws.

Defamation can be verbal, or it can happen in other ways such as text messages, emails, or social media posts. If someone falsely tells your co-workers you are a pedophile or a drug addict or an abusive parent, that’s defamation.

If someone falsely tells your boss you lied on your job application or you’re stealing from the company, that’s defamation.

But, it’s not defamation to express an opinion. So if a co-worker says you’re lazy or ugly or bad at your job, that’s probably not defamation. If somebody calls you a slur, that may or may not be defamation.

Stalking

In Canada, stalking is against the law. It’s called criminal harassment.

If someone from your work repeatedly shows up at your home uninvited, or if a former partner repeatedly shows up at your workplace, that’s stalking. If a co-worker or customer repeatedly texts you, emails you, or phones you, that can be stalking. If someone watches you and tracks where you go, or follows you around, that’s stalking, too.

The Department of Justice has a really good online pamphlet on stalking, Stalking Is a Crime Called Criminal Harassment.

Doxxing and swatting

Doxxing is when someone publishes personal information about you online, like your home address or your phone number. Usually it’s done to encourage or enable other people to harass you. Swatting is when people deliberately trick the police or other emergency services into going to your house or workplace, by pretending there’s an emergency. The purpose of swatting is to annoy, frighten, or endanger you.

Under Canadian law, both doxxing and swatting are considered forms of criminal harassment.

Voyeurism

A voyeur is someone who records, photographs, or watches you when you think you’re in a private space. Voyeurism is illegal.

Most workplace voyeurism occurs in places where people may be nude or partly nude, like washrooms, changerooms, or dressing rooms. If somebody sets up a secret camera in a washroom at work, that’s voyeurism. If your employer puts a camera in a changeroom, that could be voyeurism. If somebody secretly watches or records you with their phone when you think you’re alone, or secretly takes invasive pictures of you (like aiming their camera up your skirt), that may be voyeurism.

Voyeurism can happen to anyone, but you might be especially at risk if your workplace is also where you live, if your job requires you to change clothes at work, or if you are breastfeeding or pumping milk at work.

Uttering threats

Under the law, “uttering threats” means that someone is threatening you, your property, or your animals.

The threat doesn’t have to be spoken—it can be emailed, texted, or posted on social media. The threat also doesn’t need to be sent directly to you: If someone tells other people they are going to hurt or kill you, including on social media, they are breaking the law.

Hate speech

In Canada it’s a crime to publicly incite hatred against an identifiable group, which means a group distinguishable by “colour, race, religion, national or ethnic origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or mental or physical disability.”

So let’s say someone at your work is posting on social media expressing hostility, intolerance, or violent feelings toward women, or trans people, or Muslim people, or some other group. That person may be committing a crime.

So, should you go to the police?

We can’t answer that for you.

If you go to the police, they may not take you seriously. Or they may start an investigatory and legal process that’s long, painful for you, and doesn’t lead to justice.

Even so, experts say there’s no one right answer. The right answer is what’s right for you. It’s a totally personal decision.

What are the alternatives? Many sexual assault centres have group therapy programs and some offer individual counselling also. Attending to your mental health is vital. It’s possible finding support in the community or with a therapist is the right thing for you instead.

Women and other sexual abuse complainants couldn’t get a fair hearing through institutions, including corporate structures, so they used a new tool, the internet. This has been very effective and has been seen as a massive wake-up call.

Michael Hobbes, journalist and podcast host, You’re Wrong About: “Cancel Culture,” June 7, 2021.

It used to be that people who got sexually harassed told practically no one. But then #MeToo happened.

The #MeToo movement started in late 2017, when American actress Alyssa Milano sent out a tweet asking people to share their stories of sexual harassment and abuse. Millions of people did it, using the hashtag #MeToo.

Seeing all those stories helped people to realize that harassment and abuse are really common, which helped them feel less shame and guilt about their own experiences. That’s why today people are much more likely to share their stories publicly. They do it themselves, usually on social media, or sometimes through the news media, by talking with a journalist.

Here are some real-world stories of people who’ve gone public about being harassed.

  • In Edmonton in 2017, a man who co-owned a bar repeatedly groped one of the staff. She reported it to management, but nothing was really done about it and he continued to behave badly. Eight months later, she quit her job and made a public Facebook post explaining why. As a result, some of her co-workers also quit, some bands that had been scheduled to play at the bar cancelled, the media covered the story, and the bar ended up shutting down permanently. 
  • In Toronto in 2018, a woman was fired from her job at a tech start-up after she complained to HR about being sexually harassed by one of the company’s executives. In 2019, she tweeted anonymously about what happened to her, the company investigated, and the executive left. She wrote an anonymous essay about what happened and published it on Medium, which led to media coverage, and two months later the company shut down. In 2020, the woman told her entire story to a Global News reporter, who wrote a long article about it using her real name with her permission.
  • In Montreal in 2020, a woman shared on Instagram her story of being sexually assaulted, which led to dozens of other women sharing similar stories. Some did this under their own accounts, and others were anonymous. Some people named lost their jobs, others apologized publicly, and others threatened to sue for defamation. Afterwards, the Quebec justice minister assembled a group of experts to come up with ways to make it easier for victims of sexual assault to navigate the Quebec justice system.

People go public for lots of reasons. Here are some of the most common:

  • They want to warn people, so people know to avoid the harasser and/or the harasser’s employer.
  • They want to publicly shame the harasser, or make sure the harasser understands what they did was wrong and harmful.
  • They want to publicly shame their employer for not stopping the harassment.
  • They want to raise awareness of how common harassment is.
  • They want to build community with other people who’ve had similar experiences.
  • They want support, catharsis, or healing.

Those are all good reasons to go public—and, in fact, there are no bad reasons. If you want to go public, your reasons are valid, whatever they are.

But going public can have some negative consequences. Here are the most common, and how you can protect yourself against them.

If you go public, you might get sued for defamation

If you say bad things about the harasser or your employer, they might sue you for defamation. “Defamation” is a legal term. It describes what it’s called when someone publicly says something about somebody else that isn’t true and that hurts the other person’s reputation. It can be something published, which is often called “libel,” or something spoken—in some parts of the country, this is called “slander.”

Defamation is a civil complaint, not a criminal one, which means the police aren’t involved.

Anybody can file a defamation case. They don’t have to have a good case; they just need enough money to pay a lawyer.

In many ways, a defamation lawsuit is the perfect tool for men accused of sexual violence. Filing a lawsuit allows men accused of sexual violence to re-cast the narrative about responsibility and blame, and to present themselves as victims of false allegations. It is then up to the defendant to prove that the statements about sexual violence are true.

Mandi Gray, post-doctoral researcher, University of Calgary.
“Cease and Desist/Cease or Resist? Civil Suits and Sexual Violence.”

Here are some examples of situations in which people have been sued for defamation after going public.

  • In 2018, a Calgary woman wrote an anonymous blog post about being sexually assaulted by a reporter when she had worked at a TV network. While investigating her allegations, the network divulged her name. The accused reporter sued her and the network for $7.5 million.
  • About five years ago, “Laura” was sexually harassed and assaulted by her boss while on a work trip. She was fired an hour after reporting his behaviour. Her open letter about the assault that she posted on social media resulted in a defamation suit from the organization she’d worked for. The suit wasn’t pursued but she lost her housing as a result of being unemployed.
  • In 2020, people accused of sexual harassment and assault on a Regina-based woman’s Instagram account threatened to sue her for defamation. As a result, she shut down the account. The woman was never sued, but one man filed a lawsuit against Facebook, which owns Instagram, seeking $1 million in damages.

It’s impossible to know how likely it is that you’ll be sued for defamation. Your odds of getting sued are higher if you name the harasser (or if it’s obvious who they are, even if you don’t name them), if your story gets a lot of attention, if the harasser is well known, if they have a lot of money to hire lawyers, and if they’ve ever sued anyone before.

You can get sued even if what you say is true, and even if you can prove it’s true. Sometimes a harasser will start a defamation lawsuit they know they can’t win to try to get you to change your story or take it down.

If you end up getting sued for defamation, you’ll need to hire a lawyer, and the whole process will be expensive and slow—it’s not unusual for cases to take more than two or more years. A case can fall into “legal limbo,” and can’t be withdrawn for five years. So, if you’re considering going public, and especially if you plan to name the harasser, it’s a good idea to talk with a lawyer first. See How to find and work with a lawyer.

If you go public, strangers might attack and abuse you

Here’s a Japanese journalist describing what happened to her in 2017, after she spoke at a press conference saying she had been raped two years earlier by a colleague:

“The backlash hit me hard. I was vilified on social media and received hate messages and emails and calls from unknown numbers. I was called a ‘slut’ and ‘prostitute’ and told I should ‘be dead.’ There were arguments over my nationality, because a true Japanese woman wouldn’t speak about such ‘shameful’ things. Fake stories popped up online about my private life with photos of my family. I received messages from women criticizing me for failing to protect myself.”

What happened to her is really common. Not everyone who goes public gets attacked and abused, but lots do. Usually this means things like people yelling at you or calling you names online, but sometimes it’s worse than that, with people sending you rape or death threats; publishing your private information and encouraging others to harass you; harassing your family and friends; or reaching out to your employer to try to get you fired.

If you want to go public, but reduce the chances you’ll be harassed for doing it, here are some things you could consider:

  • You could publish your story anonymously, instead of using your real name.
  • You could try to keep the name of your current employer secret.
  • You could tighten up your digital security before you publish. (Like, remove your private information from the internet, and restrict who can see what you publish on social media.) There are some good resources for that here, here, and here.
  • You could tell your friends before you publish, and ask them to be ready to help you if you end up facing harassment or abuse.

If you go public, you might lose your job or have a hard time getting a new one

This is a real risk. Lots of people have described how their careers tanked after they went public. Companies don’t want to hire people who’ve complained publicly about sexual harassment, because they’re worried they’ll do it again. And, in general, it’s pretty common for people to harshly judge people who complain about harassment.

If you’re concerned about your work reputation, that concern is probably valid. If you want to go public anyway, here are some things you can do to try to protect yourself:

  • Don’t name your employer.
  • Don’t attach your real name to your story.
  • When you tell your story, try to keep it factual and understated.
  • Make it clear that, apart from the harassment, you like your employer and enjoy your work.
  • Make it clear that you regret having to go public, and wish you didn’t have to do it.
  • Make it clear that you are trying to help your company do a better job of handling harassment, rather than being motivated by anger or a desire for revenge.

If you go public, you might mess up any legal case you’re pursuing or settlement you’ve received

If you’re involved with any kind of formal complaint process or legal action, going public could mess it up. Here are some ways that might happen:

  • It could give the harasser or your employer a heads-up on what’s coming, giving them time to change their story or destroy evidence.
  • What you say could be used against you in court, with the other side claiming you’ve lied, or tried to influence other witnesses, or using what you say to attack your character or motivation.
  • If people attack you online, then people who might have been willing to support you (for example by being a witness) may change their minds.
  • If you’ve signed a non-disclosure agreement, going public could break it. You might be required to pay back any settlement money you got, and your employer might decide to sue you for breach of contract.

If you’re involved in a formal legal process, it’s a good idea to get advice from your lawyer before going public.

By now, you probably have a pretty good idea about whether going public is right for you.

If you choose to do it, your first big question is whether to try to get a journalist to tell your story or whether to do it yourself.

The main reason to talk with a journalist is that it makes your story more credible, because most people will assume that what a journalist writes is pretty likely to be true.

But there are downsides to doing this. You lose control of what exactly gets said, and where, and when. A journalist may push you to give them embarrassing details that you don’t want to share publicly. It’s possible a journalist may make a deal with you (like, to keep your name confidential, or to not tell some parts of your story) and then end up breaking that deal. If you don’t want to be quoted when you’re being interviewed, you have to say that what you’re telling them is confidential before you start to talk, not afterward.

But for most people, a journalist isn’t an option anyway. A journalist might be interested in your story if what happened to you was especially scandalous, or if you or the harasser (or your employer) are famous. But otherwise it’s usually pretty hard to get a journalist interested, because sexual harassment happens every day, and so it’s not really “news.”

That means that if you go public, you’ll probably end up doing it alone, on social media. 

We’ll leave you now with some last things to consider.

A checklist of things to think about before you go public

  • Are there important people in your life who you want to tell ahead of time?
  • Are there people in your life who you don’t want to know about what happened to you, who may learn about it once you go public?
  • Are you comfortable with your story possibly being public forever?
  • If you have a lawyer, have you talked with them about your plan?
  • Have you done what you can to make it less likely you’ll be sued for defamation?
  • If you do get sued, are you confident you can defend yourself?
  • Are you involved with any current complaints or legal process that might get messed up when you go public?
  • Have you signed any legal agreements that might limit what you can say publicly? See How to decide whether to take legal action (and what to expect if you do).
  • Have you done what you can to tighten up your digital privacy and security?
  • Have you lined up supports to help protect your well-being and safety after you go public? See Build a support network.

If you’ve decided to report sexual harassment to your employer, this guide is for you. Here’s everything you need to know.

We’ll start with some background.

What is the Canada Labour Code, who does it protect, and what does it require from employers?

If you work for a federally regulated workplace in any province in Canada, or work for certain private employers in Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, or Yukon, there are a few laws that offer you protection from sexual harassment at work.

The Canada Labour Code and its regulations, the Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations, are all about safety in workplaces. They are federal laws that protect workers from all sorts of hazards at work, including violence and harassment. Part II of the Canada Labour Code deals with harassment. Under the regulations, your employer is required to have a policy saying how they prevent, deal with, and investigate sexual harassment and workplace violence.

The Canadian Human Rights Act says that sexual harassment is against the law. It protects people from discrimination and harassment based on specific grounds, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. Under the act, your employer is required to prevent and respond to sexual harassment in the workplace.

The Canada Labour Code, the Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations and the Canadian Human Rights Act work together to protect you from sexual harassment.

Your employer has responsibilities under all of these laws.

Do the Canada Labour Code and the Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations apply in your situation?

There are two categories of workplaces that are affected by the code—the private and public sectors:

Federally regulated private sectors are:

  • banks, including authorized foreign banks
  • airports, air transportation (e.g., Air Canada, WestJet)
  • interprovincial/international transportation (e.g., railways, trucking companies, marine shipping, interprovincial buses)
  • fisheries
  • telephone, cable systems and telegraph companies
  • television and radio broadcasting
  • uranium mining and processing
  • grain elevators
  • First Nation band councils (including certain community services on reserves)
  • Crown corporations (e.g., Canada Post, Royal Canadian Mint)
  • private-sector firms and municipalities in Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut

Federally regulated public sectors are:

  • the federal public service
  • Parliament (Senate, House of Commons)

If you’re employed in one of these sectors, you’re most likely a federally regulated worker. If you’re not sure, you can contact the federal Labour Program.

The Canada Labour Code covers workers in federally regulated workplaces. That includes:

  • employees (including your boss and co-workers)
  • anyone who gets paid for providing services, including independent contractors
  • anyone who isn’t paid, but who completes work for an employer with the main purpose of gaining knowledge or experience, including interns and volunteers (i.e., those taking part in a co-op job, job shadow, a research project, fieldwork, or an internship)

Who is not covered by the Canada Labour Code?

The Canada Labour Code does not apply to:

  • individuals who work in provincially regulated workplaces. These people are protected by provincial human rights acts and labour codes

Does the Canada Labour Code cover sexual harassment related to your work that’s happening outside the workplace?

Yes! Employers are responsible for protecting you against workplace sexual harassment even if it happens outside of the workplace.

If you’re sexually harassed at a work event, while you’re working at home or online, while you’re travelling for your job, or even if a co-worker harasses you in a social setting outside of work hours, your employer is responsible for taking steps to ensure your safety.

What does the Canada Labour Code require from an employer?

The Canada Labour Code requires employers to make it clear that sexual harassment will not be tolerated and to have a plan for responding to reports. If someone makes a complaint, the code requires employers to conduct an investigation and take steps to make the workplace safe.

The Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations require all employers to have sexual harassment policies and programs. This is often a single document. 

The workplace policy says how your employer will prevent or reduce the risk of workplace harassment and violence. It also says how complaints can be made and how the employer will investigate complaints. The program is the more detailed plan of how the policy is put into practice. It describes how to report workplace harassment and violence and the process for responding to complaints.

Employers must create a general health and safety program about the prevention of hazards in the workplace and the education of employees on health and safety issues. Employers must also ensure that the policies and programs are made available to all employees.

If there is no workplace program/policy at your employer, or if they aren’t following it, you can make a complaint to the Labour Program.

See a sample workplace harassment policy and program.

Okay. Now you know the basics.

Now we’ll tell you how to actually report.

Getting ready to report

The first thing you should do is try to get a copy of your workplace sexual harassment policy. It will tell you how you’re supposed to report, and what’s supposed to happen once you do.

  • It may tell you to try talking directly with the harasser first.
  • It may name people or positions you’re supposed to report to.
  • It may give a deadline for how quickly you need to report.

Don’t worry too much about following the exact procedures. As long as you go to a person in a position of authority and tell them you are formally reporting sexual harassment, that should be enough to get things started.

It’s pretty common for employers to handle reports badly. You might report to someone, and they might think you’re just venting or asking for advice. So it’s important to say as clearly as possible that you are making a formal report of sexual harassment. It’s also pretty common for people to not know what they’re supposed to do next. So if nothing seems to happen after you report, you might want to follow up to make sure someone is taking action.

Important

Some people think that HR is supposed to be on their side. That’s not really true. A good HR person will want the workplace to be safe and will know they have a responsibility to act on your complaint. But their responsibility is really to your employer, not to you. They should help you, but they are not your friend or advocate.

You may feel like you are causing a problem for your employer by reporting. But that’s not really what’s happening. When you report sexual harassment, you are bringing a problem to your employer’s attention. You didn’t create it; you’re just reporting it.

It might help to think about it the same way you’d think about reporting a gas leak or a piece of broken equipment. It’s a safety issue.

How to report

Once you’ve picked whom you’re going to report to, make an appointment with them. Try not to just drop by: it’s better if you have their full attention. If you don’t know what to say when you make the appointment, you can just tell them you want to talk about a workplace problem.

You should report verbally and, ideally, face-to-face, not just in writing. But if you want, you can bring something you’ve written and leave it with them. This can be a good idea if you’re worried there are things you may forget to say, or if you think they may mishear or misunderstand you. Keep a written record of what you report, when you report, and to whom you report. A written complaint can also be used as evidence if there is ever a dispute over whether you did actually report the harassment and when.

What happens after you report

After you report, your employer must respond to your complaint within seven days. In their response they need to explain several things, including how you can find the workplace harassment and violence policy and each step of the complaint resolution process. You and your employer will then have to meet to see if you can resolve what happened through a negotiation process. If this doesn’t work for you, you can take part in a conciliation process and/or an investigation.

In conciliation, you and the harasser both have to agree to take part. Conciliation involves an outside third party helping you and your employer to resolve your dispute.

In an investigation, your employer hires an investigator to determine whether you were sexually harassed and to make recommendations to the employer on how to address the situation.

  • The investigator can be someone from within the workplace or outside it
  • They are supposed to be objective—not on your side or the harasser’s side.
  • They are supposed to follow the employer’s workplace harassment policy.
  • They are supposed to understand the Canada Labour Code and its regulations.

Some investigations may only take a day, while others may take months. There is no set timeline under the Canada Labour Code for how long the investigation should take, but your employer may have internal policies about timelines.

If the investigation costs any money (like, for a translator if you need one), your employer is supposed to pay for it. You should not have to pay any costs related to the investigation.

The investigator’s job is to decide whether what happened to you qualifies as sexual harassment under the Canada Labour Code. To do that, they will talk with you, the person who harassed you, and anybody who witnessed it.

Important

To do their work, the investigator needs to ask the harasser about what they did. That means the harasser will know you reported them.

The investigator should keep you informed about the timing and progress of their investigation, but they usually won’t tell you details. You won’t be allowed to be there when other people are interviewed, and you won’t be able to see notes or transcripts from the interviews.

How to prepare to be interviewed

The investigator should invite you to a meeting, where they will ask you to tell your story. They will ask for details (what happened, where, when, etc.), whether there were witnesses, and if you have any documents or other evidence. They may also ask how the harasser has behaved to you since then.

There may be other people there. If your workplace has a Policy Health and Safety Committee, a Work Place Health and Safety Committee, or a Joint Health and Safety Committee, its worker representative may take part in the investigation process if you are refusing to work because of the harassment. If there is a health and safety rep, they will be there. There may be someone there solely to take notes.

Tip

People at the meeting may behave formally and seriously, even if they know you from outside the investigation. You may feel like that means they are mad at you or don’t believe you. But that’s not necessarily the case. They may just be trying to be respectful.

It’s rare for an investigator to be challenging or aggressive. Normally they are just trying to gather information and make sure they understand what you’re saying. It’s normal for them to ask you a lot of questions and write down everything you say.

Here are steps you can take to prepare for the meeting:

  • If there’s anything about the meeting that doesn’t work for you—for example, its location or timing—you can ask for an alternative. You can also ask to bring a support person with you. If you require accommodations at the meeting—for example, a translator—you should ask for them.
  • If you haven’t already, you should write down all the important events in the order they happened. Try to include as much detail as possible, including dates, times, names of people who were present, what was said or done, and where it happened. Bring a copy of this document with you to the meeting.
  • Collect copies or printouts of any documents related to the harassment. This might include printouts of emails, screenshots of text messages, your phone call log, or anything else you think is relevant. See Document everything.

How to handle yourself during the interview

  • Remember that you haven’t done anything wrong, and you are not on trial.
  • You can take your time when answering questions. If you’re not sure you understand a question, ask for it to be repeated or rephrased.
  • It is always okay for you to ask for a short break.
  • It is okay for you to take notes.
  • It’s totally fine for you to ask about the investigator’s process and timeline.
  • It’s totally fine for you to tell the investigator about any concerns you have.
  • It’s a good idea to tell the investigator if you’re worried about confidentiality, especially if you’re afraid the harasser will get other people to gang up on you for reporting them.

Things that can go wrong and how to handle them

What if my employer ignores my report?

This is really common. Roughly 50% of sexual harassment reports get ignored. If that happens to you, you can:

  • Call the Labour Program. If it agrees that your situation is covered by the Canada Labour Code, it may order your employer to investigate.
  • Contact your union.
  • Contact your workplace health and safety rep.

What if the investigator seems biased?

The investigator is supposed to be fair and unbiased. But they aren’t always. If you’re concerned that the investigator is biased, you can contact the Labour Program. If they agree, they have the power to order a new investigation.

What if the investigation is taking a really long time, or I am not getting any updates?

If that happens, you can contact the Labour Program, and they can order your employer to conduct a new or better investigation. Or you can contact your union or workplace health and safety rep.

What if people at work are gossiping about me and the investigation?

This isn’t supposed to happen. Investigators are only allowed to share information about the investigation if it will help them do their work, protect other workers, or if the law says it must be shared. (For example, if criminal charges have been laid, the investigator might have to share information with the police.) The investigator is supposed to instruct anyone involved with the investigation to not talk about it.

But it’s actually very common for people to gossip about the investigation. And sometimes it can be really bad. Sometimes, other people decide to support the harasser and start treating you badly.

If that happens, you should tell your employer. They are supposed to protect you against any harassment that might happen as a result of your report. Or you can report it to the Labour Program.

What if I get punished for reporting?

Getting punished for reporting is extremely common. About a third of people who report say that in the end they got punished. So, yeah, if you think it’s happening to you, it probably is. We’re really sorry.

What happens is people end up sympathizing with the harasser and blaming you for reporting them. They decide you’re a troublemaker or a problem or a drama queen. That makes them like you less, and so they start treating you badly. They might schedule you for fewer shifts, stop helping you with your work, or decide to not recommend you for a promotion or raise or other opportunity.

These are called reprisals, and they’re so common and so awful, we wrote an entire guide about them. See Getting punished for complaining and how to protect yourself. Please read it. We want you to be able to protect yourself.

What happens once the investigation is over?

The investigation report informs the employer whether the investigator believes sexual harassment occurred and recommends actions to maintain a safe workplace.

If the harasser is an employee, the investigator may suggest termination, transfer, suspension, or reprimand. They might also propose workplace changes, such as shift adjustments, policy updates, or education. After receiving the report, the employer must meet with the Work Place Health and Safety Committee or representative to decide which recommendations to implement. They have one year to act on accepted recommendations.

The employer must provide a written summary of the investigation results to both parties, though no set timeline exists. However, they must give monthly updates on recommendation implementation.

Employers are not required to follow recommendations or seek the employee’s input. They may resolve issues through alternative dispute resolution, work adjustments (with employee consent), or compensation agreements, often including a non-disclosure clause.

What to do if you’re not happy with the outcome

If your employer chooses to do nothing about the harassment, they aren’t meeting their duties under the Canada Labour Code, its regulations, and the Canadian Human Rights Act. Here are some things you might do. First, though, consider consulting a lawyer.

If you’ve decided to report sexual harassment to your employer, this guide is for you. Here’s everything you need to know.

We’ll start with some background.

What is the law, who does it protect, and what does it require from employers?

There are two laws that offer you protection from psychological and sexual harassment at work.

The Act Respecting Labour Standards (ARLS) states that you have the right to a workplace free of harassment. This means that your employer must take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in your workplace, including having a harassment prevention policy, and put an end to it in the workplace as soon as they become aware of the situation.

The Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms prohibits discriminatory harassment, which includes sexual harassment, based on any of the grounds it lists, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression. It is your employer’s responsibility to see that your rights under the charter are protected.

The ARLS and the charter work together to protect you from sexual harassment.

Your employer has responsibilities under both these laws.

Does the ARLS apply in your situation?

The ARLS relates to the actions and behaviour of people in your workplace, including your boss, co-workers, contractors, customers, and clients.

The ARLS covers most workers who get paid for providing services (including independent contractors).

Who in Quebec is not covered by the ARLS protections against psychological and sexual harassment?

These are the exceptions of people working in Quebec who aren’t covered by the ARLS:

  • The ARLS doesn’t apply to self-employed workers.
  • The ARLS doesn’t apply to federally regulated workplaces (except caisses populaires). People in those industries are protected by the Canada Labour Code.
  • The ARLS does not apply to non-unionized public service or public agency service workers. People in those sectors are protected by the Commission de la fonction publique.  
  • The ARLS doesn’t apply to volunteers. (But that doesn’t mean volunteers can’t report sexual harassment; they absolutely can. It just means the employer may not be obligated to carry out a full investigation.)

Does the ARLS cover psychological and sexual harassment related to your work that’s happening outside the workplace?

Yes! Employers are responsible for protecting you against workplace sexual harassment even if it happens outside of the workplace.

If you’re sexually harassed at a work event, while you’re working at home or online, while you’re travelling for your job, or even if a co-worker harasses you outside of work hours, your employer is responsible for taking steps to ensure your safety.

What are employers required to do regarding workplace harassment?

Quebec law requires employers to have a harassment prevention and complaint processing policy. Employers must also make the policy available and known to all employees. 

The workplace harassment policy should include:

  • the employer’s obligations and commitments
  • a specific section on sexual harassment
  • expectations for employees
  • how the employer will intervene to resolve an incident of harassment
  • what the employer must consider in assessing an incident of harassment (e.g., confidentiality, persons involved, etc.)

See a sample workplace harassment policy (French).

If there is no policy at your workplace or if your employer isn’t following it, you can file a complaint with the Commission des normes de l’équité de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST): 1-844-838-0808.

Okay. Now you know the basics.

Now we’ll tell you how to actually report.

Getting ready to report

The first thing you should do is try to get a copy of your workplace sexual harassment policy. It will tell you how you’re supposed to report and what’s supposed to happen once you do.

  • It may tell you to try talking directly with the harasser first.
  • It may name people or positions you’re supposed to report to.
  • It may give a deadline for how quickly you need to report.

Don’t worry too much about following the exact procedures. As long as you go to a person in a position of authority and tell them you are formally reporting sexual harassment, that should be enough to get things started.

It’s pretty common for employers to handle reports badly. You might report to someone, and they might think you’re just venting or asking for advice. So it’s important to say as clearly as possible that you are making a formal report of sexual harassment. It’s also pretty common for people to not know what they’re supposed to do next. If nothing seems to happen after you report, you might want to follow up to make sure someone is taking action.

Important

Some people think that HR is supposed to be on their side. That’s not really true. A good HR person will want the workplace to be safe and will know they have a responsibility to act on your complaint. But their responsibility is really to your employer, not to you. They should help you, but they are not your friend or advocate.

You may feel like you are causing a problem for your employer by reporting. But that’s not really what’s happening. When you report sexual harassment, you are bringing a problem to your employer’s attention. You didn’t create it; you’re just reporting it.

It might help to think about it the same way you’d think about reporting a gas leak or a piece of broken equipment. It’s a safety issue.

How to report

Once you’ve picked who you’re going to report to, make an appointment with them. Try not to just drop by: it’s better if you have their full attention. If you don’t know what to say when you make the appointment, you can just tell them you want to talk about a workplace problem.

You should report verbally and ideally face-to-face, not just in writing. Bring something you’ve written and leave it with them. This can be a good idea if you’re worried there are things you may forget to say, or if you think they may mishear or misunderstand you. If you have records, like emails or texts from your harasser that support your complaint, you should bring copies with you. This can help ensure that your complaint is taken seriously.

What happens after you report

After you report, your employer should assign someone to investigate.

  • The investigator may be a single person or a committee from within your workplace or outside it.
  • They are supposed to be objective. Not on your side or the harasser’s side.
  • They are supposed to follow the employer’s workplace harassment policy.
  • They are supposed to understand the ARLS.

Some investigations may only take a day, while others may take months.

If the investigation costs any money (like, for a translator, if you need one), your employer is supposed to pay for it. You should not have to pay any costs related to the investigation.

The investigator’s job is to decide whether what happened to you qualifies as sexual harassment. To do that, they will talk with you, the person who harassed you, and anybody who witnessed it.

Important

To do their work, the investigator needs to ask the harasser about what they did. That means the harasser will know you reported them.

The investigator should keep you informed about the timing and progress of their investigation, but they usually won’t tell you details. You won’t be allowed to be there when other people are interviewed, and you won’t be able to see notes or transcripts from the interviews.

How to prepare to be interviewed

The investigator should invite you to a meeting, where they will ask you to tell your story. They will ask for details (what happened, where, when, etc.), whether there were witnesses, and if you have any documents or other evidence. They may also ask how the harasser has behaved to you since then.

The harasser will be questioned, and so will any witnesses. If there are people you know witnessed the sexual harassment that you experienced, you can provide the investigator with their names and contact information. However, it is up to the investigator to decide who to meet with and question during the investigation.

There may be other people at the meeting. If your workplace has a Health and Safety Committee, its worker representative will be there. If there is a health and safety rep, they will be there. There may be someone there solely to take notes.

Tip

People at the meeting may behave formally and seriously, even if they know you from outside the investigation. You may feel like that means they are mad at you or don’t believe you. But that’s not necessarily the case. They may just be trying to be respectful.

It’s rare for an investigator to be challenging or aggressive. Normally they are just trying to gather information and make sure they understand what you’re saying. It’s normal for them to ask you a lot of questions and write down everything you say.

Here are steps you can take to prepare for the meeting:

  • If there’s anything about the meeting that doesn’t work for you—for example, its location or timing—you can ask for an alternative. You can also ask to bring a support person with you. If you require accommodations at the meeting—for example, a translator—you should ask for them.
  • If you haven’t already, you should write down all the important events in the order they happened. Try to include as much detail as possible, including dates, times, names of people who were present, what was said or done, and where it happened. Bring a copy of this document with you to the meeting.
  • Collect copies or printouts of any documents related to the harassment. This might include printouts of emails, screenshots of text messages, your phone call log, or anything else you think is relevant. Document everything.

How to handle yourself during the interview

  • Remember that you haven’t done anything wrong, and you are not on trial.
  • You can take your time when answering questions. If you’re not sure you understand a question, ask for it to be repeated or rephrased.
  • It is always okay for you to ask for a short break.
  • It is okay for you to take notes.
  • It’s totally fine for you to ask about the investigator’s process and timeline.
  • It’s totally fine for you to tell the investigator about any concerns you have.
  • It’s a good idea to tell the investigator if you’re worried about confidentiality, especially if you’re afraid the harasser will get other people to gang up on you for reporting them.

Things that can go wrong and how to handle them

What if my employer ignores my report?

This is really common. Roughly 50% of sexual harassment reports get ignored. If that happens to you, you can:

  • Contact the CNESST labour standards division if you’re not unionized (1-844-838-0808).
  • Contact your union.
  • Contact your workplace health and safety rep.

What if the investigator seems biased?

The investigator is supposed to be fair and unbiased. But they aren’t always. If you’re concerned that the investigator is biased, you can contact the CNESST. If it agrees, it has the power to order a new investigation.

What if the investigation is taking a really long time, or I am not getting any updates?

If that happens, you can contact the CNESST if you’re not unionized, and it can order your employer to conduct a new or better investigation.

What if people at work are gossiping about me and the investigation?

This isn’t supposed to happen. Investigators are only allowed to share information about the investigation if it will help them do their work, protect other workers, or if the law says it must be shared. (For example, if criminal charges have been laid, the investigator might have to share information with the police.) The investigator is supposed to instruct anyone involved with the investigation to not talk about it.

But it’s actually really common for people to gossip about the investigation. And sometimes it can be really bad. Sometimes other people decide to support the harasser and start treating you badly.

If that happens, you should tell your employer. They are supposed to protect you against any harassment that might happen as a result of your report. Or you can report it to the CNESST if you’re not unionized.

What if I get punished for reporting?

Getting punished for reporting is extremely common. About a third of people who report say that in the end they got punished. So, yeah, if you think it’s happening to you, it probably is. We’re really sorry.

What happens is people end up sympathizing with the harasser and blaming you for reporting them. They decide you’re a troublemaker, or a problem, or a drama queen. That makes them like you less, and so they start treating you badly. They might schedule you for fewer shifts, stop helping you with your work, or decide to not recommend you for a promotion or raise or other opportunity.

These are called reprisals, and they’re so common and so awful, we wrote an entire guide about them: Getting punished for complaining and how to protect yourself. Please read it. We want you to be able to protect yourself.

What happens once the investigation is over

The investigation report tells the employer whether the investigator thinks sexual harassment happened and may contain recommendations as to how your employer can correct the situation. 

Your employer must share a summary of the findings with you, but they are not required to tell you about any measures they put in place or the steps they take regarding the harasser. They are also not required to follow any of the inspector’s recommendations.

How your employer deals with the harasser if they are an employee will depend on what your workplace’s prevention policy says about disciplinary measures. You will not be consulted about how the harasser will be disciplined.

Your employer may propose making changes in your working situation—only if you agree; otherwise, that could be a reprisal. They may offer you things like: a specific amount of leave, which could be paid or unpaid; a gradual return to work after a sick leave; or some compensation for medical expenses not covered by provincial insurance. Usually, if you make this kind of agreement, the employer also makes you agree to not talk publicly by signing a non-disclosure agreement about any of the details of the incident and the settlement.

What to do if you’re not happy with the outcome

If your employer chooses to do nothing about the harassment, they aren’t meeting their duties under the Act Respecting Labour Standards and the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. Here are some things you might do. First, though, consider consulting a lawyer. If you are not unionized, a public employee, or a federally regulated employee, you can file a complaint with the CNESST Labour Standards division (1-844-838-0808). Successful outcomes can include financial compensation, reimbursement of legal fees or lost wages, reinstatement if you quit or were fired as a result of the harassment, or a commitment to stop the offending behaviour. You must file a complaint within two years of the last incident of harassment. 

If you’ve decided to report sexual harassment to your employer, this guide is for you. Here’s everything you need to know.

We’ll start with some background.

What is the law, who does it protect, and what does it require from employers

In Nunavut, there are two laws that protect you if you’ve experienced sexual harassment.

Nunavut’s Safety Act and its Occupational Health and Safety Regulations (OHSR) are all about safety in workplaces. They are the laws in Nunavut that protect workers from all sorts of hazards at work, including violence and harassment. Under the OHSR, your employer is required to have a policy saying how they prevent, deal with, and investigate sexual harassment and workplace violence.

The Nunavut Human Rights Act says that harassment based on prohibited grounds is against the law. It protects people from discrimination and harassment based on specific grounds, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. Under the act, your employer is required to prevent and respond to sexual harassment in the workplace.

The Safety Act, the OHSR, and the Human Rights Act work together to protect you from discrimination and sexual harassment.

Your employer has responsibilities under both these laws.

Do the Safety Act and the OHSR apply in your situation?

The Safety Act and the OHSR relate to the actions and behaviour of people in your workplace, including your boss, co-workers, contractors, customers, and clients.

Under the Safety Act and OHSR, a worker is any person engaged in work for an employer. This covers both the people working for pay and those working without pay, like volunteers. A worker is any of the following:

  • an employee
  • someone who gets paid for providing services (including independent contractors)
  • unpaid high school students doing work as part of a work experience program (co-op, job shadowing, placements, etc.)
  • unpaid college or university students, new graduates or people on work placements like co-ops, research projects, fieldwork, internships for professional licences under a college or university or another postsecondary institution
  • volunteers

Who in Nunavut is not covered by the Safety Act and the OHSR?

The Safety Act and the OHSR don’t apply to mines as defined in the Mine Health and Safety Act. The Safety Act and the OHSR also don’t apply to federally regulated workplaces such as post offices, banks, radio and TV operations, and airlines and airports. People in those industries are protected by the Canada Labour Code.

Do the Safety Act and the OHSR cover sexual harassment related to your work that’s happening outside the workplace?

Yes! Employers are responsible for protecting you against workplace sexual harassment even if it happens outside of the workplace.

If you’re sexually harassed at a work event, while you’re working at home or online, while you’re travelling for your job, or even if a co-worker harasses you in a social setting outside of work hours, your employer is responsible for taking steps to ensure your safety.

What do the Safety Act and the OHSR require from an employer?

If someone makes a complaint, the Safety Act and the OHSR require employers to address the harassment. This may or may not involve an investigation. Some employers may allow for an informal resolution, which does not involve an investigation.

The OHSR requires all workplaces to have a written workplace policy that addresses harassment. The workplace policy says how your employer will prevent or reduce the risk of workplace harassment and violence. This policy is required no matter the size of the workplace.

See a sample workplace sexual harassment policy (page 24).

A program is a more detailed plan of how the policy is put into practice. If your workplace has 20 employees or more, your employer is supposed to create and maintain an occupational health and safety program. Your employer should review the program, and, if necessary, revise it at least every three years. Employers with a smaller number of workers may also be required to develop a program.

Depending on the workplace, your employer may also have to have a violence policy. An employer is required to develop a written policy at a workplace where violence has occurred in the past or could reasonably be expected to occur.

Harassment and violence policies must be reviewed and, if necessary, revised at least once every three years.

Okay. Now you know the basics.

Now we’ll tell you how to actually report.

Getting ready to report

The first thing you should do is try to get a copy of your workplace sexual harassment policy. It will tell you how you’re supposed to report, and what’s supposed to happen once you do.

  • It may tell you to try talking directly with the harasser first.
  • It may name people or positions you’re supposed to report to.
  • It may give a deadline for how quickly you need to report.

Don’t worry too much about following the exact procedures. As long as you go to a person in a position of authority and tell them you are formally reporting sexual harassment, that should be enough to get things started.

It’s pretty common for employers to handle reports badly. You might report to someone, and they might think you’re just venting or asking for advice. So it’s important to say as clearly as possible that you are making a formal report of sexual harassment. It’s also pretty common for people to not know what they’re supposed to do next. So if nothing seems to happen after you report, you might want to follow up to make sure someone is taking action.

Important

Some people think that HR is supposed to be on their side. That’s not really true. A good HR person will want the workplace to be safe and will know they have a responsibility to act on your complaint. But their responsibility is really to your employer, not to you. They should help you, but they are not your friend or advocate.

You may feel like you are causing a problem for your employer by reporting. But that’s not really what’s happening. When you report sexual harassment, you are bringing a problem to your employer’s attention. You didn’t create it; you’re just reporting it.

It might help to think about it the same way you’d think about reporting a gas leak or a piece of broken equipment. It’s a safety issue.

How to report

Once you’ve picked to whom you’re going to report, make an appointment with them. Try not to just drop by; it’s better if you have their full attention. If you don’t know what to say when you make the appointment, you can just tell them you want to talk about a workplace problem.

You should report verbally and, ideally, face-to-face, not just in writing. Bring something you’ve written and leave it with them. This can be helpful if you’re worried there are things you may forget to say, or if you think they may mishear or misunderstand you.

What happens after you report

After you report, your employer should assign someone to investigate.

  • The investigator can be someone from within the workplace or outside it.
  • They are supposed to be objective. Not on your side, or the harasser’s side.
  • They are supposed to follow the employer’s workplace harassment policy.
  • They are supposed to understand the OHSR.

If the investigation costs any money (like for a translator, if you need one), your employer is supposed to pay for it. You should not have to pay any costs related to the investigation.

The investigator’s job is to decide whether what happened to you qualifies as sexual harassment under the OHSR definition. To do that, they will talk with you, the person who harassed you, and anybody who witnessed it.

Important

To do their work, the investigator needs to ask the harasser about what they did. That means the harasser will know you reported them.

The investigator should keep you informed about the timing and progress of their investigation, but they usually won’t tell you details. You won’t be allowed to be there when other people are interviewed, and you won’t be able to see notes or transcripts from the interviews.

How to prepare to be interviewed

The investigator should invite you to a meeting, where they will ask you to tell your story. They will ask for details (what happened, where, when, etc.), whether there were witnesses, and if you have any documents or other evidence. They may also ask how the harasser has behaved to you since then.

There may be other people there. If your workplace has a Joint Health and Safety Committee, its worker representative will be there. If there is a health and safety rep, they will be there. There may be someone there solely to take notes.

Tip

People at the meeting may behave formally and seriously, even if they know you from outside the investigation. You may feel like that means they are mad at you or don’t believe you. But that’s not necessarily the case. They may just be trying to be respectful.

It’s rare for an investigator to be challenging or aggressive. Normally they are just trying to gather information and make sure they understand what you’re saying. It’s normal for them to ask you a lot of questions and write down everything you say.

Here are steps you can take to prepare for the meeting:

  • If there’s anything about the meeting that doesn’t work for you—for example, its location or timing—you can ask for an alternative. You can also ask to bring a support person with you. If you require accommodations at the meeting—for example, a translator—you should ask for them.
  • If you haven’t already, you should write down all the important events in the order they happened. Try to include as much detail as possible, including dates, times, names of people who were present, what was said or done, and where it happened. Bring a copy of this document with you to the meeting.
  • Collect copies or printouts of any documents related to the harassment. This might include printouts of emails, screenshots of text messages, your phone call log, or anything else you think is relevant. See Document everything.

How to handle yourself during the interview

  • Remember that you haven’t done anything wrong, and you are not on trial.
  • You can take your time when answering questions. If you’re not sure you understand a question, ask for it to be repeated or rephrased.
  • It is always okay for you to ask for a short break.
  • It is okay for you to take notes.
  • It’s totally fine for you to ask about the investigator’s process and timeline.
  • It’s totally fine for you to tell the investigator about any concerns you have.
  • It’s a good idea to tell the investigator if you’re worried about confidentiality, especially if you’re afraid the harasser will get other people to gang up on you for reporting them.

Things that can go wrong and how to handle them

What if my employer ignores my report?

This is really common. Roughly 50% of sexual harassment reports get ignored. If that happens to you, you can:

  • Contact your union.
  • Contact your workplace health and safety rep.

What if the investigation is taking a really long time, or I am not getting any updates?

You can contact your union or workplace health and safety rep.

What if people at work are gossiping about me and the investigation?

This isn’t supposed to happen. Investigators are only allowed to share information about the investigation if it will help them do their work, protect other workers, or if the law says it must be shared. (For example, if criminal charges have been laid, the investigator might have to share information with the police.) The investigator is supposed to instruct anyone involved with the investigation to not talk about it.

But it’s actually very common for people to gossip about the investigation. And sometimes it can be really bad. Sometimes, other people decide to support the harasser, and start treating you badly.

If that happens, you should tell your employer. They are supposed to protect you against any harassment that might happen as a result of your report. 

What if I get punished for reporting?

Getting punished for reporting is extremely common. About a third of people who report say that in the end they got punished. So, yeah, if you think it’s happening to you, it probably is. We’re really sorry.

What happens is people end up sympathizing with the harasser and blaming you for reporting them. They decide you’re a troublemaker, or a problem, or a drama queen. That makes them like you less, and so they start treating you badly. They might schedule you for fewer shifts, stop helping you with your work, or decide to not recommend you for a promotion or raise or other opportunity.

These are called reprisals, and they’re so common and so awful, we wrote an entire guide about them. See Getting punished for complaining and how to protect yourself. Please read it. We want you to be able to protect yourself.

What happens once the investigation is over

Once the investigation is complete, the investigator will prepare a report summarizing the evidence, conflicts, conclusions, and recommendations. This may include corrective actions like firing, transferring, suspending, or reprimanding the harasser. Workplace adjustments, such as schedule changes or policy updates, may also be suggested.

Employers should provide a written summary of the results within 10 days. If harassment occurred, they must take corrective action and inform both parties. However, they are not required to follow recommendations or disclose punishments.

Your employer may choose to resolve issues with you in other ways. They may agree to make changes in your working situation—only if you agree; otherwise, that could be a reprisal. They may ask you to participate in alternative dispute resolution or negotiate with you to give you some compensation in exchange for your not taking legal action. Usually, if you make this kind of agreement, the employer also makes you agree to not talk publicly by signing a non-disclosure agreement about any of the details of the incident and the settlement.

What to do if you’re not happy with the outcome

If your employer chooses to do nothing about the harassment, they aren’t meeting their duties under the Safety Act and its OHSR and the Nunavut Human Rights Act. Here are some things you might do. First, though, consider consulting a lawyer.

If you’ve decided to report sexual harassment to your employer, this guide is for you. Here’s everything you need to know.

We’ll start with some background.

What are the laws that protect workers in the Northwest Territories, and what do they require from employers?

In the Northwest Territories, there are three laws that offer you protection from sexual harassment at work.

The Northwest Territories Safety Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations are all about safety in workplaces. They are the laws in the Northwest Territories that protect workers from all sorts of hazards at work, including violence and harassment. Under the OHSR, your employer is required to have a policy saying how they prevent, deal with, and investigate sexual harassment and workplace violence.

The Northwest Territories Human Rights Act says that sexual harassment is against the law. It protects people from discrimination and harassment based on specific grounds, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.

Under the act, your employer is required to prevent and respond to sexual harassment in the workplace.

The Safety Act, the OHSR and the Northwest Territories Human Rights Act work together to protect you from sexual harassment.

Your employer has responsibilities under all of these laws.

Do the Safety Act and the OHSR apply in your situation?

The OHSR relates to the actions and behaviour of people in your workplace, including your boss, co-workers, contractors, customers, and clients.

The OHSR covers most workers. That includes:

  • employees who aren’t federally regulated workers
  • anyone who gets paid for providing services, including independent contractors
  • people who aren’t paid, but are part of a work placement program (like a co-op job, job shadowing, a research project, fieldwork, or an internship)
  • volunteers

Who in the Northwest Territories is not covered by the Safety Act and the OHSR?

The Safety Act and the OHSR don’t apply to federally regulated workplaces such as post offices, banks, radio and TV operations, and airlines and airports. People in those industries are protected by the Canada Labour Code.

The OHSR do not apply to work in mines or to workers involved in the exploration, production, and conservation of oil and gas resources.

Do the Safety Act and OHSR cover sexual harassment related to your work that’s happening outside the workplace?

Yes! Employers are responsible for protecting you against workplace sexual harassment even if it happens outside of the workplace.

If you’re sexually harassed at a work event, while you’re working at home or online, while you’re travelling for your job, or even if a co-worker harasses you in a social setting outside of work hours, your employer is responsible for taking steps to ensure your safety. If the harassment happens after work hours and is not clearly related to your job, your employer may not have any obligations unless they have a workplace policy dealing with after-work behaviours.

What do the Safety Act and the OHSR require from an employer?

The Safety Act and the OHSR require employers to prevent workplace harassment. If someone makes a complaint, the Safety Act and the OHSR require employers to address the harassment. This may or may not involve an investigation. Some employers may allow for an informal resolution, which does not involve an investigation.

The OHSR requires all workplaces to have a written workplace policy that addresses harassment. The workplace policy says how your employer will prevent or reduce the risk of workplace harassment and violence. It also says how complaints can be made and how the employer will investigate complaints. This policy is required no matter the size of the workplace.

The workplace harassment policy is supposed to describe:

  • a definition of harassment that is consistent with the OHSR
  • how harassment complaints can be made
  • how your employer won’t share your name or the name of the harasser, or the details of your complaint, unless it’s necessary to complete an investigation or required by the law
  • how your employer will inform you of the results of an investigation

See the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Harassment Codes of Practice to read what else should be in a policy (page 14) and to see a sample workplace sexual harassment policy (page 24).

A program is the more detailed plan of how the policy is put into practice. If you work in a place with 20 workers or more, your employer is also supposed to create and maintain an occupational health and safety program. Your employer may also be required to provide an occupational health and safety program if they have been directed to do so by the chief safety officer. 

An employer is required to develop a written policy on violence in a workplace where violence has occurred in the past or could reasonably be expected to occur. Work sites this applies to are listed in the OHSR.

Harassment and violence policies must be reviewed and, if necessary, revised at least once every three years or whenever there is a change that could affect the health or safety of workers.

Okay. Now you know the basics.

Now we’ll tell you how to actually report.

Getting ready to report

The first thing you should do is try to get a copy of your workplace sexual harassment policy. It will tell you how you’re supposed to report, and what’s supposed to happen once you do.

  • It may tell you to try talking directly with the harasser first.
  • It may name people or positions you’re supposed to report to.
  • It may give a deadline for how quickly you need to report.

Don’t worry too much about following the exact procedures. As long as you go to a person in a position of authority and tell them you are formally reporting sexual harassment, that should be enough to get started.

It’s pretty common for employers to handle reports badly. You might report to someone, and they might think you’re just venting or asking for advice. So it’s important to say as clearly as possible that you are making a formal report of sexual harassment. It’s also pretty common for people to not know what they’re supposed to do next. So if nothing seems to happen after you report, you might want to follow up to make sure someone is taking action.

Important

Some people think that HR is supposed to be on their side. That’s not really true. A good HR person will want the workplace to be safe and will know they have a responsibility to act on your complaint. But their responsibility is really to your employer, not to you. They should help you, but they are not your friend or advocate.

You may feel like you are causing a problem for your employer by reporting. But that’s not really what’s happening. When you report sexual harassment, you are bringing a problem to your employer’s attention. You didn’t create it; you’re just reporting it.

It might help to think about it the same way you’d think about reporting a gas leak or a piece of broken equipment. It’s a safety issue.

How to report

Once you’ve picked whom you’re going to report to, make an appointment with them. Try not to just drop by: it’s better if you have their full attention. If you don’t know what to say when you make the appointment, you can just tell them you want to talk about a workplace problem.

You should report verbally and, ideally, face-to-face, not just in writing. Bring something you’ve written and leave it with them. This can be helpful if you’re worried there are things you may forget to say, or if you think they may mishear or misunderstand you. If you have records, like emails or texts from your harasser that support your complaint, you should bring copies with you. This can help ensure that your complaint is taken seriously.

What happens after you report

After you report, your supervisor should assign someone to investigate.

  • The investigator can be someone from within the workplace or outside it.
  • They are supposed to be objective: not on your side, or the harasser’s side.
  • They are supposed to follow the employer’s workplace harassment policy.
  • They are supposed to understand the OHSR.

There may or may not be a deadline for the completion of the investigation. This will depend on where you work. 

If the investigation costs any money (like, for a translator if you need one), your employer is supposed to pay for it. You should not have to pay any costs related to the investigation.

The investigator’s job is to decide whether what happened to you qualifies as sexual harassment under the OHSR definition. To do that, they will talk with you, the person who harassed you, and anybody who witnessed it.

Important

To do their work, the investigator needs to ask the harasser about what they did. That means the harasser will know you reported them.

The investigator should keep you informed about the timing and progress of their investigation, but they usually won’t tell you details. You won’t be allowed to be there when other people are interviewed, and you won’t be able to see notes or transcripts from the interviews. Depending on where you work, you may be entitled to a support person during your interview. This person can accompany you but not participate actively in the interview.

How to prepare to be interviewed

The investigator should invite you to a meeting, where they will ask you to tell your story. They will ask for details (what happened, where, when, etc.), whether there were witnesses, and if you have any documents or other evidence. They may also ask how the harasser has behaved to you since then.

There may be other people there. If your workplace has a Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee, its worker representative will be there. If there is a health and safety rep, they will be there. There may be someone there solely to take notes.

Tip

People at the meeting may behave formally and seriously, even if they know you from outside the investigation. You may feel like that means they are mad at you or don’t believe you. But that’s not necessarily the case. They may just be trying to be respectful.

It’s rare for an investigator to be challenging or aggressive. Normally they are just trying to gather information and make sure they understand what you’re saying. It’s normal for them to ask you a lot of questions and write down everything you say.

Here are steps you can take to prepare for the meeting:

  • If there’s anything about the meeting that doesn’t work for you—for example, its location or timing—you can ask for an alternative. You can also ask to bring a support person with you. If you require accommodations at the meeting—for example, a translator—you should ask for them.
  • If you haven’t already, you should write down all the important events in the order they happened. Try to include as much detail as possible, including dates, times, names of people who were present, what was said or done, and where it happened. Bring a copy of this document with you to the meeting.
  • Collect copies or printouts of any documents related to the harassment. This might include printouts of emails, screenshots of text messages, your phone call log, or anything else you think is relevant. See Document everything.

How to handle yourself during the interview

  • Remember that you haven’t done anything wrong, and you are not on trial.
  • You can take your time when answering questions. If you’re not sure you understand a question, ask for it to be repeated or rephrased.
  • It is always okay for you to ask for a short break.
  • It is okay for you to take notes.
  • It’s totally fine for you to ask about the investigator’s process and timeline.
  • It’s totally fine for you to tell the investigator about any concerns you have.
  • It’s a good idea to tell the investigator if you’re worried about confidentiality, especially if you are afraid the harasser will get other people to gang up on you for reporting them.

Things that can go wrong and how to handle them

What if my employer ignores my report?

This is really common. Roughly 50% of sexual harassment reports get ignored. If that happens to you, you can:

  • Contact your union, if you have one.
  • Contact your workplace health and safety rep.

What if the investigation is taking a really long time, or I am not getting any updates?

You can contact your union or workplace health and safety rep.

What if people at work are gossiping about me and the investigation?

This isn’t supposed to happen. Investigators are only allowed to share information about the investigation if it will help them do their work, protect other workers, or if the law says it must be shared. (For example, if criminal charges have been laid, the investigator might have to share information with the police.) The investigator is supposed to instruct anyone involved with the investigation to not talk about it.

But it’s actually very common for people to gossip about the investigation. And sometimes it can be really bad. Sometimes, other people decide to support the harasser, and start treating you badly.

If that happens, you should tell your employer. They are supposed to protect you against any harassment that might happen as a result of your report.

What if I get punished for reporting?

Getting punished for reporting is extremely common. About a third of people who report say that in the end they got punished. So, yeah, if you think it’s happening to you, it probably is. We’re really sorry.

What happens is people end up sympathizing with the harasser and blaming you for reporting them. They decide you’re a troublemaker, or a problem, or a drama queen. That makes them like you less, and so they start treating you badly. They might schedule you for fewer shifts, stop helping you with your work, or decide to not recommend you for a promotion or raise or other opportunity.

These are called reprisals, and they’re so common and so awful, we wrote an entire guide about them: Getting punished for complaining and how to protect yourself. Please read it. We want you to be able to protect yourself.

What happens once the investigation is over

Once the investigation is complete, the investigator will prepare a report summarizing the evidence, conflicts, conclusions, and recommendations. This may include corrective actions like firing, transferring, suspending, or reprimanding the harasser. Workplace adjustments, such as schedule changes or policy updates, may also be suggested.

Employers should provide a written summary of the results within 10 days. If harassment occurred, they must take corrective action and inform both parties. However, they are not required to follow recommendations or disclose punishments.

Your employer may choose to resolve issues with you in other ways. They may agree to make changes in your working situation—only if you agree; otherwise, that could be a reprisal. They may ask you to participate in alternative dispute resolution or negotiate with you to give you some compensation in exchange for your not taking legal action. Usually, if you make this kind of agreement, the employer also makes you agree to not talk publicly by signing a non-disclosure agreement about any of the details of the incident and the settlement.

What to do if you’re not happy with the outcome

If your employer chooses to do nothing about the harassment, they aren’t meeting their duties under the OHSR, the Safety Act and the Human Rights Act. Here are some things you might do. First, though, consider consulting a lawyer.

If you’ve decided to report sexual harassment to your employer, this guide is for you. Here’s everything you need to know.

We’ll start with some background.

What is the OHSA, who does it protect, and what does it require from employers?

Tip

OHSA is usually pronounced oh-shah, even though it’s not spelled that way. It rhymes with Scotia.

In New Brunswick, there are two laws that offer you protection from sexual harassment at work.

The Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) is all about safety in workplaces. It’s the law in New Brunswick that protects workers from all sorts of hazards at work, including violence and harassment. Under the OHSA’s General Regulation your employer is required to have a code of practice saying how they deal with and investigate harassment and workplace violence.

The New Brunswick Human Rights Act says that sexual harassment is against the law in the context of employment, housing, accommodation and services, and professional, business and trade associations. Under the act, your employer is required to prevent and respond to sexual harassment in the workplace.

The OHSA and the Human Rights Act work together to protect you from sexual harassment.

Your employer has responsibilities under both these laws.

Does the OHSA apply in your situation?

The OHSA relates to the actions and behaviour of people in your workplace, including your boss, co-workers, contractors, customers, and clients.

The OHSA covers most workers. That includes:

  • employees
  • people at the place of employment (like contractors, customers, volunteers, etc.)

Who in New Brunswick is not covered by the OHSA?

These are the exceptions of people working in New Brunswick who aren’t covered by the OHSA:

If you aren’t sure if the OHSA applies to you, you can ask WorkSafeNB.

Does the OHSA cover sexual harassment related to your work that’s happening outside the workplace?

Yes! Employers are responsible for protecting you against workplace sexual harassment even if it happens outside of the workplace.

If you’re sexually harassed at a work event, while you’re working at home or online, while you’re travelling for your job, or even if a co-worker harasses you in a social setting outside of work hours, your employer is responsible for taking steps to ensure your safety.

What does the OHSA require from an employer?

The OHSA requires employers to make it clear that harassment will not be tolerated, and to have a plan for responding to reports. The OHSA requires the employer have a harassment code of practice. Think of it as a guide for how harassment or violence will be dealt with and what to expect if you report harassment at work.

The code of practice says how complaints can be made and how the employer will investigate them.

The code of practice is supposed to describe:

  • who is responsible for carrying out the code of practice
  • how your employer will investigate and document harassment
  • how your employer will take corrective action
  • how you will be informed of the results of an investigation
  • the followup steps the employer will take.

If there is no code of practice at your workplace or if your employer isn’t following it, you can report that to WorkSafeNB (1-800-999-9775). Note: spellcheck is interfering with this link 

See a sample code of practice.

Okay. Now you know the basics.

Now we’ll tell you how to actually report.

Getting ready to report

The first thing you should do is try to get a copy of your workplace harassment code of practice. It will tell you how you’re supposed to report and what’s supposed to happen once you do.

  • It may tell you to try talking directly with the harasser first.
  • It may name people or positions you’re supposed to report to.
  • It may give a deadline for how quickly you need to report.

Don’t worry too much about following the exact procedures. As long as you go to a person in a position of authority and tell them you are formally reporting sexual harassment, that should be enough to get things started.

It’s pretty common for employers to handle reports badly. You might report to someone, and they might think you’re just venting or asking for advice. So it’s important to say as clearly as possible that you are making a formal report of sexual harassment. It’s also pretty common for people to not know what they’re supposed to do next. So if nothing seems to happen after you report, you might want to follow up to make sure someone is taking action.

Important

Some people think that HR is supposed to be on their side. That’s not really true. A good HR person will want the workplace to be safe and will know they have a responsibility to act on your complaint. But their responsibility is really to your employer, not to you. They should help you, but they are not your friend or advocate.

You may feel like you are causing a problem for your employer by reporting. But that’s not really what’s happening. When you report sexual harassment, you are bringing a problem to your employer’s attention. You didn’t create it; you’re just reporting it.

It might help to think about it the same way you’d think about reporting a gas leak or a piece of broken equipment. It’s a safety issue.

How to report

Once you’ve picked whom you’re going to report to, make an appointment with them. Try not to just drop by; it’s better if you have their full attention. If you don’t know what to say when you make the appointment, you can just tell them you want to talk about a workplace problem.

You should report verbally and, ideally, face-to-face, not just in writing. Bring something you’ve written and leave it with them. This can be a good idea if you’re worried there are things you may forget to say, or if you think they may mishear or misunderstand you.

What happens after you report

After you report, your employer should assign someone to investigate.

  • The investigator can be someone from within the workplace or outside it.
  • They are supposed to be objective and neutral. Not on your side, or the harasser’s side.
  • They are supposed to follow the employer’s workplace harassment code of practice.

Some investigations may only take a day, while others may take months.

If the investigation costs any money (like, for a translator if you need one), your employer is supposed to pay for it. You should not have to pay any costs related to the investigation.

The investigator’s job is to decide whether what happened to you qualifies as sexual harassment. To do that, they will talk with you, the person who harassed you, and anybody who witnessed it.

Important

To do their work, the investigator needs to ask the harasser about what they did. That means the harasser will know you reported them.

The investigator should keep you informed about the timing and progress of their investigation, but they usually won’t tell you details. You won’t be allowed to be there when other people are interviewed, and you won’t be able to see notes or transcripts from the interviews.

How to prepare to be interviewed

The investigator should invite you to a meeting, where they will ask you to tell your story. They will ask for details (what happened, where, when, etc.), whether there were witnesses, and if you have any documents or other evidence. They may also ask how the harasser has behaved to you since then.

Tip

People at the meeting may behave formally and seriously, even if they know you from outside the investigation. You may feel like that means they are mad at you or don’t believe you. But that’s not necessarily the case. They may just be trying to be respectful.

It’s rare for an investigator to be challenging or aggressive. Normally they are just trying to gather information and make sure they understand what you’re saying. It’s normal for them to ask you a lot of questions and write down everything you say.

Here are steps you can take to prepare for the meeting:

  • If there’s anything about the meeting that doesn’t work for you—for example, its location or timing—you can ask for an alternative. You can also ask to bring a support person with you. If you require accommodations at the meeting—for example, a translator—you should ask for them.
  • If you haven’t already, you should write down all the important events in the order they happened. Try to include as much detail as possible, including dates, times, names of people who were present, what was said or done, and where it happened. Bring a copy of this document with you to the meeting. See Document everything.
  • Collect copies or printouts of any documents related to the harassment. This might include printouts of emails, screenshots of text messages, your phone call log, or anything else you think is relevant.

How to handle yourself during the interview

  • Remember that you haven’t done anything wrong, and you are not on trial.
  • You can take your time when answering questions. If you’re not sure you understand a question, ask for it to be repeated or rephrased.
  • It is always okay for you to ask for a short break.
  • It is okay for you to take notes.
  • It’s totally fine for you to ask about the investigator’s process and timeline.
  • It’s totally fine for you to tell the investigator about any concerns you have.
  • It’s a good idea to tell the investigator if you’re worried about confidentiality, especially if you’re afraid the harasser will get other people to gang up on you for reporting them.

Things that can go wrong and how to handle them

What if my employer ignores my report?

This is really common. Roughly 50% of sexual harassment reports get ignored. If that happens to you, you can:

  • Contact your union, if you have one.
  • Contact your workplace health and safety rep.

What if the investigation is taking a really long time, or I am not getting any updates?

If that happens, you can contact your union or workplace health and safety rep.

What if people at work are gossiping about me and the investigation?

This isn’t supposed to happen. Investigators are only allowed to share information about the investigation if it will help them do their work, protect other workers, or if the law says it must be shared. (For example, if criminal charges have been laid, the investigator might have to share information with the police.) The investigator is supposed to instruct anyone involved with the investigation to not talk about it.

But it’s actually really common for people to gossip about the investigation. And sometimes it can be really bad. Sometimes, other people decide to support the harasser, and start treating you badly.

If that happens, you should tell your employer. They are supposed to protect you against any harassment that might happen as a result of your report.

What if I get punished for reporting?

Getting punished for reporting is extremely common. About a third of people who report say that in the end they got punished. So, yeah, if you think it’s happening to you, it probably is. We’re really sorry.

What happens is people end up sympathizing with the harasser and blaming you for reporting them. They decide you’re a troublemaker, or a problem, or a drama queen. That makes them like you less, and so they start treating you badly. They might schedule you for fewer shifts, stop helping you with your work, or decide to not recommend you for a promotion or raise or other opportunity.

These are called reprisals, and they’re so common and so awful, we wrote an entire guide about them See Getting punished for complaining and how to protect yourself. Please read it. We want you to be able to protect yourself.

What happens once the investigation is over

The investigation report tells the employer whether the investigator thinks sexual harassment happened.

Your employer must inform you and the harasser about the results of the investigation. This can be verbally or in writing. They don’t have to ask your opinion about what they should do. If they end up punishing the harasser, they may or may not tell you about it.

Your employer may address the issue differently, such as changing your work situation with your consent, offering dispute resolution, or negotiating compensation. Settlement agreements often include non-disclosure clauses.

What to do if you’re not happy with the outcome

If your employer chooses to do nothing about the harassment, they aren’t meeting their duties under the OHSA and the Human Rights Act. Here are some things you might do. First, though, consider consulting a lawyer. 

If you’re not unionized, the same complaint of sexual harassment can be included in an application to the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission. It hears cases where there’s been a violation of the Human Rights Act. The commission can award damages. See How to decide whether to file a human rights complaint. 

If you’ve decided to report sexual harassment to your employer, this guide is for you. Here’s everything you need to know.

We’ll start with some background.

What is the Human Rights Act, who does it protect, and what does it require from employers?

In Nova Scotia, the Human Rights Act is the law that offers you protection from sexual harassment at work. It says no person may sexually harass another person while they are working. Under the act, your employer is supposed to protect employees, and individual workers are not to harass their co-workers.

Outside of the act, employers may also be held responsible for harassing employees’ conduct if an individual employee brings, and wins, their own court claim through the civil court system—this is called “vicarious” liability. Civil court claims are often a long and complex process and require that you show why the employer is partially responsible. Even if they are successful, the financial benefit to you will depend on the degree to which you can prove damages (these might be either repayment of money that you had to spend because of the harassment, such as the costs of medication or lost salary for time off, or else harm to your mental or physical health). If you are considering a civil claim for sexual harassment, see How to find and work with a lawyer.

If your harasser is threatening physical violence, then you may also have protections under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. These protections may be extended to harassment and bullying.

Does the Human Rights Act apply in your situation?

The Human Rights Act relates to the actions and behaviour of people in your workplace, including your boss, co-workers, contractors, customers, fellow volunteers, and clients.

If you’re unionized, you may have to follow the dispute resolution process set out under your collective agreement. This means that an arbitrator, rather than the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, may decide if your human rights have been violated. You should speak to your union before filing a human rights complaint if you work in a unionized workplace.

The Human Rights Act doesn’t apply to federally regulated workplaces such as post offices, banks, radio and TV operations, and airlines and airports. People in those industries are protected by the Canada Labour Code.

If you aren’t sure if the Human Rights Act applies to you, you can contact the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission to ask.

Does the Human Rights Act cover sexual harassment related to your work that’s happening outside the workplace?

Yes! Employers are responsible for protecting you against workplace sexual harassment even if it happens outside of the workplace if it is related to your work.

If you’re sexually harassed at a work event, while you’re working at home or online, while you’re travelling for your job, or even if a co-worker harasses you in a social setting outside of work hours, your employer is responsible for taking steps to ensure your safety.

What does the Human Rights Act require from an employer?

The Human Rights Act requires that employers establish and maintain a workplace free of discrimination. This generally requires the employer to receive complaints, investigate them responsibly, and, if the investigation determines that harassment has occurred, deal with the harasser to try to prevent harassment from happening again.

Employers may be responsible for paying damages to you if you have been sexually harassed in the workplace, if you file a complaint against your employer, and if the Human Rights Commission determines that sexual harassment has occurred and was unwelcome. 

The Human Rights Act doesn’t require an employer to have a plan in place for preventing harassment, for responding to complaints, or for conducting an investigation.

Okay. Now you know the basics.

Now we’ll tell you how to actually report.

Getting ready to report

The first thing you should do is try to get a copy of your workplace harassment policy and procedure, if one exists. It will tell you how you’re supposed to report, and what’s supposed to happen once you do.

  • It may tell you to try talking directly with the harasser first.
  • It may name people or positions you’re supposed to report to.
  • It may give a deadline for how quickly you need to report.

Don’t worry too much about following the exact procedures. As long as you go to a person in a position of authority and tell them you are formally reporting sexual harassment, that should be enough to get things started.

It’s pretty common for employers to handle reports badly. You might report to someone, and they might think you’re just venting or asking for advice. So it’s important to say as clearly as possible that you are making a formal report of sexual harassment. It’s also pretty common for people to not know what they’re supposed to do next. So if nothing seems to happen after you report, you might want to follow up to make sure someone is taking action.

Important

Some people think that HR is supposed to be on their side. That’s not really true. A good HR person will want the workplace to be safe, and will know they have a responsibility to act on your complaint. But their responsibility is really to your employer, not to you. They should help you, but they are not your friend or advocate

You may feel like you are causing a problem for your employer by reporting. But that’s not really what’s happening. When you report sexual harassment, you are bringing a problem to your employer’s attention. You didn’t create it; you’re just reporting it.

It might help to think about it the same way you’d think about reporting a gas leak or a piece of broken equipment. It’s a safety issue.

How to report

Once you’ve picked whom you’re going to report to, make an appointment with them. Try not to just drop by: it’s better if you have their full attention. If you don’t know what to say when you make the appointment, you can just tell them you want to talk about a workplace problem.

You should report verbally and ideally face-to-face, not just in writing. Bring something you’ve written and leave it with them. This can be a good idea if you’re worried there are things you may forget to say, or if you think they may mishear or misunderstand you. If you have records, like emails or texts from your harasser that support your complaint, you should bring copies with you. This can help ensure that your complaint is taken seriously.

What happens after you report

After you report, your employer should assign someone to investigate.

  • The investigator can be someone from within the workplace or outside it.
  • They are supposed to be objective. Not on your side or the harasser’s side.
  • They are supposed to follow the employer’s workplace harassment policy and procedure, if there is one.

Some investigations may only take a day, while others could take months.

If the investigation costs any money (like for a translator, if you need one), your employer is supposed to pay for it. You should not have to pay any costs related to the investigation.

The investigator’s job is to decide whether what happened to you qualifies as sexual harassment. To do that, they will talk with you, the person who harassed you, and anybody who witnessed it.

Important

To do their work, the investigator needs to ask the harasser about what they did. That means the harasser will know you reported them.

The investigator should keep you informed about the timing and progress of their investigation, but they usually won’t tell you details. You won’t be allowed to be there when other people are interviewed, and you won’t be able to see notes or transcripts from the interviews.

How to prepare to be interviewed

The investigator should invite you to a meeting, where they will ask you to tell your story. They will ask for details (what happened, where, when, etc.), whether there were witnesses, and if you have any documents or other evidence. They may also ask how the harasser has behaved toward you since then.

Tip

People at the meeting may behave formally and seriously, even if they know you from outside the investigation. You may feel like that means they are mad at you or don’t believe you. But that’s not necessarily the case. They may just be trying to be respectful.

It’s rare for an investigator to be challenging or aggressive. Normally they are just trying to gather information and make sure they understand what you’re saying. It’s normal for them to ask you a lot of questions and write down everything you say.

Here are steps you can take to prepare for the meeting:

  • If there’s anything about the meeting that doesn’t work for you—for example, its location or timing—you can ask for an alternative. You can also ask to bring a support person with you, although it’s up to your employer whether to allow a support person to attend. If you require accommodations at the meeting—for example, a translator—you should ask for them, ideally beforehand.
  • If you haven’t already, you should write down all the important events in the order they happened. Try to include as much detail as possible, including dates, times, names of people who were present, what was said or done, and where it happened. Bring a copy of this document with you to the meeting.
  • Collect copies or printouts of any documents related to the harassment. This might include printouts of emails, screenshots of text messages, your phone call log, or anything else you think is relevant. See Document everything.

How to handle yourself during the interview

  • Remember that you haven’t done anything wrong, and you are not on trial.
  • You can take your time when answering questions. If you don’t understand a question or aren’t sure what the investigator is asking for, then you can ask for it to be repeated or rephrased.
  • It’s okay to tell the investigator if you don’t know the answer to a question, or if you need to check something (your notes, your text messages, etc.) before you can respond.
  • If the investigator asks you questions about a document or other evidence, it’s okay to take your time to read through the document before answering questions about it.
  • It is always okay to ask for a short break.
  • It is okay for you to take notes.
  • It’s totally fine for you to ask about the investigator’s process and timeline.
  • It’s totally fine for you to tell the investigator about any concerns you have.
  • It’s a good idea to tell the investigator if you’re worried about confidentiality, especially if you are afraid the harasser will get other people to gang up on you for reporting them.
  • You likely won’t be allowed to record your interview. The interviewer may record the interview, but they should keep the recording confidential.
  • You can bring notes or other documents into the meeting, but you should know that the investigator might ask to see your notes and take copies of anything you bring to the meeting. So if there’s anything you don’t want the investigator to see, you should leave it at home.
  • You can ask the investigator for their email or phone number, in case you remember something later that you want to pass along to them.

Things that can go wrong and how to handle them

What if my employer ignores my report?

This is really common. If that happens to you, you can:

  • Contact your union (if you have one).
  • Contact someone else in management—for example, if you reported to your manager, you could try reaching out to HR or to your manager’s manager.
  • Talk to the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission.

What if the investigation is taking a really long time, or I am not getting any updates?

If that happens, you can contact your union, someone else in management, or the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission.

What if people at work are gossiping about me and the investigation?

This isn’t supposed to happen. Investigators are only allowed to share information about the investigation if it will help them do their work, protect other workers, or if the law says it must be shared. (For example, if criminal charges have been laid, the investigator might have to share information with the police.) The investigator is supposed to instruct anyone involved with the investigation to not talk about it, and the parties to the investigation (you, the respondent, and any witnesses) are supposed to keep the information confidential.

But it’s actually very common for people to gossip about the investigation. And sometimes it can be really bad. Sometimes, other people decide to support the harasser, and start treating you badly.

If that happens, you should tell your employer. They are supposed to protect you against any harassment that might happen as a result of your report.

What if I get punished for reporting?

Although it shouldn’t happen, getting punished for reporting is extremely common. About a third of people who report say that in the end they got punished. So, yeah, if you think it’s happening to you, it probably is. We’re really sorry.

What happens is people end up sympathizing with the harasser and blaming you for reporting them. They decide you’re a troublemaker, or a problem, or a drama queen. That makes them like you less, and so they start treating you badly. They might schedule you for fewer shifts, stop helping you with your work, or decide to not recommend you for a promotion or raise or other opportunity.

These are called reprisals, and they’re so common and so awful, we wrote an entire guide about them. See Getting punished for complaining and how to protect yourself. Please read it. We want you to be able to protect yourself.

What happens once the investigation is over

The investigation report tells the employer whether the investigator thinks sexual harassment happened.

Your employer must inform you and the harasser about the results of the investigation. This can be verbally or in writing. They don’t have to give you a copy of the investigator’s report or ask your opinion about what they should do. If they end up punishing the harasser, they may or may not tell you about it. So you may never know what, if anything, happened to your harasser.

Your employer may address the issue differently, such as changing your work situation with your consent, offering dispute resolution, or negotiating compensation. Settlement agreements often include non-disclosure clauses.

What to do if you’re not happy with the outcome

If your employer chooses to do nothing about the harassment, they aren’t meeting their duties under the Human Rights Act. Here are some things you might do. First, though, consider consulting a lawyer.

 Federal Not sure