NDP vows legislation to battle workplace bullying

Alberta’s labour minister is promising to introduce changes to provincial workplace safety rules within weeks to better protect employees against bullying and psychological harassment.

Matt Dykstra, spokesman for Alberta Labour Minister Christina Gray, said anti-bullying provisions will be introduced to the legislature this session to amend the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Experts say that means a harassment-related sick leave — like those reported by many City of Edmonton employees — would become a reportable injury under provincial law.

They could no longer be swept under the table, said Pat Ferris, a partner in Calgary-based Janus Associates Psychological Services. All employers would be required to develop policies to investigate and punish harassment, and the law would clearly allow negligent employers to be taken to court.

“Alberta’s been really lagging internationally and in Canada,” said Ferris, who organizes conferences and lectures around the issue for the International Association on Workplace Bullying and Harassment.

Dykstra said the coming changes will be the first significant update to Alberta’s occupational health and safety legislation since 1976.

Some Canadian provinces already list psychological harassment as a workplace hazard, much like hazards that cause poisoning, falls or death, which compel companies and organizations to take it seriously.

It doesn’t necessarily prevent the abuse, Ferris said, “but it gives the people who experience it a way to deal with it. (Now) often there’s no justice.”

At the City of Edmonton, a city audit revealed Thursday nearly one-fifth of city employees say they’ve experienced harassment.

EMPLOYEES CALL FOR HELP

Postmedia began reporting on how harassment and bullying was driving employees from the City of Edmonton on Tuesday, after several current and former staff members shared their stories.

Since then, more than 80 staff members and former staff members have contacted Postmedia to describe the bullying and harassment they have endured. It ranges from reports of sexual assault gone unpunished, to supervisors systematically picking work apart and twisting words, to managers yelling at staff and pounding on desks.

It causes people to quit, go on stress leave, suffer depression and break down physically.

“My hair started falling out, I couldn’t sleep, I developed a general anxiety disorder, suffered from panic attacks, and my relationship with my husband started to suffer,” said one woman. “I would come home and cry all night ... dreading the thought of going back into that environment.”

PRIVATE MEMBER’S BILL DIED

The change to Alberta’s legislation follows MLA Craig Coolahan’s private member’s bill introduced in November 2016. It tried to make harassment policies mandatory for Alberta businesses, and provide victims of workplace bullying the ability to lodge a complaint with occupational health and safety officials.

The bill received unanimous support at first reading but died on the order paper when session ended.

“We launched a review to ensure our legislation addresses serious issues such as workplace harassment and bullying,” Dykstra said in a statement Friday. “In the coming weeks, Albertans will see strong action from our government to better protect workers and address incidents of harassment in the workplace.”

Gray was out of the country.

NEXT STEPS FOR CITY COUNCIL

Edmonton city council gets its chance to debate the issue at its audit committee meeting Monday.

City officials have said they’ll present a new respectful workplace complaints process, one that’s still internal to the city, but is overseen directly by the Office of the City Manager.

But union officials say they want an ombudsperson or third party to handle complaints. Many employees who contacted Postmedia also said any changes that leave the system internal to the city won’t be enough to restore trust.

Faith in the city’s current leadership is low, in general. The city auditor reported only 59 per cent of employees say they have trust and confidence in the city manager and deputy city managers’ ability to achieve city goals.

“It’s kind of hit some of us out of the blue,” said Coun. Scott McKeen, unsure what will happen Monday. He was confused at first by the harassment reports, then turned to someone in administration he trusted who said the negative reports were true.

“We have to look into this,” McKeen said. “If we have managers or supervisors who are bullying or discriminating against staff, they need to be trained, warned, then watched.”

But the tone is set at the top. Council members need to check their own actions as well, said McKeen. He’s seen councillors become aggressive and bully staff in meetings. He’s lost his cool, too.

“You’re role-modelling behaviour to the entire workforce.”