Four Critical Purposes of Anti-Harassment Training
There are lots of reasons to host training on diversity, inclusion, and anti-harassment. The primary one is that if your organization has a diverse, inclusive, and harassment-free environment, it is more likely to be successful. Here are 4 more reasons to have anti-harassment training:
1. Highlight How to Be More Inclusive: A good anti-harassment training should include the benefits of both having a diverse workforce and also how to foster an inclusive work environment for that workforce. Inclusion is a delicate balance of assimilating employees into your culture while also embracing each employee’s unique perspectives. The difference between diversity and inclusion is that diversity is what an organization has and inclusion is what an organization does. An anti-harassment training can provide more ideas about what your organization can do to gain the benefits of inclusivity.
2. Prevention: Even if you don’t think your organization has a harassment problem, that doesn’t mean one might not pop up in the future. Prevention is the best medicine, and preparing your employees with additional knowledge about all the gray areas inherent in harassment can continue to yield a harassment-free workplace. For example, you never know what kind of training (if any) new employees have had, so it’s best to make sure each new employee gets trained when they hire on with your organization.
3. Learn from Past Mistakes: It’s hard to keep up with everything that could be considered harassment, and mistakes in judgment happen. If your organization ends up with a complaint of harassment, see this as an opportunity to learn and have a larger conversation about harassment.
4. Create an Affirmative Defense: If a harassment complaint turns into a legal issue, by hosting regular trainings every year, training new employees, and handling each report of harassment with care and objectivity, your organization is creating an environment in which it shows that it exercised reasonable care to prevent harassment. This kind of affirmative defense can help protect your organization in the event of legal action.
By training all current employees regularly, providing new employees with the same information, and having well-thought out reporting procedures and anti-harassment policies, your organization will set a good foundation for a harassment-free workplace.
Source: Catherine Schmidt, Purple Ink
|
|
Why Should Employers Provide Health and Safety Training?
No matter how small or large a company is, workers in all fields of industry face workplace dangers that can threaten their health and safety. In some industries, such as in the mining and oil industries, the dangers can be evident: exposure to harmful chemicals, fires, explosions and breakdown of machinery are just some of the health risks that workers in these fields face every single working day. For other fields of business, however, the dangers may not be as obvious: working in an office or a restaurant may seem harmless, but poor ergonomics, food contamination and psychological stress can also cause health problems that can hamper productivity. Because hazards are present in all types of industries, it’s essential for companies to provide health and safety training for their workers and to update this knowledge on a regular basis.
Educating workers on the basics of occupational health and safety can help reduce workplace accidents and injuries, saving companies from costly legal battles with employees and lifelong support for their families. In addition, prioritizing the safety of your personnel can keep them from leaving the job because of work-related illness, keeping financial losses secondary to lack of skilled workers at a minimum.
|
|
New Changes to Alberta's Occupational Health and Safety Act
An improved OHS system to better protect workers and ensure they have the same rights as other Canadians came into effect on June 1, 2018.
As of June 1, 2018 workers have three basic rights:
- the right to refuse dangerous work
- the right to know
- the right to participate
In addition,
- Employers with 20 or more workers at a work site must have a written health and safety program. The program must have 10 mandated elements and be reviewed every 3 years.
- Employers with less than 20 employees at a work site must involve workers in hazard assessment and control.
- Larger employers (20 or more workers at a work site) must have a joint work site health and safety committee for work lasting 90 days or more
- Smaller employers (5-19 workers at a work site) must have a health and safety representative for work lasting 90 days or more
- An employer can use an alternative approach to meeting these requirements with approval from an OHS director.
And finally,
- Harassment and violence in all forms, including domestic and sexual violence, are now defined as workplace hazards in Alberta's updated OHS Act. Under the new rules, employers must develop workplace harassment and violence prevention plans and address incidents when they do occur.
To learn more and gain a thorough understanding of your responsibilities as an employer, please visit the Government of Alberta's OHS website.
|
|
How Can Anti-Corruption Compliance Programs Help Your Organization?
The Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act (CFPOA) is the Canadian legislation implementing its obligations under the UN Convention against Corruption. The CFPOA applies to persons and companies and makes it a criminal offence for persons or companies to bribe foreign public officials to obtain or retain a business advantage.
Without a compliance program, organizations are vulnerable to corruption due to other organizational cultures or players in the value chain that accept or ignore signs of bribery, corruption, and fraud. An effective Anti-Corruption Compliance Program will significantly reduce the chances of your company violating the COFPA.
Training employees and key business partners worldwide is an essential part of any successful anti-corruption program. A good training program provides appropriate education and guidance on:
- The risks and damages which can result from bribery
- The circumstances in which bribery can occur
- Your specific risks and the applicable laws
- Regulations and internal policies required by international regulations
Training allows you to work on the mindsets and behaviours of your people and representatives worldwide, driving change throughout your organization. Effective training allows them to:
- Identify a bribe and a facilitation payment.
- Know how to resist bribery solicitations, most notably facilitation payments.
- Understand what constitutes acceptable gifts and hospitality.
- How to prevent bribery by third parties.
- Know the penalties for non-compliance, and whom to contact for help if you need it.
|
|
Coach's Corner: Understand the Impact by Understanding the Terms
With understanding comes the first step in creating a diverse, inclusive, respectful, and equal workplace. Below are terms and concepts pertaining to diversity that all managers (and employees) should learn and understand,
Source: NL Association for New Canadians
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
