Workplace harassment & violence policy
A statutorily required harassment, violence, and discrimination policy with jurisdiction-specific reporting language and statutory references.
Workplace Harassment, Violence & Discrimination Policy
Effective
1. Purpose
The Company is committed to a workplace free from harassment, violence, and discrimination. Every worker has a right to be treated with dignity and respect.
This policy is issued in accordance with the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA), Part III.0.1 (Violence and Harassment), and the Ontario Human Rights Code. It applies to all workers, including employees, contractors, students, and volunteers, on Company premises and at any work-related event or location.
2. Definitions
"Harassment" means engaging in a course of vexatious comment or conduct against a worker that is known or ought reasonably to be known to be unwelcome, including comments or conduct based on race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, family status, disability, or any other ground protected by applicable human-rights legislation.
"Sexual harassment" includes unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favours, and other unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature, as well as a power imbalance where a person makes a sexual solicitation or advance from a position of authority.
"Workplace violence" means the exercise or attempted exercise of physical force by a person against a worker that causes or could cause physical injury, and any statement or behaviour that a worker could reasonably interpret as a threat of such force.
3. Responsibilities
The Company will assess and reassess the risks of workplace violence, train all workers on this policy, investigate complaints in good faith, and protect complainants and witnesses from reprisal.
Workers must treat each other with respect, refrain from harassment, violence, or discrimination, and report incidents they experience or witness.
4. Reporting
Reports may be made to . If the complaint involves that contact, reports may be made to instead. Reports may be made verbally or in writing.
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5. Investigation
All reports will be investigated promptly, fairly, and as confidentially as the investigation permits. The complainant and the respondent will each be informed in writing of the results of the investigation and any corrective action that follows. Records will be retained for the period required by applicable legislation.
6. No retaliation
No worker will be penalized for making a complaint, supporting another worker's complaint, or participating in an investigation, except where a complaint is found to have been made in bad faith. Reprisal is itself a violation of this policy.
7. External recourse
Nothing in this policy limits any worker's right to seek recourse through the applicable health-and-safety authority, human-rights tribunal, or police. The Company will cooperate with any such investigation as required by law.
8. Review
This policy will be reviewed at least annually and revised when applicable laws change or when investigations identify procedural improvements.
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Made with WalnutsHR Paper · Reviewed for Ontario · April 2026
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Compliance
No alternate contact specified. Most provincial OHS regulators expect an alternate channel for complaints involving the primary contact. Add one before publishing the policy.
About this template
A written workplace harassment and violence policy is statutorily required for most Canadian employers (Ontario, BC, Quebec, federal, and others) — and a strong policy is the single best protection both for workers and for the company. This template provides the structure regulators expect, with jurisdiction-specific statutory references that update automatically.
When to use it
- You're a Canadian employer with at least one worker — Ontario OHSA, BC WorkSafeBC, Quebec Bill 42 / CNESST, and federal Bill C-65 all require a written policy regardless of company size.
- You're updating an old policy and want today's statutory references baked in.
- You're hiring a workplace investigator and need a policy to point them at.
What to include
- Statutory authority — which Act, Code, or regulation the policy is issued under.
- Definitions of harassment, sexual harassment, and workplace violence consistent with the relevant statute.
- Company and worker responsibilities.
- A reporting channel and an alternate channel for complaints involving the primary channel.
- Investigation procedure with confidentiality and outcomes communication.
- An anti-reprisal clause.
- Reference to external recourse: the applicable OHS authority, human-rights tribunal, and police.
- An annual review commitment.
Frequently asked questions
Does my company need this policy if I only have a few employees?
Yes. Ontario, BC, Quebec, and federal employees all attract written-policy obligations regardless of headcount. Some other provinces start at five or twenty employees but the safer path is to publish the policy from day one.
Who handles the investigation if a complaint comes in?
Internally, an HR lead with no conflict of interest. For complaints against an executive, board member, or anyone the HR lead reports to, retain an external workplace investigator. The cost is far lower than the cost of a defective investigation.
How does this policy interact with the employee handbook?
Most companies attach the harassment policy to the handbook as an appendix and reference it in the conduct section. It must remain a standalone document because regulators expect to find it as such — embedding it inside a 60-page handbook can be cited as a procedural defect.
Legal disclaimer. Failure to have a written workplace harassment / violence policy is itself a compliance offence in most Canadian provinces. Investigations are increasingly scrutinized for procedural fairness — a defective investigation can give rise to its own claim. Have a workplace investigator or employment lawyer review your policy and your investigation procedure before relying on this template.
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