As an employer, you have a duty under the Occupational Health and Safety Act to provide an appropriate investigation into the matter at hand. The investigation should be timely, equitable, and address all of the issues that are relevant.
As an employer, you must treat incidents brought to your attention seriously, no matter your opinion on the matter. Investigations involving allegations of sexual harassment are usually complex matters and warrant thorough investigations. According to the Health and Safety Guidelines for Workplace Violence and Harassment, stages in a more complex investigation could include:
• A review of details of the incident or complaint, including any relevant documents
• An interview or interviews with the worker alleging harassment;
• An interview or interviews with the alleged harasser, if he or she works for the same employer;
• An interview or interviews with the alleged harasser, if he or she is not a worker and if it is possible and appropriate;
• Separate interviews with relevant witnesses;
• Examination of relevant documents or other evidence that pertains to the investigation (such as emails, notes, photographs, or videos);
• A decision about whether a complaint or incident is workplace harassment; and
• Preparation of a report summarizing the incident or complaint, the steps taken during the investigation, the evidence gathered, and findings (such as whether workplace harassment occurred, did not occur, or that it was not possible to make a determination).
The employee who came to you with the complaint should be kept informed about the status of their investigation, as well as the alleged harasser. Documentation is also important. It should include names, dates, the incident, notes, evidence, investigation reports, and any actions taken.
It is paramount to ensure that the employee who came to you feels supported. Partaking in the above steps will assure that.
Note that sexual assault is an offence in Canada’s Criminal Code. If there is an incident of sexual assault, the police should be contacted immediately.
See also our post on sexual harassment and assault.
The Queen’s Film & TV Research Group are not lawyers, and this is not legal advice! For more information on labour and employment law, please see the Labour & Employment Law section of this site. Find out more about Queen’s Law on their website, and Pro Bono Queen’s at the PBSC Queen’s site.