Federal Employer’s First Annual Harassment and Violence Occurrence Report

Federal Employer’s First Annual Harassment and Violence Occurrence Report

On January 1, 2021, the Canada Labour Code (the “Code”) was amended to include new Work Place Harassment and Violence Regulations (the “Regulations”).  The Regulations brought with them extensive new requirements for federal employers, including new requirements regarding training, investigating, reporting and preventing workplace harassment and violence in federally regulated workplaces.

As we pass the one year mark of the Regulations coming into force, federal employers should be aware that reporting requirements under the Regulations are about to kick in and they are required to file their first Annual Harassment and Violence Occurrence Report (the “Report”) on or before March 1, 2022.  The Report must include information relating to any occurrences of harassment or violence for which a notice of occurrence was provided to the employer pursuant to the Regulations during the 2021 year. Specifically, the Report must include the following information:

• Business name (or name of person reporting);
• Business number (as defined in subsection 248(1) of the Income Tax Act;
• The name of the person who can be contacted in respect of the report;
• The following in respect of any Notice of Occurrences which occurred in 2021:
  • the total number of occurrences;
  • the number of occurrences that were related, respectively, to sexual harassment and violence and non-sexual harassment and violence;
  • the number of occurrences that resulted in the death of an employee;
  • if known, the number of occurrences that fell under each prohibited ground of discrimination set out in subsection 3(1) of the Canadian Human Rights Act;
  • the locations where the occurrences took place, specifying the total number of occurrences that took place in each location;
  • the types of professional relationships that existed between the principal and responding parties, specifying the total number for each type;
  • the means set out in section 32 by which resolution processes were completed and, for each of those means, the number of occurrences involved; and
  • the average time, expressed in months, that it took to complete the resolution process for an occurrence.

The report can be completed online by completing a form provided at the following link: Here

The requirement to file the annual Harassment and Violence Occurrence Report coincides with other annual filing obligations of Federal Employers, including the requirement to file an annual Workplace Committee Report and an annual Hazardous Occurrence Report.  Both reports are also due on or before March 1, 2022.

by Dianne Rideout and Kyle Lambert

A Cautionary Note

The foregoing provides only an overview and does not constitute legal advice. Readers are cautioned against making any decisions based on this material alone. Rather, specific legal advice should be obtained.

© McMillan LLP 2022