Harassment and bullying in the workplace

Bullying and harassment are often seen as playground experiences, but they can exist in the workplace too. 

According to Statistics Canada, workplace harassment can have serious effects on your mental health and well-being, as well as the employee’s quality of work and possibly the economy’s performance.  

Verbal abuse, humiliating behaviour, threats to persons and physical violence are some examples of workplace harassment. 

 Workplace harassment and bullying aren’t limited to one type of workplace either. It can be present everywhere from law firms to restaurants. 

Jailin Krug, who works at Tim Hortons, has come across some of these experiences herself. 

“When I ended up getting COVID-19, I told one manager and the manager told everybody and then they told the people around my town,” said Krug. 

One of the most common types of workplace harassment is humiliating behaviour, next to verbal abuse. About 13 per cent of women who have reported experiencing workplace harassment have had some form of verbal abuse at work.  

The study found that about 19 per cent of women and 13 per cent of men report that they have experienced some form of harassment in their workplace.  

The report also noted that of all occupations, those who work in health-related jobs were the most likely to report harassment.  

Those who have experienced workplace harassment can call the Workplace Harassment & Discrimination Employee Concern Hotline Services at 1-800-307-5513.