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Psychological Harassment Prevention Policy

Last updated: October 9, 2024

 

1) PURPOSE

The purpose of this policy is to:

  • affirm BALLETS JAZZ MONTRÉAL’s commitment to preventing and putting an end to any situation of psychological or sexual harassment related to work, including harassment originating from external sources;

  • outline the measures implemented to prevent harassment, including the information and training programs offered;

  • establish the procedure for handling complaints and problematic situations brought to the attention of the employer, or its designated representative, through a reporting process.

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2) SCOPE

This policy applies to all BALLETS JAZZ MONTRÉAL personnel, at all hierarchical levels, particularly in the following locations and contexts:

  • workplaces, including remote work locations, where applicable;

  • any other location where individuals may be present in the course of their employment (for example, common areas at the employer’s premises, meetings, training sessions, or business travel);

  • work-related social activities.

This policy also applies to communications sent or received by any means, technological or otherwise, in a work-related context (for example, social media, emails, text messages, postings, letters).

 

3) DEFINITION

The Act Respecting Labour Standards defines psychological harassment as follows [1]:

“A vexatious behaviour that is manifested through repeated conduct, verbal comments, actions, or gestures that are hostile or unwanted, that affects the employee’s dignity or psychological or physical integrity, and that results in a harmful work environment for the employee. For greater certainty, psychological harassment includes such behaviour when it takes the form of verbal comments, actions, or gestures of a sexual nature.
A single serious incident may also constitute psychological harassment if it has such an effect and produces a lasting harmful impact on the employee.”

This definition includes discriminatory harassment related to any of the grounds set out in the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms [2].

 

4) POLICY STATEMENT

a) Management rule

BALLETS JAZZ MONTRÉAL does not tolerate or condone any form of harassment in a work-related context, whether it occurs:

  • from managers toward employees;

  • between colleagues;

  • from employees toward their supervisors;

  • from any person associated with the organization, including representatives, clients, users, suppliers, visitors, or others.

Any person who violates this policy will be subject to appropriate disciplinary measures. The disciplinary measure applied will take into account the seriousness and consequences of the act or acts, as well as the individual’s prior record.

Any person who makes false allegations with the intent to cause harm may also be subject to appropriate disciplinary measures.

 

b) Responsibilities of personnel

All personnel are responsible for adopting conduct that contributes to maintaining a work environment free from psychological or sexual harassment. Expectations for all staff members include:

  • contributing to the maintenance of a harassment-free workplace;

  • treating others with respect in the course of their work;

  • participating in the mechanisms put in place by the employer to prevent and stop harassment;

  • reporting as soon as possible any situation related to harassment to one of the individuals designated by the employer to receive and manage complaints and reports.

 

c) Prevention of psychological or sexual harassment

BALLETS JAZZ MONTRÉAL undertakes to take reasonable measures to provide a work environment free from all forms of harassment in order to protect the dignity and psychological and physical integrity of individuals.

In accordance with its legal obligations, the employer implements measures to identify, control, and eliminate the risks of psychological or sexual harassment, including by:

  • distributing this policy by email to ensure it is accessible to all personnel;

  • maintaining ongoing monitoring of risks and risk factors likely to generate harassment situations, including those identified in Appendix 1 of this policy;

  • ensuring that all individuals understand and comply with the policy;

  • promoting respect among individuals;

  • regularly raising staff awareness of their roles and responsibilities in preventing harassment, including during employer-organized social activities;

  • implementing a training and awareness program for personnel and for individuals designated to receive and manage complaints and reports;

  • consulting personnel regarding situations specific to their work environment that may create conditions conducive to harassment;

  • conducting exit meetings with departing employees to understand the reasons for their departure;

  • establishing a diligent process for handling complaints and reports.

BALLETS JAZZ MONTRÉAL commits to integrating this harassment prevention and response policy, as well as all resulting measures, into its occupational health and safety prevention program or action plan, to reviewing this policy at least once a year, and to communicating any changes to personnel.

 

Reminder: as of October 1, 2025, this policy must be included in the organization’s occupational health and safety prevention program or action plan.

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d) Handling of complaints and reports

Any staff member who believes they are experiencing work-related harassment may file a complaint so that the employer may take the necessary actions to correct the situation.

Any staff member, including individuals who witness behaviours or conduct resembling harassment or posing a risk of becoming harassment, may also submit a report to bring the situation to the employer’s attention.

Complaints and reports may be made verbally or in writing. Incident details should be described as precisely as possible to facilitate prompt and diligent handling.

The law prohibits any form of prejudice or retaliation by the employer in connection with the processing and resolution of a complaint or report.

 

BALLETS JAZZ MONTRÉAL undertakes to:

  • address the complaint or report as quickly as possible;

  • preserve the dignity and privacy of the individuals involved, namely the complainant or reporting person, the individual concerned, and any witnesses;

  • ensure that all individuals involved are treated with humanity, fairness, and objectivity, and that appropriate support is provided;

  • protect the confidentiality of the intervention process, including information related to the complaint or report;

  • offer, with the consent of the individuals involved and when circumstances allow, a mediation meeting to resolve the situation, ensuring that this support is provided in a neutral and impartial context;

  • conduct, where necessary, a prompt, objective, neutral, and impartial investigation or, if internal resources are unavailable or lack the required expertise, entrust the investigation to an external professional to preserve impartiality and ensure quality. Individuals involved will be informed of the outcome. If the investigation does not establish that unacceptable behaviour occurred, all material evidence will be retained for two years and then destroyed;

  • take all reasonable measures to resolve the situation, including appropriate disciplinary measures;

  • review existing harassment prevention measures to ensure they remain effective and to prevent recurrence.

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The individuals designated by the employer to receive and manage complaints and reports are:

Stéphane Labbé, Executive Director
Maximilien Cossette, Director of Finance and Administration
The HR resource

 

These individuals are primarily responsible for:

  • informing personnel about the employer’s psychological and sexual harassment policy;

  • receiving complaints and reports;

  • assessing each situation and recommending appropriate actions or interventions (for example, individual meetings, mediation, investigation), based on the context;

  • determining the appropriate qualified individual to carry out an external intervention, where applicable;

  • conducting follow-ups to ensure that individuals involved are adequately supported and that the intervention has achieved the intended outcomes.

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BALLETS JAZZ MONTRÉAL will ensure that the individuals designated to receive and manage complaints and reports receive appropriate training, have the required competencies, and have access to the necessary tools to process and follow up on complaints or reports, particularly with respect to assessing harassment allegations for the purpose of recommending an administrative investigation.

The employer will also release work time to allow designated individuals to fulfill their assigned responsibilities.

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[1] See Appendix 1 of this policy for further details.
[2] These grounds of discrimination are listed in Appendix 1.

 

 

Appendix 1 – RECOGNIZING PSYCHOLOGICAL OR SEXUAL HARASSMENT

The Act Respecting Labour Standards provides criteria for determining what may be considered psychological or sexual harassment, namely:

  • vexatious conduct (hurtful, humiliating);

  • repeated conduct or a single serious incident;

  • hostile (aggressive, threatening) or unwanted conduct;

  • conduct that affects a person’s dignity or integrity;

  • conduct that results in a harmful work environment.

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Discrimination based on any of the grounds listed in section 10 of the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms (race, colour, sex, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, sexual orientation, civil status, age except as provided by law, religion, political convictions, language, ethnic or national origin, social condition, disability, or the use of a means to mitigate a disability) may also constitute harassment.

 

This definition applies to all work contexts, including remote work and participation in work-related social activities.

 

By way of example, the following behaviours may be considered vexatious conduct constituting harassment if they meet all criteria set out in the legal definition.

 

Behaviours that may be related to psychological harassment: 

  • Intimidation and cyberbullying

  • Threats, isolation

  • Offensive or defamatory remarks or actions toward an individual or their work

  • Verbal violence

  • Denigration

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Behaviours that may be related to sexual harassment:

  • Any form of unwanted attention or advance of a sexual nature, for example:

    • persistent solicitation

    • looks or physical contact

    • sexist insults or crude remarks

    • remarks, jokes, or images of a sexual nature

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Harassment must be distinguished from other situations such as interpersonal conflict, work-related stress, difficult professional constraints, or the normal exercise of management rights (attendance management, work organization, disciplinary measures, etc.).

The employer has an obligation to intervene when a problematic situation related to harassment, or risks of harassment, is brought to its attention. As a best practice, where possible, an individual who believes they are experiencing inappropriate conduct in a work-related context should inform the person concerned that the behaviour is unwelcome before filing a complaint or report. The individual should also record the dates and details of incidents, as well as the steps taken to attempt to resolve the situation.

 

If no action is possible or if the conduct continues despite an initial approach, the situation should be brought to the attention of the individuals designated by the employer to receive and manage complaints and reports so that appropriate intervention may take place.

 

Preventing psychological health risks: a shared responsibility

The Act Respecting Occupational Health and Safety provides, in section 51, that the employer must take the necessary measures to protect workers’ health and ensure their safety and physical and psychological integrity. This includes using methods and techniques to identify, control, and eliminate risks that may affect workers’ health and safety, including harassment.

 

The same Act sets out, in section 49, workers’ obligations, including the duty to take the necessary measures to protect their own health, safety, and physical or psychological integrity, and to ensure that they do not endanger the health, safety, or physical or psychological integrity of other individuals present in or near the workplace.

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