CreativePEI

RESPECTFUL WORKPLACE POLICY FOR SHARED WORKSPACES

CreativePEI is committed to providing a work environment where staff and tenants respect each other’s individual differences. CreativePEI staff and tenants have a shared responsibility to create a respectful workplace.

Complaints of harassment, bullying, or discrimination in the workplace are to be reported to the Executive Director with a written complaint for formal resolution using the Workplace Harassment Report Form. The Executive Director is to ensure the complaint is investigated using fair and equitable procedures for all parties to a complaint. The Executive Director will take appropriate corrective measures up to and including exclusion, where appropriate. 

If a tenant believes they have been subject to workplace harassment on the part of the Executive Director, the employee should submit a written complaint to the Chair of the Board of Directors.

No staff member or tenant will be subjected to reprimand, reprisal, or discrimination for reporting a harassment complaint in good faith. This policy is not intended to discourage, prevent, or preclude a complainant from exercising their legal rights under any other law or filing a complaint under the PEI Human Rights Act.

Unfounded frivolous or malicious complaints will be dealt with through education and/or remediation up to and including exclusion. 

Harassment 

Harassment is any behaviour that insults or intimidates another person regardless of intent. It is any single or repeated occurrence of inappropriate conduct, comment, display, action or gesture, or bullying incident that a person knows or ought to reasonably know could harm another’s psychological or physical health and safety. 

Harassment based on discrimination includes conduct that is based on any personal characteristic such as but not limited to race, creed, religion, colour, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, family status, disability, age, nationality, ancestry, or place of origin. 

Sexual Harassment

Sexual Harassment is any uninvited conduct and any inappropriate sexual conduct that the person reasonably knows or ought to know is unwelcome, such as, but not limited to, sexual invitations or advances (verbal, written, physical or sent electronically), sexually suggestive remarks, jokes, or gestures, racial, homophobic, sexist, or ethnic slurs, circulating or sharing inappropriate images, or unwanted physical contact. It may take the form of degrading offensive, or derogatory material such as posters, pictures, or graffiti. It may involve touching, striking, pinching, or any unwelcome physical contact, sexual or otherwise. 

Canada’s Criminal Code deals with matters such as violent acts, sexual assault, threats, and behaviours such as stalking. The police should be contacted in these situations. Harassment is a matter that falls under the PEI Human Rights Act, the Employment Standards Act, and the PEI Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Bullying

Bullying is a form of harassment that is not necessarily based on discrimination but does impact the health and wellness of the organization and its employees. Bullying can include offensive gestures, verbal aggression and intimidating behaviours, spreading hateful gossip or rumours based on someone’s private life and/or personal traits, sabotaging a person’s work, participating in targeted social isolation, etc. Bullying is usually determined by its frequency and/or its seriousness. Complaints of bullying are to follow the same procedures as with harassment. 

Discrimination

CreativePEI will not tolerate harassment based on any of the prohibited grounds of discrimination as outlined in the PEI Human Rights Act. Prohibited grounds of discrimination are: 

age, association, colour, race, ethnic or national origin, creed or religion, criminal conviction (conviction of an offence that is unrelated to the position), disability, family or marital status, gender expression and identity, having filed a complaint or given evidence/assistance under the PEI Human Rights Act, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, and source of income.

Workplace Harassment Complaint Process

Informal resolution: If a tenant feels they have been subject to workplace harassment, there may be informal ways to resolve the issue, such as asking the person to stop the behaviour or getting assistance from the Executive Director, who may speak to the alleged harasser, and where appropriate, may also arrange for mediation to reach an acceptable resolution. 

Formal Complaint Process: If a tenant is unable to resolve the matter by dealing directly with the person or is uncomfortable approaching the person, the tenant should notify the Executive Director to file a formal complaint using the Workplace Harassment Report Form. If an employee believes they have been subject to workplace harassment on the part of the Executive Director, the employee should submit a written complaint to the Chair of the Board of Directors.