Workplace Violence and Harassment in Ontario: What Your Employer Is Actually Required to Do
OHSA obliges every Ontario employer to have written violence and harassment policies, a violence program, and to investigate harassment complaints. Here is exactly what the Act requires, what you are entitled to be told, and what happens when the employer does nothing.
Key takeaways
- Written policies are mandatory, both violence and harassment, reviewed at least annually, and posted where you can see them (s. 32.0.1(1) and (2)). The posting duty drops only where five or fewer workers are regularly employed (s. 32.0.1(3)).
- A harassment complaint must be investigated. Section 32.0.7(1)(a) requires an investigation appropriate in the circumstances. Doing nothing is not an option the Act leaves open.
- You are entitled to the outcome in writing. Section 32.0.7(1)(b) requires the complainant and the alleged harasser to be informed in writing of the results and of any corrective action taken or to be taken.
- On violence, the employer must warn you about a specific person with a history of violent behaviour you can expect to encounter, where the risk is likely to expose you to physical injury (s. 32.0.5(3)), and must not disclose more than is reasonably necessary (s. 32.0.5(4)).
- Raising it is protected. Section 50 makes it a reprisal to dismiss, discipline, penalize, intimidate or coerce you for acting in compliance with the Act, and s. 50(5) puts the burden on the employer.
In this article
✅Quick answer. Your employer is not allowed to ignore it. OHSA s. 32.0.1 requires written violence and harassment policies, reviewed at least annually and posted. Section 32.0.2 requires an actual violence program setting out how incidents get reported and investigated. Section 32.0.7 requires an investigation into harassment complaints that is appropriate in the circumstances, and requires you to be told the results in writing. If you were punished for raising any of it, s. 50 is a reprisal complaint where the employer carries the burden of proof.
What policies must your employer have?
Section 32.0.1(1) requires an employer to prepare a policy with respect to workplace violence, a policy with respect to workplace harassment, and to review both as often as necessary and at least annually. Section 32.0.1(2) requires the policies to be in written form and posted at a conspicuous place in the workplace, or in a readily accessible electronic format.
There is one exception and it is narrow. Section 32.0.1(3) disapplies the posting requirement where the number of workers regularly employed at the workplace is five or fewer, unless an inspector orders otherwise. Note what that exception does and does not do: it removes the duty to post, not the duty to have the policies.
Violence needs a program, not just a policy
Section 32.0.2(1) requires the employer to develop and maintain a program implementing the violence policy, and s. 32.0.2(2) sets out what it must contain:
- measures and procedures to control the risks identified in the assessment required by s. 32.0.3(1) as likely to expose a worker to physical injury (s. 32.0.2(2)(a));
- measures and procedures for summoning immediate assistance when violence occurs or is likely to occur (s. 32.0.2(2)(b));
- measures and procedures for workers to report incidents to the employer or supervisor (s. 32.0.2(2)(c));
- how the employer will investigate and deal with incidents or complaints of workplace violence (s. 32.0.2(2)(d));
- any prescribed elements (s. 32.0.2(2)(e)).
If your employer cannot produce a program answering those five points, that is a concrete compliance failure with a section number attached, which is a far stronger thing to raise than a general complaint that nobody took you seriously.
The duty to warn you about a specific person
This provision is not widely known and it matters in healthcare, retail, social services and education. Section 32.0.5(3) extends the employer's duty to provide information under s. 25(2)(a), and a supervisor's duty to advise under s. 27(2)(a), to include information, including personal information, related to a risk of workplace violence from a person with a history of violent behaviour, where two conditions are both met:
- 1.you can be expected to encounter that person in the course of your work; and
- 2.the risk of workplace violence is likely to expose you to physical injury.
Section 32.0.5(4) caps it: no employer or supervisor shall disclose more personal information than is reasonably necessary to protect the worker from physical injury. So the duty is real but bounded, and an employer that says privacy prevents it from telling you anything at all has overstated its position.
What the investigation duty actually requires
Section 32.0.7(1) is the provision employers most often fall short of. To protect a worker from workplace harassment, an employer shall ensure that an investigation is conducted into incidents and complaints of workplace harassment that is appropriate in the circumstances, and that the worker who allegedly experienced the harassment and the alleged harasser, if a worker of the employer, are informed in writing of the results of the investigation and of any corrective action taken or that will be taken.
| What the Act requires | What that means in practice |
|---|---|
| An investigation appropriate in the circumstances (s. 32.0.7(1)(a)) | Proportionate to the allegation. A serious complaint handled by a five-minute chat is not an investigation |
| Results in writing to BOTH parties (s. 32.0.7(1)(b)) | You are entitled to be told the outcome and the corrective action, in writing. Not just 'it has been dealt with' |
| Annual review of the program (s. 32.0.7(1)(c)) | At least annually, to ensure it adequately implements the s. 32.0.1(1)(b) policy |
📄What you are NOT automatically entitled to. Section 32.0.7(1)(b) entitles you to the results and the corrective action, not to the investigator's full report. And s. 32.0.7(2) provides that the results and any report created in the course of the investigation are not a report respecting occupational health and safety for the purposes of s. 25(2), which removes one route people often assume gets them the document. Ask for the report by all means; just know the Act does not hand it to you.
What OHSA does not give you, and where the money actually is
OHSA is regulatory. It obliges the employer to have policies, a program, and an investigation, and the Ministry can order compliance. What it does not do is award you damages for the harassment itself. That matters, because the harassment that brought you here usually has a value attached under other law:
- Human Rights Code, where the harassment is connected to a protected ground such as sex, disability, race, age or family status. That route carries lost wages plus damages for injury to dignity, feelings and self-respect.
- Constructive dismissal, where the workplace became intolerable and you were effectively forced out. See a toxic workplace and constructive dismissal.
- Reprisal under s. 50, if you were punished for raising it, where s. 50(5) puts the burden on the employer. See reprisal for reporting an injury or hazard.
So use OHSA to force the process and to build the record, and use the Code or a dismissal claim for the remedy. The two work together, and the OHSA paper trail is often what proves the other claim.
What to do now
- 1.Ask for the policies in writing. They are required to exist and normally to be posted. An employer that cannot produce them has already failed s. 32.0.1.
- 2.Put the complaint in writing, dated, factual, no adjectives. That single document is what makes the s. 32.0.7 duty bite.
- 3.Ask, in writing, for the results and corrective action under s. 32.0.7(1)(b) if the investigation concludes and you hear nothing.
- 4.Keep your own record: dates, times, witnesses, what was said, who you told and when.
- 5.Note anything that changed after you complained: shifts, assignments, tone, exclusion. That is the reprisal case.
- 6.Get advice before resigning. Walking out of an intolerable workplace can be a constructive dismissal, but doing it without advice can also look like a resignation.
If the harassment has already caused a diagnosed psychological injury, the remedies question is a separate one and we deal with it in suing your employer for PTSD from workplace harassment. Harassment cases are won on documents, and the documents the Act already entitles you to are the cheapest ones to get. If the situation has reached the point where you are considering leaving, or you have already been pushed out, get the position reviewed through our severance package review before you do anything final.
Frequently asked questions
My employer says it investigated but will not tell me the outcome. Is that allowed?
No. Section 32.0.7(1)(b) requires the employer to inform the worker who allegedly experienced the harassment, in writing, of the results of the investigation and of any corrective action taken or that will be taken.
Can I get a copy of the investigator's report?
Not automatically. The Act entitles you to the results and the corrective action. Section 32.0.7(2) also provides the report is not a report respecting occupational health and safety for the purposes of s. 25(2).
We are a small office. Do the rules still apply?
Yes. Section 32.0.1(3) removes only the duty to POST the policies where five or fewer workers are regularly employed, and even that is subject to an inspector ordering otherwise. The duty to have the policies remains.
Does OHSA get me compensation for the harassment?
OHSA is regulatory and does not award damages for the harassment itself. Compensation usually comes through a Human Rights Code claim where a protected ground is engaged, a constructive dismissal claim, or a s. 50 reprisal complaint.
Amir Mirza
Founder & Employment Lawyer, Mirza Law
Amir Mirza is the founder of Mirza Law and an Ontario employment lawyer acting for employees. He is licensed by the Law Society of Ontario and is a member of the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association. He writes about severance, wrongful dismissal, and the rights Ontario employees have when their job ends.
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