Comité SST

Psychological harassment…on the radar

For some time now, I have not felt like going to work. The atmosphere at work has changed, it has become a burden.

When I arrive at work, I feel anxious, my heart is racing, I wonder who I will be working with and every time I hope that “she” won’t be there. Is it normal, this uneasiness I feel every morning when I think of her and this uncontrollable desire to cry? How many more times must I put up with this situation? Should I resign? Should I confide in someone? Will they believe me? Will they blame me? Am I imagining things?

When someone is a victim of psychological harassment, it is difficult to separate impressions from facts. That person is uncomfortable, feels guilty, hopes that the situation will stop and it is difficult for her to resolve the problem alone. This uneasiness can turn into a major problem if it is not dealt with properly and there is no intervention. It is therefore useful to know the means at one’s disposal to denounce it and have one’s rights respected.

An Act respecting Labour Standards defines psychological harassment as being any vexatious behaviour in the form of repeated and hostile or unwanted conduct, verbal comments, actions or gestures, that affects an employee’s dignity or psychological or physical integrity and that results in a harmful work environment for the employee.

A single serious incidence of such behaviour may also constitute psychological harassment if it is demonstrated that this behaviour has an effect on our dignity or our physical or psychological integrity, that it has had a continuous harmful effect on health.

Clause 31.02 of the FIQ collective agreement stipulates provisions for preventing any form of violence, whether physical or psychological, whether carried out towards its members or by its members.

An Act respecting industrial accidents and occupational diseases (AIAOD) does not define psychological harassment. However, the case law (jurisprudence) from the Commission des lesions professionnelles (CLP) defines it as follows: attitudes, words, behaviours, unwanted actions or gestures that have a harmful effect on the dignity, psychological or physical integrity of a person while causing the climate at work to deteriorate, and this, whether there is or not bad faith or ill will on the part of the person responsible for the attitudes or behaviours.

Thus, harassment is unacceptable, regardless of the environment in which we find ourselves. It must be denounced by seeking the necessary support.

Your local union is there to help you and to support you in the process. Remember that the FIQ has a policy of zero tolerance for workplace violence, whether it is physical or psychological, whether carried out towards its members or by its members.

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