Only the Canadian Human Rights Act protects workers from harassment and discrimination in the workplace.

A female Muslim worker feels harassed by a co-worker because he repeatedly makes comments suggesting that all Muslim women are obedient and good slaves to their husbands and he is careful to say it when no one is around. She never asks the harasser to stop his comments and she chooses to not tell her supervisor or Human Resources representative or anyone else, for that matter, what is happening. Her work begins to suffer and, even though she is being reprimanded for her deteriorating work performance, she still does not inform anyone of the harassment. The harassment persists and the female worker suddenly quits her job because she feels it is her only option. In fact, because there were no witnesses, quitting was her only option.

If I give a worker less work because I think that their disability could slow them down, I am discriminating against that person.

Repeatedly telling your co-worker that you have feelings for him even after he tells you he is not interested is not harassment because you are not expressing anything sexual.

Two years ago, a worker filed a complaint against her supervisor over his sexually charged remarks in the workplace. The complaint was amicably resolved, and both continued to work together without incident. Two years later, the same worker applied for a promotion in the company, but was told by the supervisor of her department that he could not justify giving her this promotion since she “caused trouble” when she filed her complaint two years previous. The supervisor is well within his rights to not promote someone who has filed a complaint in the past against a co-worker as it sets a bad example.

You see the supervisor from another department forcibly push a female co-worker against a wall and press his body into hers. She says very loudly, “Get off of me!” The supervisor walks away. You find out later that the female co-worker has filed a complaint of sexual harassment against the supervisor and that you are being called as a witness to report what you saw. Because you have been named as a witness against the supervisor of another department and not your own, you could be demoted or fired by the employer for breaching company confidentiality policies.

Texting a co-worker that you fantasize about her every night is only acceptable if you send it to her personal phone.

A co-worker greets the new administrative assistant every morning with, “Hello gorgeous. Did you miss me last night?” You see the administrative assistant avert her eyes, and say, “Good morning” almost in a whisper. She quickly excuses herself and heads for the ladies bathroom where she doesn’t come out until the co-worker has left the area. This plays out the same way for five days. The administrative assistant never asks you for help or tells you that she feels harassed so this does not constitute harassment.

Psychological harassment or bullying is not covered under human rights laws.

If your intention was not to hurt someone or you were just trying to be funny, it’s not harassment.

Telling a co-worker in a group meeting that they are incompetent because they made a mistake is not psychological harassment or bullying because it is an accurate observation based in fact.

You notice a new supervisor has been singling out your co-worker for several months. Your co-worker is yelled at in meetings, gets files thrown at him with loud comments such as, “Try to get it right this time!” and has had vacation and other privileges revoked without reason or discussion. You notice that your co-worker is absent more often, is often not feeling well while at the office and has almost completely isolated himself and withdrawn from his co-workers. These are signs that your co-worker could be experiencing stress-related symptoms related to being bullied by the supervisor.

You don’t like a co-worker because you feel she does not “fit in” with the group so you don’t invite her to office or group lunches and you don’t pass on emails and notes about things happening in the office. This is psychological harassment and bullying.

Your supervisor calls you into her office several times over a period of one month to advise you that your performance is not up to the company’s expectations. She has made several suggestions that you have more or less tried but your performance is not improving significantly enough. In your most recent meeting, she advises you that she is putting you on a performance watch and that she will assign a qualified co-worker to tutor and shadow some of your work for a period of two weeks to attempt to improve your performance. You believe the actions of your supervisor constitute harassment and bullying.

You witness a co-worker swearing and yelling at another co-worker about not turning off a machine and he punches the wall and door as he storms out. This is considered workplace violence.

A disagreement starts in a meeting between two workers that escalates to name calling and yelling and eventually one of the workers threatens to “take this outside” to resolve this like men, suggesting a fist fight. Because they are both actively involved in the argument, this is not considered to be workplace violence.

A co-worker’s spouse shows up, unexpectedly, and they start fighting about her appearance. He calls her insulting and degrading names, gets very close to her face and says, “Wait until you get home, tonight.” After the spouse storms out, slamming the door behind him, the co-worker sits back in her chair and starts crying. Based on this incident, you have reason to speak to Human Resources about the possibility of a situation of domestic violence affecting the workplace.