Governments in Canada are cracking down on workplace bullying by making employers legally responsible for preventing and mitigating harassment and violence in the workplace.

A proposed bill in Ontario is the latest step to curb harassing behavior that often leads to high stress levels, lower employee productivity and, in some instances, violence. Employers, though, may face serious compliance challenges, observers say.

Ontario Bill 29 would amend the province's Occupational Health and Safety Act to require employers to protect workers from harassment and violence in the workplace. It would give workers the right to refuse to work but still collect their pay when such behavior could endanger the worker or colleagues (see box).

The bill aims to fill a void in Ontario human rights law that bars discrimination and harassment based on grounds such as gender and race and OHS law that generally outlines employers' duty to protect employees, which Ontario regulators have interpreted to include violence in the workplace.

The statutes, though, are silent on psychological harassment, meaning that bullying is not necessarily contrary to law, employment lawyers say.

"The bullying, overly critical manager seems to be the new thing" among problems the government is trying to tackle, said Jonathan Dye, a partner and employment law specialist with Heenan Blaikie L.L.P. in Toronto.

Although several provinces have broadened their statutes to include workplace violence as part of employers' protection duty, Quebec was the first to specifically address psychological harassment. In June 2004, Quebec passed a law mandating that employers take reasonable action to prevent and stop psychological harassment. Additionally, Saskatchewan last year amended its Occupational Health and Safety Act to broaden the definition of harassment to include psychological harassment.

Canadian courts also have found employers liable for failing to address harassing behavior. In Sulz vs. Canada (Attorney General), a British Columbia court in 2006 found an employer liable for breaching its duty to protect an employee who endured extreme verbal abuse by her supervisor, which caused her to suffer depression and forced her to take a disability leave.

Bullying in the workplace often leads to higher rates of absenteeism, illness and turnover of employees victimized by such behavior and lower rates of productivity, according to studies. Moreover, in several high-profile incidents in Canada, harassment or bullying preceded a violent workplace incident.

Employer attorneys stress that implementation of the bill would be extremely challenging for employers because it could lead to numerous complaints about less egregious workplace conduct, said Andrea York, a Toronto-based partner in the labor and employment practice of Blake, Cassels & Graydon L.L.P. For example, employees could attempt to claim harassment when receiving a performance evaluation or when the employer attempts to implement a performance improvement program, she said.

"I'm worried about the floodgates opening and having numerous complaints that are not bona fide, especially when the worker can stay home with pay," Ms. York said.

The bill has also raised concerns about how to determine what constitutes harassment because what is considered harassing behavior by one employee may be considered harmless by another. "These psychological claims are always difficult for employers to deal with," Ms. York said.

Additionally, the scope of the law is a concern because it applies not only to employee behavior against other employees, but also to harassing behavior from individuals outside of the workplace, such as customers or patients, whose actions employers may have difficulty controlling.

Moreover, the bill does not specify the appropriate level of discipline when a complaint is deemed legitimate, meaning employers will face a quandary in determining whether counseling, a suspension or termination is the appropriate remedy. They may find themselves vulnerable to wrongful termination claims from employees fired for harassing behavior, lawyers say.

In an effort to reduce potential liability, employers should perform a risk assessment to identify their vulnerabilities to workplace violence and harassment and develop a prevention strategy, said Glenn French, president of the Canadian Initiative on Workplace Violence, a Toronto-based research firm that helps organizations develop preventative and remedial programs aimed at reducing workplace aggression. Employer workplace policies should include clear procedures for reporting violence and harassing behavior, he said.

"Progressive employers should now start to think about having a policy in place that defines what violence means to them," said Mr. French, who added that such policies should be reviewed at least once a year.

From a risk management perspective, the most important step is to conduct a thorough investigation to determine if there is any merit to the complaint, lawyers say.

"You need to look into it properly, do a full investigation and make a valid assessment of if something is a problem or it's not," Mr. Dye said.