Ontario’s Bill 168 with Respect to Workplace Violence and Harassment Passes Third Reading On December 9, 2009

Bill 168, An Act to amend the Occupational Health and Safety Act with respect to violence and harassment in the workplace passed third and final reading in the Ontario legislature on December 9, 2009 with minor changes, after review by the Standing Committee on Social Policy on November 17, 2009 and December 1, 2009.

The changes to the Bill includes the following:

1. The definition of workplace violence contained in section 1 of the Bill was amended to include

Section 1(1)(c)- workplace violence means a statement or behaviour that it is reasonable for a worker to interpret as a threat to exercise physical force against the worker, in a workplace, that could cause physical injury to the worker.

2. Section 32.0.2(2) was amended to include

Section 32.0.2(2)(e) - the workplace violence program will include any prescribed elements.

The domestic violence provision in Section 32.0.4 of the Bill remains unchanged as does section 32.0.5(3), which requires employers to provide information to a worker related to a risk of workplace violence from a person with a history of violent behaviour. 

Opposition MPP’s voiced concern about several aspects of Bill 168 stating, “we're going to support the legislation, but much more needs to be done; much more could have been done and much more should have been done in this legislation to ensure that we do not see similar episodes of workplace harassment and workplace violence, or harassment and violence that are associated with the workplace, in the future.”

Bill 168 will come into force six months after it receives Royal Assent.

For more information, please contact Norm Keith at 416-862-5699 or email norm.keith@gowlings.com and Cathy Chandler at 416-369-7351 or email cathy.chandler@gowlings.com.