The French employment Code defines sexual harassment as “repeated sexual comments or conduct that either violate the [employee’s] dignity because of their degrading or humiliating nature or create an intimidating, hostile or offensive situation against the employee“.
The French employment Code also assimilates to sexual harassment “any form of serious pressure, even
Bien connue est l’obligation de l’employeur en vertu de la Loi sur les normes du travail (LNT) de prévenir le harcèlement psychologique, d’enquêter lorsqu’un tel comportement est porté à son attention et d’intervenir pour faire cesser la conduite harcelante. Mais que se passe-t-il lorsqu’une plainte est déposée à l’employeur pour harcèlement psychologique entre
The French authorities have been very prolific in the area of effecting reforms to employment law, and 2019 will not be an exception to this general rule (although perhaps less so than was the case in 2017 and 2018).
First, in 2019, a certain number of reforms promulgated in 2017 and 2018 will either come
On March 15, 2019, The Ontario Court of Appeal released its decision in Merrifield v. Canada (Attorney General), reversing a trial decision in which the Ontario Superior Court of Justice had recognized the existence of a common law “tort of harassment”.
The plaintiff’s claim was based on conduct that he had experienced during his
Anonymous reports have been mistrusted for a number of years in France, for historical reasons. While anonymity enables individuals to raise their voice more openly, without being the targets of retaliation measures, it can also drift into slander.
This explains a specificity of French law under which whistleblowers using ethicals lines are strongly encouraged to
The Australian Human Rights Commission (Commission) has recently launched an inquiry into sexual harassment in Australian workplaces (Inquiry). It seems that the ‘watershed’ moment that the #MeToo campaign was hailed as, has indeed driven the momentum to keep the issue alive and for meaningful action to come from it.
There can be little argument that a culture that tolerates, condones or rewards inappropriate conduct or the wrong behaviours creates real and significant risk for an organisation – from a legal, commercial and reputational perspective. It is essential, both at Board and executive level, that there is an awareness and understanding of the organisation’s culture or cultures and the risks that arise through such a culture and, most importantly, that steps are taken to mitigate or remove those risks. Indeed, organisational culture and behaviours that are rewarded, encouraged or ignored, have been a key focus in the Financial Services Royal Commission and the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
On May 9, 2018, New York City enacted a number of laws addressing sexual harassment in the workplace. The laws are summarized below. New York City employers who do not yet have anti-harassment and anti-retaliation policies in place should promptly begin the process for adopting them. New York City employers should also begin to make arrangements for providing their employees with anti-harassment training (upon hire and annually thereafter). Such training is now required under both New York State and New York City law. New York State’s law, which was also recently enacted, will become effective first. For a brief discussion of the recent New York State legislation, please see our prior blog post, New York State’s new sexual harassment prevention laws will require action by all New York employers.
Beginning April 1, 2019, New York City employers with 15 or more employees (which includes interns for purposes of this new law) must provide anti-sexual harassment training to all of their New York City employees on an annual basis. The training must also be provided to new hires (who will work more than 80 hours per year) during the first 90 days of their employment. The training must address the following items (at a minimum):
Also, the training must be “interactive.” However, the new law is clear that the training need not be in-person or live in order to be considered interactive. The New York City Commission on Human Rights will be developing an on-line training module that can be used by employers to satisfy this training requirement, as long as employers supplement the module with a description of their internal complaint procedures.
The law requires employers to maintain records of all trainings provided, including signed employee acknowledgements, for at least three years.
New York City employers should be aware that this New York City training requirement is in addition to, and not in lieu of, the recently enacted New York State sexual harassment training requirement. New York City employers should ensure that their training modules satisfy both state and city requirements, to the extent applicable. To read a copy of our recent client alert summarizing the New York State requirement, please see our prior legal update, New York employers should get ready to comply with New York State’s new sexual harassment prevention laws.
Effective September 6, 2018, all New York City employers must provide employees at the time of hire with an information sheet on sexual harassment. This information sheet will be developed by the New York City Commission on Human Rights and may be included in the employer’s employee handbook.
As we are all aware, the news has been populated with stories concerning allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct, particularly in the entertainment and media industries as well as government institutions. These stories have contributed to the “#MeToo” movement, which originated on Twitter and other social media websites in late 2017 and has since become a widespread message on social media encouraging individuals to share their stories and speak out against sexual harassment and abuse. But while its purposes are laudable, the #MeToo movement is a touchy subject for employers, who ever-more-frequently find themselves accused of sexual harassment or other misconduct on social media and must grapple with the implications of publicly aired grievances.
After a few politicians at the federal and provincial levels recently stepped down because of sexual misconduct allegations, lawmakers debated Bill C-65 in the House of Commons this week.
Tabled in November 2017, Bill C-65 aims to amend “the Canada Labour Code (CLC) to strengthen the existing framework for preventing harassment and violence, including sexual
Les salariés protégés (représentants du personnel, délégués ou représentants syndicaux, salariés mandatés, etc.) bénéficient d’un statut particulier, eu égard à leur rôle dans l’entreprise. A ce titre, toute modification, et a fortiori, rupture de leur contrat de travail doit être autorisée par l’inspection du travail.
La conclusion d’une rupture conventionnelle homologuée, quand bien même il