Layla Care Inc. ("Layla" or the "Company") is committed to providing a safe, respectful, inclusive, and harassment-free workplace. This policy outlines our expectations, defines prohibited behaviors, and establishes procedures for addressing violations.
This policy complies with applicable legislation, including Ontario's Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) and Human Rights Code, Alberta's Occupational Health and Safety Act, British Columbia's Workers Compensation Act, and Nova Scotia's Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Layla prohibits all forms of harassment, discrimination, and workplace violence based on protected characteristics, including race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion, age, and other grounds outlined by applicable federal or provincial legislation.
Although commonly the case, the harasser does not necessarily have to have power or authority over the victim. Harassment can occur from co-worker to co-worker, manager to employee, employee to manager, or involve a Third Party.
It also does not include normal workplace conflict or differences of opinion between individuals. Differences of opinions or political views, when expressed respectfully, do not constitute harassment. Employees are encouraged to exercise respect and remain open to diverse perspectives.
Employees who have questions or need further clarification about this policy are encouraged to reach out to their direct manager, HR representative, or any member of the leadership team.
Layla will review this policy annually or whenever significant legislative or organizational changes occur. Any updates will be communicated clearly to all employees and stakeholders.
Layla remains committed to maintaining an environment built on respect, dignity, and inclusion, reflecting our values of quality, compliance, and care.
Purpose: This guideline provides practical tools and recommendations for the Client Care and Program Operations Team to effectively manage and respond to third-party harassment or discrimination, prioritizing employee safety, dignity, and respectful client engagement.
When confronted with inappropriate behavior, employees are empowered - at their comfort level - to respectfully set clear boundaries.
Practical Examples of Setting Boundaries:
Employees' safety and well-being is a Layla priority. You are encouraged and asked to raise any incidents and concerns with your manager promptly by calling or requesting a meeting with your manager.
When you report a concern to your manager, Layla will take immediate steps to address the behavior with the third party involved. Possible outcomes include warnings, modification or termination of services (e.g. reassigning a patient), or cessation of services (except as restricted by applicable laws). Layla may also decide that no further action is necessary if the initial steps taken by the employee sufficiently address the situation.
Next steps by the Care Team lead or manager should always be assessed in consultation with a Clinical Manager (e.g. Clinical Program Manager, Clinical Product Manager, Clinical Director, or Designate)
As a healthcare provider, Layla cannot deny or terminate services lightly. However, it is our duty to protect our employees and foster a safe work environment. Complete termination decisions should used in serious and/or persistent behaviors, such as:
Any decision to terminate services must be reviewed and approved by a Manager or Director from the Clinical Team.
All incidents of third-party harassment or discrimination must be documented objectively (e.g., using direct quotes instead of paraphrasing), promptly, and thoroughly. Always escalate to your manager or senior leader, who will determine the appropriate follow-up actions.
Layla must not accommodate discriminatory preferences. It is critical to distinguish between discriminatory requests and clinically relevant requests related to equity-seeking groups.
Layla has a duty to protect therapists’ safety and dignity. If a client is known to hold discriminatory views against specific therapist identities, the following practices should be considered, on a case-by-case basis
If you're unsure about how to handle a particular situation, immediately consult your manager or a Clinical Manager at Layla for clarity and support.
Discrimination, violence, harassment and sexual harassment in the workplace are strictly prohibited at Layla Care Inc. (“Layla”). Layla has ZERO tolerance for any physical acts or verbal threats of violence or harassment of any kind, nor any discrimination made by or against employees, customers or visitors on premises or through Layla’ communications channels. It is the responsibility of every employee to report any incident of discrimination, violence, harassment or sexual harassment in the workplace. To help address issues of discrimination, violence, harassment and sexual harassment in the workplace, the Company has established a policy for recognizing, reporting and responding to incidents.
Layla is committed to assessing, minimizing and, to the extent possible, eliminating the risk of discrimination, violence, harassment and sexual harassment in the workplace. It is recognized that discrimination, violence, harassment and sexual harassment are an occupational health and safety hazard and can result in physical and emotional harm. The Workplace Discrimination, Violence, Harassment & Sexual Harassment Policy ensures that violence and all harassment in the workplace will not be tolerated and provides a process to prevent and respond to incidents of violence, harassment and sexual harassment.
An employee who contravenes any provision of this policy may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment without notice, as well as possible civil, criminal or regulatory action. Such contravention may also impact an employee’s performance assessment, reputation and compensation.
Non-employees who engage in violence in the workplace will be reported to the proper authorities. Layla reserves the right to pursue any and all available civil remedies.
1) Workplace:
For the purposes of this policy, workplace is defined as follows:
- All Layla premises and immediate environments, e.g., parking lots, smoking areas, lunchrooms, the Company’s communication channels such as email, telephone, Slack, etc.
-All non- Layla premises used for work-related activities such as customer or partner workplaces, seminars, conferences, business meetings, social functions, and/or any place where an employee is paid to work such as Layla car, home office and the like.
2) Discrimination:
Workplace discrimination includes any distinction, exclusion or preference based on the protected grounds in the Provincial Human Rights Code, which nullifies or impairs equality of opportunity in employment, or equality in the terms and conditions of employment.
The protected grounds of discrimination are:
- Race, colour, ancestry, citizenship, ethnic origin or place of origin
- Gender, gender identity, and gender expression
- Creed, religion
- Age
- Sexual orientation
-Gender identity, gender expression
- Family, marital or same-sex partnership status
- Disability or perceived disability
- A record of offence(s) for which a pardon has been granted under the Criminal Records Act (Canada) and has not been revoked, or an offence in respect of any provincial enactment
Harassment is defined as “engaging in a course of vexatious (insulting, demeaning, annoying, provoking, threatening, or resulting in some other form of discomfort) comments or conduct on a prohibited ground of discrimination that is known or ought to reasonably be known to be unwelcome, offensive, inappropriate, intimidating or hostile.” For purposes of this practice, discriminatory harassment may result from one incident or a series of incidents. It may be directed at specific individuals or groups but may also include any comments or conduct which creates an environment that is hostile, intimidating or offensive.
Discriminatory Harassment may include (but is not limited to):
- Unwelcome jokes, remarks, taunting or innuendos with respect to a prohibited ground of discrimination as outlined in Section 2) above.
- The display of racist, derogatory or offensive pictures or material
- Refusal to converse with or work with another staff member because of such things as ethnic origins, sexual orientation, etc.
- Leering, suggestive gestures or unnecessary physical contact such as unwelcomed touching, patting or pinching
- Offensive sexual flirtation; advances; propositions
- Sexual assault
- Viewing or distribution of offensive materials by mail, email, phone or fax
Workplace harassment is sometimes called psychological harassment or bullying. It usually has some or all of the following components:
- It is generally repetitive, although a single serious incident may constitute workplace harassment if it undermines the recipient’s psychological or physical integrity and has a lasting harmful effect
- It is hostile, abusive or inappropriate
- It may involve vexatious or inappropriate comments, conducts or display, gestures, actions or some combination of all of these
- It affects the person’s dignity or psychological or physical integrity
- It results in a poisoned or harmful work environment
In addition, behaviour that intimidates, isolates or discriminates against the recipient may also be included.
Some examples of workplace harassment are:
- Verbally abusive behaviour such as yelling, insults, ridicule and name calling including remarks, jokes or innuendos that demean, ridicule, intimidate or offend
- Workplace pranks, vandalism, bullying, hazing or horseplay
- Gossiping or spreading malicious rumours
- Excluding or ignoring someone, including persistent exclusion of a particular person from workplace-related social gatherings
- Deliberately withholding information that would enable a person to do their job
- Sabotaging someone else’s work
- Displaying or circulating offensive pictures or materials
- Offensive or intimidating phone calls or emails
- Impeding an individual’s efforts at promotions or transfers for reasons that are not legitimate
- Making false allegations about someone in memos or other work-related documents.
Part of the test for determining if harassment has occurred is whether the person knew or should have known that the comments or conduct were unwelcome.
The test is met if:
-The recipient specifically says the behaviour is unwelcome;
-The recipient makes it clear through conduct or body language that the behaviour is unwelcome; or
- A reasonable person would have recognized that the behaviour would be unwelcome to that specific recipient under the circumstances.
Although it is commonly the case, the harasser does not necessarily have to have power or authority over the victim. Harassment can occur from co-worker to co-worker, Manager to employee, and employee to Manager.
Workplace Sexual Harassment:
Workplace harassment also includes workplace sexual harassment which can be defined in two parts:
1. “Engaging in a course of vexatious comment or conduct against a worker in a workplace because of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, where the course of comment or conduct is known or ought reasonably to be known to be unwelcome;”
2. “Making a sexual solicitation or advance where the person making the solicitation or advance is in a position to confer, grant or deny a benefit or advancement to the worker and the person knows or ought reasonably to know that the solicitation or advance is unwelcome.”
What Isn’t Harassment
Workplace harassment should not be confused with legitimate, reasonable management actions that are part of the normal work function, including:
- Direction of workers
- Setting of employee or team performance targets, and managing employees accordingly
- Measures to correct performance deficiencies, such as placing someone on a performance improvement plan
-Imposing discipline for workplace infractions
-Requesting medical documents in support of an absence from work
It also does not include normal workplace conflict that may occur between individuals or differences of opinion between co-workers.
ffWorkplace and domestic violence that may occur in the workplace are health and safety issues, which are covered under the various provincial health and safety acts.a) Workplace ViolenceWorkplace violence includes the exercise of, attempt to exercise, or threat to exercise physical force by a person against a worker that causes or could cause physical injury to that worker.Workplace violence can be defined broadly enough to include acts that may be considered criminal. Workplace violence includes:• Physically threatening behaviour such as shaking a fist at someone, finger pointing, destroying property, throwing objects• Verbal or written threats to physically attack a worker• Leaving threatening notes or sending threatening emails• Wielding a weapon at work• Stalking someone• Physically aggressive behaviors including hitting, shoving, standing excessively close to someone in an aggressive manner, pushing, kicking, throwing an object at someone, physically restraining someone or any other form of physical or sexual assaultViolence that occurs outside the normal workplace, but which has an impact on the working environment, including working relationships, may also be considered violence in the workplace.Workplace violence may come from many different sources:• Strangers or people with no ties to the workplace• Members, clients, customers, stakeholders or suppliers• Other employees• Intimate relationships outside of work (such as intimate partners, family, friends)b) Domestic ViolenceIf an employee is experiencing domestic violence that would likely expose him or her, or other workers, to physical injury that may occur in the workplace, Layla will take every precaution reasonable to protect the employee and his or her co-workers in the circumstances. This may include some or all of the following:• Creating a safety plan• Contacting the police• Establishing enhanced security measures such as a panic button, code words, and door and access security measures• Screening calls and blocking calls, telephone numbers or certain email addresses• Setting up priority parking or providing escorts to the vehicle or to public transportation• Adjusting the employee working hours and location so that they are not predictable• Facilitating the employee access to counselling community programs• Recommending that the employee consult with his/her health care professionalLayla appreciates the sensitivity of these issues and will do its best to assist the employee as discreetly as possible while maintaining his or her privacy.
Workplace and domestic violence that may occur in the workplace are health and safety issues, which
are covered under the various provincial health and safety acts.
a) Workplace Violence
Workplace violence includes the exercise of, attempt to exercise, or threat to exercise physical
force by a person against a worker that causes or could cause physical injury to that worker.
Workplace violence can be defined broadly enough to include acts that may be considered criminal.
Workplace violence includes:
• Physically threatening behaviour such as shaking a fist at someone, finger pointing,
destroying property, throwing objects
• Verbal or written threats to physically attack a worker
• Leaving threatening notes or sending threatening emails
• Wielding a weapon at work
• Stalking someone
• Physically aggressive behaviors including hitting, shoving, standing excessively close to
someone in an aggressive manner, pushing, kicking, throwing an object at someone, physically
restraining someone or any other form of physical or sexual assault
Violence that occurs outside the normal workplace, but which has an impact on the working
environment, including working relationships, may also be considered violence in the workplace.
Workplace violence may come from many different sources:
• Strangers or people with no ties to the workplace
• Members, clients, customers, stakeholders or suppliers
• Other employees
• Intimate relationships outside of work (such as intimate partners, family, friends)
b) Domestic Violence
If an employee is experiencing domestic violence that would likely expose him or her, or other
workers, to physical injury that may occur in the workplace, Layla will take every precaution
reasonable to protect the employee and his or her co-workers in the circumstances. This may include
some or all of the following:
• Creating a safety plan
• Contacting the police
• Establishing enhanced security measures such as a panic button, code words, and door and
access security measures
• Screening calls and blocking calls, telephone numbers or certain email addresses
• Setting up priority parking or providing escorts to the vehicle or to public transportation
• Adjusting the employee working hours and location so that they are not predictable
• Facilitating the employee access to counselling community programs
• Recommending that the employee consult with his/her health care professional
Layla appreciates the sensitivity of these issues and will do its best to assist the employee as
discreetly as possible while maintaining his or her privacy.
