Building a foundation of respect - Part 26 | BuildForce Canada

Building a foundation of respect - Part 26

Welcome to the BuildForce blog on Respectful Workplaces! Here we explore issues and provide advice, research, tools, and checklists – everything our industry needs to create respectful and inclusive workplaces where everyone can succeed. Who will benefit? Leaders, managers, HR staff, on-site workers and anyone who wants to understand how to create and support a Respectful and Inclusive Workplace.

Question of the month

(Each month our feature question explores the content and use of the BuildForce Canada Respectful Workplace Policy Framework and Implementation Guide. This tool is a free template designed to assist organizations in creating and implementing policies that support a respectful and inclusive workplace. This tool is one of three in the BuildForce Canada Respectful and Inclusive Workplace Toolkit.)

Did you know? Employers could be liable for actions or behaviours that occur away from the physical workplace, such as work-related social events, trade shows, and social media. Learn more at buildforce.ca/respectfulworkplacesblog.Does your organization extend its Respectful Workplace Policy to ALL work interactions?

Organizations are responsible for protecting their employees from discrimination, harassment, and workplace violence in any situation related to work.

Although federal, provincial, and territorial human rights legislation varies, most human rights legislation refers to the concept of the “extended workplace.” Employers could be liable for actions or behaviours that occur away from the physical workplace, such as work-related social events, trade shows, and social media.

The BuildForce Respectful Workplace Policy Framework and Implementation Guide helps organizations to meet this requirement by:

  • Establishing respect as a core value that guides employees in all of their work-related interactions
  • Including an explicit statement that the Policy Framework applies to all work locations and activities, including but not limited to travel, telephone, and email communication, social media, office parties, and social gatherings after work
  • Communicating the Policy Framework widely, ensuring clarity, visibility, and accessibility of the information about the organization’s commitment to respect
  • Recognizing that the principles of respect are required in all areas of organizational life, the Policy Framework includes examples of other policies that relate to respect

For more info:

Join the conversation: Does your organization cover all work interactions in its Respectful Workplace Policy?
 

Our next installment: Does your organization protect every employee from discrimination at work?

PREVIOUS INSTALLMENT: Does your organization adhere to an effective Respectful Workplace Policy?

Read from the beginning. Click here to start at Part 1.

To meet the challenges of the 21st century, the Canadian construction and maintenance industry must be able to recruit and retain workers with a diversity of backgrounds such as Indigenous people, women, immigrants, and young workers. This means building respectful, safe and inclusive workplaces where all workers can succeed. Some of these challenges are: A quarter of a million skilled workers retiring over the next decade. Increased globalization demands more awareness of different cultures. The changing needs of a changing workforce. Increased demands for corporate social responsibility such as fairness and equity.

The BuildForce Canada Online Respectful and Inclusive Workplace Toolkit includes: The Respectful Workplace Online Self-Assessment Tool: to assist organization leadership in assessing their current situation and identifying where they may need to make changes; The Respectful and Inclusive Workplace Online Training Course: to train workers on how to create and support a respectful and inclusive workplace; and The Respectful Workplace Policy Framework and Implementation Guide: to assist organizations in creating and implementing a policy that supports a respectful and inclusive workplace. --- All the resources you need to create and support a respectful and inclusive workplace!

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This project has been funded by Status of Women Canada.