Parliamentary Committee Notes: Independent Centre for Harassment Resolution
Date: May 5th 2022
Classification: No Classification
Fully releasable (ATIP)? Yes
Branch / Agency: RCMP
Issue:
Update on the Independent Centre for Harassment Resolution.
Proposed Response:
- On June 30, 2021, the RCMP launched the Independent Centre for Harassment Resolution. It is a centralized, independent unit responsible for matters relating to the resolution of harassment and violence occurrences for RCMP employees. Our goal is to resolve workplace conflict at the earliest stage, and ultimately prevent harassment. The ICHR will publish its first annual report in July 2022.
- As of December 31 2021, the Centre had received 373 notices of occurrence including 159 received between January and June 2021, before the Centre was formerly launched. Between January 1st and March 31st 2022, the ICHR received 132 notices of occurrence. This is a sign that RCMP employees trust the new harassment regime.
- We encourage anyone who feels they are the victim of inappropriate behaviour to report it. RCMP employees can opt for formal or informal resolution of their files. More than 95% of employees opt for formal resolution through investigation.
- As the supply of qualified external investigators is limited mainly due to the new legislation, the ICHR is facing a backlog of investigations. The Centre has developed a sustainable strategy for managing investigation and is working with the Centre of Expertise in Treasury Board Secretariat as well as Public Works and Procurement Services to maximize existing procurement vehicles.
- We continue to refine our operations and are committed to meeting the requirements of the legislation. Dialogue with bargaining agents on operations is ongoing, and we expect that there will be continued progress on handling complaints and, also, on developing approaches for harassment prevention, which is key to reducing the volume of complaints over time.
Background:
The Independent Centre for Harassment Resolution (ICHR) was established on June 30th 2021 to demonstrate the RCMP’s commitment to address workplace harassment and to give employees a trusted and consistent harassment resolution process that is accessible and supports accountability. Aligned with the Canadian Labour Code (CLC) Part II Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations (WHVPR), which came into effect on Jan. 1, 2021, our goal is to resolve workplace conflict at the earliest stage, and ultimately prevent harassment.
As of December 31, 2021, the ICHR received 373 notices of occurrence compared to 213 in 2020, and 190 in 2019. This includes 159 files that were received between January 1st 2021 and June 30th 2021, before the ICHR was formally in operation. Between January 1st and March 31st 2022, the ICHR received 132 notices of occurrences.
The RCMP uses the mandatory procurement process approved by the Government of Canada to contract external investigators. From this process, we have built a team of external investigators.
At this time, there are 26 companies that are qualified to conduct workplace harassment and violence investigations on the National Master Standing Offer list established by Public Services and Procurement Canada for use government-wide. On this list, many companies are individuals with their own firms. ICHR has used this list to build a team of external investigators, all of whom need to be approved in advance by the Policy Health and Safety Committee (joint union-management selection) in keeping with the Canada Labour Code regulations, and vetted through additional security required by the RCMP. ICHR continues to onboard investigators, adding investigators each month. However, there is a limited supply of available investigators which has caused a backlog in cases waiting to be investigated.
The Government of Canada plans to issue a new National Master Standing Offer in the fall of 2022. Meanwhile we are working with the Centre of Expertise at Treasury Board Secretariat as well as with Public Services and Procurement Canada to maximize existing vehicles to bridge the ICHR to the new Standing Offer. The ICHR has also developed a sustainable strategy to address investigations in order for this situation not to happen again.
We know that managers play a crucial role in addressing conflict in the workplace which is very important as interpersonal conflict has been by far the most common alleged cause of workplace harassment complaints received so far. Managers are often the first point of contact for employees who need help, and they have a responsibility under the Canada Labour Code and the RCMP Act to address it. We continue to focus our attention on raising awareness of the resources that are available to employees and managers. Awareness activities focusing on prevention are underway, building on the trends we are seeing in complaints to date.
Contacts:
Prepared by: Céline Larabie, Executive Director, Independent Centre of Harassment Resolution, 613-240-8701
Approved by: Frances McRae, Chief Administrative Officer, 613-825-7675
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