The amendment of the Act respecting labour standards, which requires employers to adopt and make available to their employees "a psychological harassment prevention and complaint processing policy that includes, in particular, a section on behaviour that manifests itself in the form of verbal comments, actions or gestures of a sexual nature"1 came into force on January 1, 2019. However, we recently learned that the CNESST decided to grant a grace period of one year before imposing sanctions on employers that did not comply with this obligation. This means that starting January 1, 2020, the CNESST will impose fines on companies that do not have a policy that complies with these requirements. It is therefore essential to ensure that your policy includes a complaint process as well as a section specifically dedicated to sexual harassment.
Footnotes
1 Act respecting labour standards, RSQ, c. N-1.1, section 81.19.
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