Violence and Harassment Policy
Kotn wishes to comply with its legal obligations as set out in the current applicable legislation, and more specifically provide its personnel with a work environment free of all forms of harassment, discrimination, and/or workplace violence.
Kotn favours harmonious interactions based on trust, mutual support and respect, and is committed to using reasonable means to prevent or stop any form of harassment, discrimination and/or workplace violence in its work environment whenever such conduct is reported.
OBJECTIVES
Provide a work environment that is free of all forms of harassment, discrimination, and/or workplace violence;
Raise awareness and provide information to its personnel to prevent all forms of harassment, discrimination, and/or workplace violence;
Promote respect among individuals;
Protect the dignity and the physical and psychological integrity of its personnel;
Provide necessary support to its personnel who believe they are subjected to harassment, discrimination, and/or workplace violence through an established procedure for assistance and recourse.
APPLICATION
This policy applies to all its personnel, including managers and senior executives, of Kotn. The policy also applies to third parties, including but not limited to, visitors, clients, suppliers and subcontractors.
This policy applies to all incidents related to work, occurring in or out of the workplace, during or outside regular work hours, to the extent that such incidents affect the work environment of Kotn. The policy also applies to the use of social media and to social activities (celebrations, team activities, and so on).
This policy does not deprive its personnel of their resources, within the prescribed time limit, as set out in the current legislation or their employment agreement.
DEFINITIONS
Harassment
Workplace harassment is an offensive conduct in the form of behaviours, comments or gestures that meet these four criteria:
It is repeated;
It is hostile or unwanted;
It is adversely affecting the dignity and psychological or physical integrity of a member of the personnel;
It is resulting in a harmful work environment.
A single serious incident of such misconduct may also constitute workplace harassment whenever it has the same lasting harmful effect on the complainant.
Workplace harassment also encompasses sexual harassment and discriminatory harassment.
Sexual Harassment
Any unwelcome conduct, comment, gesture or contact of sexual nature in reference to sexual orientation, sexual identity or the expression of sexual identity that is likely to cause offence or humiliation to any person or that may, on reasonable grounds, be perceived by that person as placing a condition of a sexual nature on employment or on any opportunity for training or promotion.
Discriminatory Harassment
This policy also covers all discriminatory harassment based on one or several of the following grounds: race, national or ethnic origin, colour, pregnancy, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation or identity, marital status, familial status, disability or a conviction for which a pardon has been granted.
Workplace Violence
Workplace violence refers to any behaviour, conduct, threat or gesture by one person against another, in the workplace or in a work-related setting that may cause physical harm, injury or illness.
The following situations do not qualify, as such, as harassment, discrimination, and/or workplace violence:
Actions by managers set out in their job descriptions, even if such actions may at times have unpleasant consequences;
Performance review and work performance management;
Justified corrective or disciplinary measures;
Disagreements or dissensions among colleagues or with a manager;
Accidental and unintentional gestures, for example, a client who stumbles and bumps into a member of personnel.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Kotn is committed to:
Not tolerate any form of harassment, discrimination, and/or workplace violence and use reasonable means to stop any form of harassment, discrimination and/or workplace violence should it occur and of which it has been advised in accordance with this policy;
Ensure the consistent application and distribution of the present policy to all employees;
Handle all complaints diligently and impartially;
Use reasonable means to ensure that complainants, witnesses, and other concerned persons do not suffer any prejudice and are not subjected to reprisals;
Handle all complaint-related information with confidentiality, unless such information is required as part of an investigation or disciplinary process or otherwise as required under any legal or regulatory requirement;
Raise personnel awareness of the shared responsibility of ensuring a work environment free of harassment, discrimination, and/or workplace violence;
Team members must commit to:
Behave in a manner free of any form of harassment, discrimination, and/or workplace violence.
PROCEDURE FOR HANDLING COMPLAINTS
A member of the personnel who believes they are being subjected to harassment, discrimination, and/or workplace violence may speak to their immediate or hierarchical supervisor. If their manager is doing the alleged harassment, they may speak to another manager or the people operations manager.
A manager who learns (whether by observing it, hearing it second hand, or hearing it first hand) that a member of personnel believes they are being subjected to harassment, discrimination, and/or workplace violence is responsible to notify the People Operations Manager and rectifying. If the circumstance requires additional escalation and support, depending on the severity of the situation, the manager is responsible to bring this to the attention of the CEO.
The Complainant must undertake steps, formally or informally, within 2 years of the last occurrence of the offending conduct, unless they can demonstrate that they were unable to act in the prescribed period.
The inability to act is characterized by circumstances beyond the person’s control, despite his or her diligence, that prevented him or her from making a complaint in the prescribed period. Ignorance of the prescribed period for making a complaint as set out in this policy does not qualify as an inability to act. All situations shall be assessed on a case-by-case basis at Kotn’s discretion.
Kotn reserves the right to intervene at any time, whether a complaint has been made or not or whether it has been withdrawn or whenever there are reasons to believe that harassment, discrimination, and/or a workplace violence situation may exist.
2. The person mandated by management to processes the complaint:
Analyzes the complaint;
Meets with the complainant;
Decides on the admissibility of the allegations in accordance with the present policy;
Informs the complainant in writing of the decision regarding the admissibility of the complaint and outlines subsequent steps of the process;
Email Format:
Dear [complainant]
We have come to a decision regarding the admissibility of your complaint.(outline decision with reason)
We are committed to taking the following actionable steps in the timeline below to provide you with resolution, as we are taking your complaint seriously:(outline next steps with timelines)
If the allegations are deemed to be admissible, summarily informs the subject of the complaint about harassment, discrimination, and/or workplace violence of the allegations against him or her and outlines subsequent steps of the process;
3. When the complaint is deemed to be admissible, the Leadership team informs Kotn’s Legal Counsel, which may independently mandate, in a timely manner, an investigator or an external investigator, (at their discretion) to carry out an investigation and write an investigation report;
At any time during the complaint-management process, the Leadership team may take any interim measure deemed to be necessary;
An informal complaint-management process may be implemented at any time, insofar as circumstances permit, including but not limited to mediation.
DECISION
Following receipt of the investigation report by the Leadership team, the complainant and the person to whom the complaint relates are informed in writing of the results of the investigation. This communication also includes the implementation of preventive, corrective or follow-up actions, if any, deemed appropriate.
Confidentiality and privacy
At all times during the investigation, detailed information about the complaint is kept in a confidential file accessible only to persons authorized to view such information as part of their functions. The names of the persons involved in the complaint and the contents of the complaint remain confidential unless this information is needed for an investigation or disciplinary action or required or permitted by law or unless the persons concerned grant their consent to such disclosure.
Record-keeping
No information is recorded in the employee file of the persons involved in the complaint process. Only the information regarding administrative and/or disciplinary measures may be kept in the employee file of the person to whom such measures are applied, with reference to the complaint record.
Sanctions for non-compliance
Kotn shall take appropriate measures of an administrative and/or disciplinary nature (up to and including dismissal if the perpetrator is a member of Kotn’s personnel), against any person who engages in harassment, discrimination, and/or workplace violence.
Any person in breach of the present policy is guilty of a serious infraction and is subject to administrative and/or disciplinary measures, up to and including dismissal.
Reprisal
No reprisal shall be tolerated against any person who discloses, in good faith, a situation they believe to be harassment, discrimination and/or workplace violence or who provides information regarding a complaint or an incident of this nature.
A member of the personnel who engages in reprisal of whatever nature or threaten reprisal shall be subject to administrative and/or disciplinary measures, up to and including dismissal.
Dishonest or bad faith complaints and false statements
A member of personnel who knowingly makes an unjustified complaint, false statements as part of an investigation or an abusive use of the present policy may be subject to administrative and/or disciplinary measures, up to and including dismissal.
Laws, regulations and policy
In the event of incompatibility between the content of the present policy and any government laws or regulations, the latter shall prevail.
EFFECTIVE DATE
The present policy replaces and abrogates all previous policies and practices and comes into effect on September 1, 2020.