PLEA gratefully acknowledges our primary core funder the Law Foundation of Saskatchewan for their continuing and generous support of our organization.
Both the complainant and the alleged harasser have certain rights when there is an investigation into a harassment complaint.
This includes the complainant’s name, the name of the alleged harasser, and the circumstances of the complaint. Your employer cannot disclose this information except where it is necessary during the investigation or for the purpose of taking corrective action to address the complaint. The alleged harasser is usually entitled to receive a copy of the complaint as part of an investigation and must receive enough information about the complaint to be able to answer the allegations against them. Information may also be disclosed where it is required by law.
Your workplace's Harassment Prevention Policy should provide you with information about measures that are in place to ensure that the investigation process is fair and unbiased. Both parties must have an opportunity to tell their side of the story to an impartial person – a neutral party that doesn’t have close ties to the parties or witnesses or a stake in the outcome of the investigation.
This also means making sure that evidence gathered is credible. Practices such as only allowing witnesses to speak about what they personally saw or heard, and interviewing witnesses separately can help to ensure this.
There is no set time limit for an investigation to be completed. This can vary based on how complex the situation is and how many people are part of the investigation. However both parties should receive regular updates on the progress of the investigation.
People do not need to be represented during an investigation, but they have the right to have a representative. This can be a lawyer or a union representative. If it is a lawyer you will be responsible for paying the lawyer.
The time it takes for an investigation to take place will vary depending on things like the complexity of the complaint, the number of witnesses to be interviewed, the availability of the parties, and whether the investigation will be conducted internally or through an external third party. With that in mind, investigations should not involve any unnecessary delay.
PLEA offers free online training on preventing and addressing workplace harassment.