Ontario restaurants were the worst offenders following the implementation of the country’s toughest anti-harassment law, which for the first time included requirements to investigate sexual harassment complaints.
The Globe and Mail’s analysis shows that 3,563 Ontario employers violated all harassment-related laws from September, 2016, to January, 2018, the most recent period for which data is available. Those employers were cited for 7,800 instances of failing to follow the law. Some labour experts contend the new law still allows big chains to offload responsibility for workplace harassment onto franchise owners.
This includes 24 violations for failing to review harassment policies at least once every year, 20 reprimands for not appropriately investigating harassment complaints and 17 for not having a policy that sets out how accusers and alleged harassers will be informed of the results of an investigation. Tim Hortons was also cited 11 times for not having procedures in place for workers to report incidents of harassment when the alleged harasser is their employer or supervisor.
A spokesperson for McDonald’s, whose Ontario locations were flagged for 39 violations of the province’s workplace-harassment rules, said “franchise businesses are like any other business in that they have to follow the law.”