Saturday, May 17, marks the International Day Against Homophobia. According to Research from British group Stonewall, nearly one in five lesbian and gay people, almost 350,000 employees in Britain, have experienced bullying from their colleagues because of their sexual orientation. Almost four million people (13 per cent of the British workforce) have witnessed verbal homophobic bullying in the workplace and over one million people have witnessed physical homophobic bullying at work.
According to a 2013 study by Leger Marketing, 80% of Canadian surveyed report that in their daily lives they have witnessed derogatory remarks about homosexual people or homosexuality in general, 10% say they have witnessed this often.
Nearly six out of 10 Canadians (58%) who use social media, say they have witnessed derogatory remarks about homosexual people or homosexuality in general on social media – 45% of respondents said they witnessed this type of remark on Facebook, 43% on a blog and 33% on Twitter.
Stonewall’s pioneering research on the productivity of lesbian and gay staff in the workplace, Peak Performance, found that gay staff who can be out at work in a safe environment are more productive than their gay colleagues who have to hide their sexual orientation at work and/or work in less inclusive environments.
What can you do?
Several Canadian provinces have enacted anti-bullying legislation, which requires workplaces to include anti-bullying training for their employees.
Ontario, Manitoba, Québec and Saskatchewan have already introduced legislation against bullying and B.C. recently enacted Bill 14 [Workers Compensation Amendment Act] to address the effects of bullying at work.
Are you compliant with the anti-bullying laws?
Complete ILScorp’s “Understanding Workplace Bullying” & “Tools for Safeguarding an Organization from Bullying Behaviour” courses.
With these anti-bullying courses you will:
- determine whether a problem exists in a workplace
- learn how to prevent incidents
- gain tools for safeguarding your organization from bullying behaviour
- develop a workplace bullying prevention program
These courses are included free of charge as part of your group membership. This course is General and Adjuster CE accredited, however ILScorp recommends that all employees receive this training for law compliance.
