About a year ago I was asked to leave an organization with historical and systemic workplace bullying, harassment and, in some cases, violence at the hands of a company's owner. Being a senior executive, I stood up for my organization and successfully removed this behavior from being inflicted on my staff; however, it came as a personal cost to myself, as I continued to get harassed.   

 After about 18 months, this aggressive behavior and actions worsened and spilled back onto the company’s employees. In an effort to get help without losing their employment, someone made an anonymous complaint to the Ministry of Labour (MOL).

 The complaint was anonymous, and all the MOL was able to do was a compliance check, ensuring our policies were in order. I did speak one on one with the enforcement offices and confirmed that I was a first hand victim of this issue and the allegations against to owner were in fact true.

 The MOL did what it could and issued us an order to get our documentation updated and in compliance. They granted us time to get this completed. The MOL did not follow up after this visit to ensure everything was rectified. I believe their hands were tied and they decided to stay within their area of enforcement boundaries.

 After the failed attempt to get help for myself and the organization, I decided to make an official workplace bullying and harassment complaint. As per our newly defined workplace policies, it must first be handled internally.  

 The company hired a third-party individual to do the investigation. This investigation's only outcome was to terminate me and offer me a constructive dismissal package upon signing a full release form. Neither the investigator nor the company addressed the workplace bullying, violence, or harassment complaint except to tell me that "I was too sensitive." 

 Most of the employees were fearful of losing their employment after witnessing what was happening to me and decided to stay silent on the subject, particularly considering the employment challenges with COVID.  

 My concern is anyone who reports to or is compensated for services under the uppermost executive's control, either by employment or financially, dilutes the possibility of getting a fair/unbiased investigation. 

 When a employee, at any level, makes a complaint or report about workplace violence, harassment or bullying that involves an organization's top executive or owner; the organization should be required to notify the Ministry of Labour within 48 hours. And either required to be directly involved in the investigation or review the final report and make any recommendation and approval of the end result. 

Every worker deserves to have a safe workplace. This experience has had a negative psychological, physical, and professional impact on me. We know, given the recent events in the Governor-General Offices, this type of behavior still exists everywhere, and our laws do little to protect employees in the public sector.