The workplace is undergoing a major transformation. The continuation of telework in some work environments, a full-time return to the office in others, and the introduction of new obligations for employers all demonstrate that the organization of work is experiencing significant changes.
These changes pose a number of challenges for employers in Québec, especially when it comes to protecting the mental health of their employees. What are the various employer obligations toward employees? What best practices can employers put in place to promote employee mental health? This article provides an overview of these issues.
Employer Obligations—Identifying, Addressing and Reducing Psychosocial Risks
Bill 59 amends the Act respecting occupational health and safety
by introducing the concept of protecting
workers' health and ensuring their safety and mental
well-being. The employer must identify work-related
psychosocial risks and the measures and priority actions to
eliminate them or at least mitigate them. Employers must therefore
identify, address and reduce the risks.
Paragraph 3(1) of section 81.19 of the Act respecting labour
standards requires that the policy on preventing and dealing with
situations of psychological harassment include methods and
techniques for identifying, managing and eliminating these risks,
including conduct taking the form of comments, actions or gestures
of a sexual nature.
The CNESST has specifically identified the following psychosocial
risks in the workplace:
- Workplace harassment
- Workplace violence
- Domestic violence in the workplace
- Sexual violence in the workplace
- Exposure to a potentially traumatic event
However, it's important to note that this list is the
CNESST's interpretation. Employers need to consider the
psychosocial risks specific to their own workplace—they may
find that one of the risks highlighted by the CNESST (e.g.
workplace violence) doesn't exist.
The Institut national de santé publique du Québec has
defined a number of factors to help identify the risks. Some of
these factors may be related to psychosocial risks, depending on
their prevalence in the workplace concerned.
Real or perceived workload, decision-making autonomy, recognition
at work, social support from managers and colleagues, and
organizational justice are all examples of factors influencing
psychosocial risks in the workplace. The CNESST also considers
workers and employers' rights and obligations as risk
factors, although the inclusion of these two factors is the subject
of criticism.
Violence can also manifest itself in a variety of ways—some
obvious, some more insidious. In addition to manifestations of
physical force and disparaging remarks, acts of economic violence
and cyber violence can also increase the psychosocial risks.
Identifying risk factors is not an obligation under the new
legislation. However, as mentioned above, a factor that's
sufficiently prevalent may in itself constitute a psychosocial
risk, which the employer must then identify. The employer will then
take measures to eliminate or reduce the risk in question. It all
depends on the work environment.
Best Practices: Working With the Health and Safety Committee and Standardizing Processes
To identify psychosocial risks, we recommend working with the
employer's health and safety committee. For example, in
conjunction with the committee, the employer could prepare an
anonymous questionnaire to highlight risks and risk factors, and
ask workers to complete it. Once this information is in hand,
it'll be easier to identify the psychosocial risks and the
ways to mitigate them.
This identification exercise could be carried out periodically by
the employer, in collaboration with the company's health and
safety committee (every 5 years, for example). The employer would
thereby demonstrate its diligence in complying with its obligations
to identify, control and/or eliminate the psychosocial risks.
There are many examples of good practices, and each workplace will
come up with its own solutions. The key is to make a genuine effort
to identify the psychosocial risks specific to each workplace.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
