Women’s Art Society of Montreal

 

Policy and Procedures to prevent psychological or sexual harassment and to deal with complaints.

 

GENERAL INFORMATION

 

1) OBJECTIVES The purpose of this policy is to affirm the commitment of the Women’s Art Society of Montreal to prevent and put an end to any situation of psychological or sexual harassment within its company, including all forms of discriminatory harassment. It also aims to establish the principles of intervention that are applied in the company when a harassment complaint is filed or when a harassment situation is reported to the employer or his representative.

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2) SCOPE

This policy applies to all personnel of the organization, and at all hierarchical levels, in particular in the following places and contexts:

•The places of work;

• any other place where people must be in the course of their employment (eg meetings, training, travel, social activities organized by the employer);

• communications by any means, technological or otherwise.

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3) DEFINITION

The Labor Standards Act defines psychological harassment as follows:

"Vexatious conduct manifested either by repeated behavior, words, deeds or gestures, which are hostile or unwanted, which undermines the dignity or the psychological or physical integrity of the person and which results in the person suffering - this is a harmful work environment. For greater clarity, psychological harassment includes such conduct when it manifests itself in such words, acts or gestures of a sexual nature.

A single serious conduct can also constitute psychological harassment if it brings such an attack and produces a continuous harmful effect for the person."

The definition includes discriminatory harassment related to one of the grounds provided for in the Charter of human rights and freedoms.

The notion of harassment must be distinguished from other situations such as interpersonal conflict, work-related stress, difficult professional constraints or even the normal exercise of management rights (management of presence at work, organization of work, disciplinary measure, etc.).

 

4) POLICY STATEMENT

 

The Women’s Art Society of Montreal does not tolerate or admit any form of psychological or sexual harassment within its company, whether it is:

• by Board members towards General members;

• between members;

• by members towards Board members;

• from any person associated with it: representative, client, user, supplier, visitor or other.

 

Any behavior related to harassment may result in the imposition of disciplinary measures, up to and including dismissal.

 

The Women’s Art Society of Montreal undertakes to take reasonable measures to:

• provide a gathering place free from all forms of harassment in order to protect the dignity and the psychological and physical integrity of individuals;

• disseminate the policy in such a way as to make it accessible to all its members, by mailing or e-mailing, it to the members,  and posting it to the website.

• prevent or, as the case may be, put an end to situations of harassment by:

a) setting up a procedure for dealing with complaints and reports relating to situations of psychological or sexual harassment,

b) ensuring that everyone understands and respects the policy,

c) promoting respect between individuals,

d) [Detail other means to be taken].- To be discussed with the members at the next info session.

 

5) EXPECTATIONS OF BOARD MEMBERS

It is up to all Board members to adopt a behavior that promotes the maintenance of an environment free from psychological or sexual harassment.

 

6) PROCESSING COMPLAINTS AND REPORTS

Where possible, a person who believes they are experiencing psychological or sexual harassment should first inform the person concerned that their behavior is undesirable and that they must put an end to it. They should also note the date and details of the incidents and the steps They took to try to resolve the situation.

If this first intervention is not desired or if the harassment continues, the individual should report the situation to one of the responsible persons designated by the organization so that the problematic behaviors and the means required

A complaint can be made verbally or in writing. The alleged behavior and the details of the incidents must be described as precisely as possible, so that an intervention can be carried out quickly to put an end to the situation.

 

The responsible persons designated by the organization are the following:

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Miranda Castravelli, President – mirandacas@wasmtl.org

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[Linda Van Inwegen], [Board member]- lindavan@wasmtl.org, or lvaninwe@gmail.com

 

[Nicole Gratton], [Treasurer]- nicolegra@wasmtl.org

 

 

The person who witnesses a harassment situation is also invited to report it to one of the responsible persons mentioned above.

 

7) PRINCIPLES OF INTERVENTION

 

 The Women’s Art Society of Montreal agrees to:

• take charge of the complaint or report as soon as possible;

• preserve the dignity and privacy of the persons concerned, that is to say the person who made the complaint, the person who is the subject of it and witnesses;

• ensure that all persons concerned are treated with humanity, fairness and objectivity and that adequate support is offered to them;

• protect the confidentiality of the intervention process, in particular information relating to the complaint or report;

• offer the persons concerned to hold, with their agreement, a meeting with them in order to resolve the situation;

• carry out an investigation without delay and in an objective manner without delay, or entrust responsibility for it to an external party. The persons concerned will be informed of the conclusion of this process. If the investigation does not establish that there was unacceptable behavior, all material evidence will be kept for two years and destroyed thereafter;

• take all reasonable measures to resolve the situation, including in particular appropriate disciplinary measures.

 

Anyone who violates the harassment policy will be subject to appropriate disciplinary measures. The choice of the applicable measure will take into account the gravity and consequences of the gesture (s) as well as the previous record of the person who made them.

 

A person who lays false charges for the purpose of causing harm is also subject to appropriate discipline.

 

As part of the treatment and resolution of a workplace harassment situation, no one shall suffer prejudice or be subject to reprisals by the organization.

 

 

 

___________Miranda Castravelli____________                 ___April 15th 2020________________

President, on behalf of the WASM

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A non-unionized person who believes that they are or have been subjected to psychological or sexual harassment in connection with his work may also file a complaint at any time directly with the Commission des normes, de l'assurance, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail. (CNESST). The maximum time limit for doing this is two (2) years from the last manifestation of harassment. The complaint can be filed online (insert link here) or by telephone at 1 844 838 0808. The choice of an employee to address her employer first will not have the effect of preventing her from also file a complaint with the CNESST.

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APPENDIX 1 - RECOGNIZING PSYCHOLOGICAL OR SEXUAL HARASSMENT

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The Act respecting labor standards gives criteria to determine what can be considered as psychological or sexual harassment, either:

• vexatious behavior (hurtful, humiliating);

• which manifests itself repeatedly or in a single and serious act;

• in a hostile (aggressive, threatening) or unwanted manner

• undermining the dignity or integrity of the person

• resulting in a harmful (harmful, harmful) environment for the person.

These conditions include words, acts or gestures of a sexual nature. Discrimination on any of the grounds listed in section 10 of the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms can also constitute harassment: race, color, sex, pregnancy, orientation sex, marital status, age except to the extent provided by law, religion, political belief, language, ethnic or national origin, social condition, disability or use of any means to overcome this handicap.

For example, the following behaviors could be considered as vexatious behavior constituting harassment if they meet all the criteria of the law.

Behaviors that may be linked to psychological harassment

• bullying, cyberbullying, threats, isolation;

• Offensive or defamatory words or gestures towards a person or his work;

•Verbal violence;

• Denigration.

Behaviors that may be linked to sexual harassment

• Any form of unwanted attention or advance with sexual overtones, for example:

-insistent solicitation,

-looks, kisses or touching,

-sexist insults, rude words;

• Comments, jokes or images with a sexual connotation by any means, technological or other.

 

APPENDIX 2 - PERSONS RESPONSIBLE DESIGNATED BY THE ORGANIZATION

 

 

The Women’s Art Society of Montreal

 

• ensure that the designated responsible persons are duly trained and have the necessary tools at their disposal for handling and following up on the complaint or report;

 

• will free up working time so that the designated responsible persons can carry out the functions assigned to them.

 

The following persons are designated to act as responsible for the application of the Policy for the prevention of psychological or sexual harassment and for the handling of complaints by the Woman’s Art Society of Montreal.

 

Miranda Castravelli – President – mirandacas@wasmtl.org

 

[Linda Van Inwegen], [Board member]- lindavan@wasmtl.org, or lvaninwe@gmail.com

 

[Nicole Gratton], [Treasurer]- nicolegra@wasmtl.org

 

 

These responsible persons must mainly:

• inform the person about the company's policy on psychological or sexual harassment;

• convene the panel that will adjudicate the matter, if applicable

• receive complaints and reports;

• recommend the nature of the actions to be taken to put an end to the harassment.

 

 

Commitment of responsible persons

 

I hereby declare my commitment to comply with this policy and I assure that my intervention will be impartial, respectful and confidential.

 

 

 

___Miranda Castravelli_________                            April 15, 2020______________

Signature of  responsible person  no 1                        Date

 

 

 

 

 

__Linda Van Inwegen______________                     April 16, 2020_______

Signature of responsible person no 2                          Date

 

 

________Nicole Gratton__________                        April 16, 2020__________

Signature of responsible person no 2                          Date

 

 

See Appendix 1 of this policy for more details.

These grounds of discrimination are listed in Appendix 1.

Details of the role of those responsible are given in Annex 2.