Harassment at work: approximately 97,000 victims annually in Quebec

Nearly 97,000 workers in Quebec are victims of workplace harassment each year, according to estimates from the Association of Certified Human Resources Consultants published Thursday.

Nearly 484,000 workers in Quebec are considered to have been harassed at work over the past year, out of nearly 4.4 million employees in the province, the order said.

According to a survey conducted January 11-23 among more than 600 certified HR consultants, 63% had at least one report or complaint regarding harassment (whether unfounded or not) within their organization.

It has been identified that approximately 20% of workplace harassment complaints have a legal basis.

Nearly 11 per cent of Quebec workers also claimed they were likely victims of workplace harassment in the past 12 months, during another survey from Dec. 20-24 among 1,000 employees.

“It is no longer possible to bury your head in the sand. “The data shows that despite the prevention measures implemented within organizations, psychological harassment is so great that we must really talk about a public health issue,” emphasized CRHA Director General, Manon Poirier, CRHA.

“As a society, we must take this into account and give ourselves the means to act more forcefully,” she added.