Sana Corda is committed to fostering a harassment-free environment where all people are treated with care, protection, respect and dignity. Harassment at Sana Corda is not tolerated. Employees, Board Members, Consultants, Affiliates,  or volunteers in service to Sana Corda, or its clients, ,who are found to have harassed another individual may be subject to disciplinary action and/or dismissal or immediate termination of service obligations. This includes any Board member, employee or volunteer who: 

• Interferes with the resolution of a Harassment Report.

• Retaliates against an individual for filing a harassment complaint.

• Files an unfounded harassment report intended to cause harm. 

 

Application 

This policy applies to all current board members, employees and volunteers of Sana Corda, including full and part-time, casual, contract, permanent and temporary employees and Affiliates working on a joint venture. This policy applies to all board member, employee or volunteer behaviour that is in some way connected to the work of Sana Corda, including during off-site meetings, training, business trips, events and online groups. It does not apply to participants, whose expectations are agreed upon by signing the Participants’ Expectations Waiver Form prior to group engagement.

 

Definitions 

Workplace harassment is defined as a single or repeated incident of objectionable or unwelcome conduct, comment, bullying or action intended to intimidate, offend, degrade or humiliate a particular person or group. It is a serious issue and creates an unhealthy work environment resulting in psychological harm to workers.

Harassment includes conduct that is based on any personal characteristic such as, but not limited to, race, creed, religion, colour, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, marital status, family status, disability, physical size or weight, age, nationality, ancestry or place of origin. 

 

Harassment may include, but is not limited to:

• Degrading comments either to their face or behind their back, including eve-teasing, catcalling, and stereotyped comments

• Intolerance to differences that may be physical or mental

• Inappropriate comments, humiliation on futile grounds, offensive jokes, intimidation, critical and harsh remarks, or even something as degrading and childish as ostracizing behaviors that can be destructive with little or no proof. 

• Cyberbullying– includes sharing unconsented victim information, posting humiliating information or media files, spreading lies on online platforms, sending direct threatening messages to the victim, etc. 

• Threatening, shouting, insulting, or cursing at a person

• Constantly interrupting that person; prohibiting the person from speaking to others, silencing them.

• Engaging in reprisals for having made a complaint under this Policy.

• Compelling the person to perform tasks that are inferior to his/her competencies that demean or belittle him/her, setting the person up for failure, name calling in private or in front of others.

• Isolating the person by no longer talking to him or her, denying or ignoring his or her presence, distancing him or her from others.

• Making fun of his/her/their beliefs, values, political and/or religious choices, and mocking the person’s weak points.

• Criticizing, insulting, blaming, reprimanding or condemning an employee in public.

• Exclusion from group activities or assignments without valid reason.

• Removing areas of responsibility for no real reason.

• Inappropriately giving too little or too much work.

• Constantly overruling authority without just cause.

• Unjustifiably monitoring everything that is done.

• Blaming whenever things go wrong without just cause.

• Repeatedly singling out an employee by assigning him/her with demeaning and belittling jobs that are not part of his/her regular duties.

• Threats, intimidation or retaliation against an employee, including one who has expressed concerns about perceived unethical or illegal workplace behaviours.

• Comments destroying a person’s reputation, repeated insinuations or unfounded accusations.

• Invasion of personal space (getting too close for no reason, brushing against or cornering someone).

• Systematically interfering with normal work conditions, sabotaging places or instruments of work.

• Abuse of a situation of formal or informal authority or power to threaten a person’s job or undermine his or her performance.

• Bullying (physical, verbal, social, cyber)– humiliating a person in public settings in order to control the emotional climate at work.

• Falsely accusing and undermining a person behind closed doors, controlling a person’s reputation by rumor-mongering, controlling the person by withholding resources (time, budget, autonomy, training) necessary to succeed.

• Humiliating a person in front of colleagues, smear campaigns.

• Arbitrarily taking disciplinary action against an employee.

 

Sexual Harassment includes any inappropriate sexual conduct that is known or ought reasonably to be known to the person responsible for the conduct to be unwelcome, Sexual harassment includes but is not limited to:

• Sexual solicitation or advances, 

• Sexually suggestive remarks, jokes or gestures, 

• Circulation or sharing inappropriate images 

• Unwanted physical contact. 

• Unwanted sexual advances which may or may not be accompanied by threats or explicit or implicit promises.

• Persistently asking someone out, despite being turned down.

• Inappropriate questions, suggestions or remarks about a person’s sex life.

• Regularly following or constantly waiting for someone, watching that person’s comings and goings.

• Caressing, kissing or fondling someone against his or her will (could be considered assault).

• Unwelcome social invitations, with sexual overtones or flirting, with a subordinate.

• Stalking online or in person, or via phonecalls or text messaging, or email, with repeated unwanted attempts to engage them outside business engagements.

Harassment also includes Spiritual Abuse. 

“Spiritual abuse is a form of emotional and psychological abuse. It is characterized by a systemic pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour in a religious context. Spiritual abuse can have a deeply damaging impact on those who experience it. This abuse may include manipulation and exploitation, enforced accountability, censorship of decision making, requirements for secrecy and silence, coercion to conform, control  through the use of sacred texts or teaching, requirement of obedience to the  abuser, the suggestion that the abuser has a “divine” position, isolation as a  means of punishment, and superiority and elitism.” (Oakley, 2018) 

 

Spiritual trauma refers to the impact faced by individuals who have been  subjected to abuse, humiliation, coercion, or an unhealthy misuse of power within  a spiritual or religious setting. It can occur within individual relationships,  communities, groups, or institutions. Trauma arises when the mind, body, and  emotions become overwhelmed by a specific event or series of events. Dr. Diane  Langberg emphasizes: “When a spiritual leader abuses others, spiritual trauma always occurs. No matter the tool or the method of delivery, all forms of abuse  (by a spiritual leader) always do spiritual damage. One cannot sexually, physically, or verbally abuse another person without also inflicting spiritual  abuse.” 

Harassment is not any of the following:

• Consensual workplace banter and interactions (unless it includes hurtful remarks about others, especially if they pertain to any of the prohibited grounds listed above).

• Reasonable management action carried out in a fair way, such as day-to-day actions by a supervisor or manager related to performance, absenteeism, assignments, discipline, even dismissal (unless it is abusive or discriminatory).

• Every workplace disagreement. If a conflict is poorly handled or left unresolved, it can lead to harassment.

Responsibilities and Expectations 

Sana Corda is responsible for: providing all employees, board members and volunteers a harassment-free environment. 

• The Executive Director is responsible for:  

  • Ensuring that this policy is applied in a timely, consistent and confidential manner.

  • Determining whether or not allegations of harassment are substantiated.

  • Determining what corrective action is appropriate where a harassment report has been substantiated.

• The Operations Director is responsible for:  

  • Administration of this policy.

  • Reviewing this policy every three years or as required.

  • Making necessary adjustments to ensure that this policy meets the needs of the organization. 

  • Ensuring all employees, board members and volunteers receive training in the Anti-harassment Policy and Procedures.

• Board members, Directors, Facilitators and Supervisors are responsible for:  

  • Fostering a harassment-free work environment.

  • Setting an example of caring and respectful behaviour.

  • Communicating the process for investigating and resolving harassment complaints made by employees and volunteers.

  • Dealing with harassment situations immediately upon becoming aware of them, whether or not a harassment report has been made.

  • Taking appropriate action during a harassment investigation, including separating the parties to the harassment report, when appropriate.

  • Ensuring harassment situations are dealt with in a sensitive and confidential manner.

• Employees, board members and volunteers are responsible for:  

  • Treating others with respect and care.

  • Reporting all harassment (both experienced and witnessed) to the Executive Director. 

  • Cooperating with a harassment investigation.

  • Respecting confidentiality related to the investigation process.

• Employees, board members and volunteers can expect:  

  • To be treated with respect.

  • That reported harassment will be dealt with in a timely, confidential and effective manner.

  • To have their rights to a fair process and to confidentiality respected during a harassment investigation.

  • To be protected against retaliation for reporting harassment or cooperating with a harassment investigation. 

 

Anti-Harassment Prevention Training

Sana Corda will provide all of its employees, board members and volunteers with an anti-harassment training course. This course will cover:

• Elements of the anti-harassment policy and procedures.

• The relationship between workplace harassment and the prohibited grounds of discrimination under the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Alberta Human Rights Act (The Alberta Human Rights Act is provincial human rights legislation that applies across Alberta. The Canadian Human Rights Act is human rights legislation that only applies to federally regulated settings)

• How to recognize, minimize and prevent harassment and violence.

All new employees, board members and volunteers will receive training within 3 months after the day on which their employment or involvement begins. Further, all employees will receive this training again at least once every 3 years.

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Procedures for Addressing a Harassment Report

Filing a Harassment Report

An employee, board member, volunteer or participant may file a Harassment Report by contacting the Executive Director verbally or in writing. If the Report is made verbally, the Executive Director will record the details provided by the employee, volunteer or participant (referred to as Reporter). The Reporter should be prepared to provide as many details as possible, such as what happened, when it happened; where it happened; how often and who else was present (if applicable). 

Harassment Reports should be submitted as soon as possible but there is no time limit required.

The Executive Director will tell the person that the Harassment Report has been made against, verbally and in writing, that a Harassment Report has been filed. The letter will also provide details of the allegations. 

Every effort will be made to address the Harassment Report within 7 days. 

The Executive Director will advise both parties of the reasons why, if this is not possible. If either party to a Harassment Report believes that the report is not being handled in accordance with this policy, that party should contact The Sana Corda Board of Directors. 

 

Informal Resolution or Mediation

Wherever appropriate and desired, the parties to the Harassment Report may be offered a process of Informal Resolution or mediation prior to or instead of proceeding with a Harassment Investigation, and will be agreed upon by both parties in order to proceed. The process is voluntary and confidential. It is intended to assist the parties to arrive at a mutually acceptable resolution to the Harassment Report. The facilitator or mediator will be a neutral person, agreed upon by both parties. Each party to the report has the right to be accompanied and assisted during these sessions by a person of their choosing. 

 

Investigation 

If the Informal Resolution or mediation is inappropriate, unwanted or does not resolve the issue, a Harassment Investigation will be conducted. All investigations will be handled by someone who has the necessary training and experience. In some cases, an external consultant may be engaged for this purpose. The investigator will interview the person who made the report, the person the report was made against and any witnesses that have been identified. All people who are interviewed will have the right to review their statement, as recorded by the investigator, to ensure its accuracy. The investigator will prepare an Investigative Report that will include:  a description of the allegations;  the response of the person the report was made against;  a summary of information learned from witnesses (if applicable); and  a decision about whether, on a balance of probabilities, harassment did occur. This Investigative Report will be submitted to the Executive Director and the Operations Director. Both parties to the report will be given a copy.

 

Substantiated Report

If a Harassment Report is substantiated, the Executive Director will decide what action is appropriate. Remedies for the employee, volunteer or participant who was harassed may include: an oral or written apology; compensation for lost wages; compensation for any lost employment benefits such as sick leave; and compensation for hurt feelings. 

Corrective action for the employee, board member or volunteer found to have engaged in harassment may include: a reprimand; a suspension; a demotion; and/or dismissal. Both parties to the Report will be advised, in writing, of the decision. 

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Other Redress 

An employee, board member, volunteer or participant who is not satisfied with the outcome of the Harassment Report process may file a discrimination complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission. All parties to a Harassment Report are expected to respect the privacy and confidentiality of all other parties involved and to limit the discussion of a Harassment Report to those that need to know. 

 

Emergency procedures

If a harassment and violent occurrence poses an immediate danger to the health and safety of an employee, board member, volunteer or participant, or if there is a threat of such an occurrence in Canada, please call 911 for emergency services (police, fire and ambulance). Once safe,  contact the Sana Corda Executive Director or Operations Director.

Emergency Services  Phone Numbers

Canada and USA 911/ UK 999 or 112/ Australia 000

 

Review 

Sana Corda will review this policy and procedures every three years, or as required, and will make necessary adjustments to ensure that it meets the needs of all employees, volunteers and participants. 

 

Enquiries 

Enquiries about this policy and related procedures can be made to the Sana Corda Operations Director.

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Date: November 15, 2024