Reviewed by: Lior Samfiru, Employment Lawyer and National Co-Managing Partner
If you’re being harassed at work in Calgary, you don’t have to simply put up with it. Alberta employers have legal obligations to prevent and address workplace harassment. If your employer ignores serious complaints, allows the behaviour to continue or punishes you for speaking up, you may have legal options.
The Calgary workplace harassment lawyers at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP help non-union employees understand their rights, assess their employer’s response and determine whether harassment, retaliation or constructive dismissal may give rise to legal claims.
Before you resign, sign an agreement or accept that nothing can be done, get legal advice. Leaving a toxic workplace without understanding your rights could affect your entitlement to severance and other compensation.
Need help with workplace harassment in Calgary? Contact our employment law team or call 1-855-821-5900.
On This Page:
- 1. How a Lawyer Can Help
- 2. Examples of Harassment
- 3. Employer Responsibilities
- 4. What You Should Do
- 5. Harassment & Resignation
- 6. Retaliation & Termination
- 7. Compensation & Claims
- 8. Common Questions
How Can a Workplace Harassment Lawyer in Calgary Help?
A Calgary workplace harassment lawyer can assess whether the treatment you’re experiencing violates your legal rights and explain what options are available.
Not every difficult workplace situation results in a legal claim. However, serious harassment, an employer’s failure to address complaints or retaliation for reporting misconduct can have significant employment-law consequences.
Our employment lawyers can help you:
- Assess workplace harassment: Review the behaviour, available evidence and your employer’s response.
- Understand your options before resigning: Determine whether the situation may support a constructive dismissal claim.
- Address employer retaliation: Review discipline, demotion, reduced hours or termination following a harassment complaint.
- Evaluate human rights issues: Identify harassment related to protected characteristics, including sex, race or disability.
- Review severance entitlements: Determine whether you may be owed compensation after termination or constructive dismissal.
- Navigate legal claims: Explain which workplace safety, human rights or employment-law processes may apply.
Our focus is on helping non-union employees understand their employment rights and make informed decisions before taking steps that may affect their compensation.
What Is Considered Workplace Harassment in Calgary?
Under Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety Act, workplace harassment can include a single incident or repeated incidents of objectionable or unwelcome conduct, comments, bullying or actions that a person knows, or reasonably should know, would cause offence or humiliation or adversely affect a worker’s health and safety.
Harassment does not have to happen repeatedly to be serious. A single incident may meet the legal definition, depending on the circumstances.
Examples of Workplace Harassment
Workplace harassment may involve:
- Repeated insults, humiliation or degrading comments
- Bullying, intimidation or targeted verbal abuse
- Offensive comments about an employee’s race, religion, disability or sex
- Unwelcome sexual comments, requests or advances
- Threatening messages, offensive emails or workplace cyberbullying
- Deliberate humiliation or other conduct that adversely affects an employee’s health and safety
Harassment may come from a supervisor, manager, coworker or another person connected to the workplace.
Is Workplace Bullying the Same as Harassment?
Bullying and harassment often overlap. Persistent intimidation, humiliation or abusive treatment may constitute harassment under Alberta OHS law even when it is not connected to a protected characteristic.
For more detail, read our guide to workplace bullying in Alberta.
Is a Difficult Boss Considered Harassment?
Not necessarily. Alberta’s legal definition of harassment excludes reasonable conduct by an employer or supervisor in managing employees or the workplace.
Legitimate performance reviews, reasonable criticism, workplace discipline and ordinary disagreements are not automatically harassment.
However, management authority does not give an employer permission to humiliate, intimidate or abuse employees. The facts and the manner in which management decisions are carried out matter.
What Must Calgary Employers Do About Workplace Harassment?
Alberta employers have legal responsibilities to prevent and address workplace harassment. They cannot simply disregard a serious complaint because the alleged harasser is a manager or senior employee.
Under Alberta’s OHS legislation, employers are required to:
- Develop and implement a workplace violence and harassment prevention plan
- Assess workplace violence and harassment hazards
- Provide appropriate employee training
- Establish procedures for reporting incidents
- Investigate harassment incidents as required
- Take appropriate steps to protect and support affected employees
The employer’s obligations depend on the circumstances, including the seriousness of the complaint and the risks facing employees.
What if HR Ignores Your Harassment Complaint?
If human resources or management fails to respond appropriately, you may have grounds to raise concerns through Alberta Occupational Health and Safety or pursue other legal options.
An inadequate response may also be relevant to whether the employer has fundamentally breached the employment relationship.
Learn more about employer obligations under the Occupational Health and Safety Act in Alberta.
What Should You Do if You’re Being Harassed at Work in Calgary?
The steps you take while still employed can affect how a harassment dispute is resolved. Preserve evidence and get advice before making a major employment decision.
1. Document What Happened
Keep a detailed record of incidents, including dates, times, witnesses, what was said or done, and how you responded.
Preserve relevant emails, messages and other records that you are lawfully entitled to retain. Avoid taking confidential employer or client information that you are not authorized to access.
2. Review Your Employer’s Harassment Policy
Most employers have established reporting procedures. Review the policy to understand who should receive a complaint and how the employer is expected to respond.
3. Report the Harassment Through an Appropriate Channel
When appropriate and safe, report the behaviour to your supervisor, human resources department or another designated contact.
If the person responsible is your supervisor, look for an alternate reporting channel. Keep a written record of the complaint and the employer’s response.
Depending on the circumstances, external reporting may also be appropriate. You do not necessarily have to complete an internal process before making a human rights complaint.
4. Seek Medical Support if Your Health Is Affected
If the harassment is affecting your physical or mental health, speak with a medical professional. Medical documentation may be relevant to workplace accommodations, leave and legal claims.
5. Speak With an Employment Lawyer Before Resigning
If the harassment continues or your employer refuses to address it, get legal advice before quitting, accepting a settlement or signing a release.
An employment lawyer can assess whether the facts support constructive dismissal or another claim and explain the possible consequences of leaving your job.
Can Workplace Harassment Lead to Constructive Dismissal in Calgary?
Yes. Serious workplace harassment, particularly when an employer fails to address it, may support a constructive dismissal claim.
Constructive dismissal can occur when an employer fundamentally breaches the employment contract or makes continued employment intolerable in circumstances recognized by law.
For example, an employee may have a potential claim when:
- A manager subjects them to serious, persistent humiliation or abusive treatment
- The employee reports significant harassment and the employer fails to respond appropriately
- The workplace becomes intolerable because serious harassment is allowed to continue
- The employer makes substantial negative changes to the employee’s role following harassment complaints
Not every unpleasant or toxic workplace meets the legal test for constructive dismissal. The severity of the behaviour, its duration, the employer’s knowledge and response, and other circumstances must be assessed.
Should You Quit Because of Workplace Harassment?
Do not assume quitting means you automatically qualify for severance. Resignation can complicate an employment claim if the circumstances do not amount to constructive dismissal.
If you believe you cannot continue working because of harassment, seek legal advice promptly about your options, including whether there are steps you should take before leaving.
Read our guide to constructive dismissal in Alberta.
Can Your Employer Fire You for Reporting Workplace Harassment?
Alberta law provides protection against certain forms of retaliation for exercising workplace safety and human rights protections.
Potentially unlawful actions may include:
- Termination after an employee exercises protected workplace safety rights
- Suspension or demotion because of protected conduct
- Reducing an employee’s hours or pay as a prohibited disciplinary action
- Punishing an employee for participating in a protected human rights complaint process
Whether an employer’s conduct amounts to prohibited retaliation depends on the specific legal protection involved and why the employer took action.
What if You’re Fired After Making a Harassment Complaint?
If you lose your job after reporting harassment, an employment lawyer can assess the reason for your dismissal, any connection to your complaint, your severance entitlements and other available remedies.
An employer may be allowed to terminate employment without cause in some circumstances, but it must comply with applicable legal obligations. It cannot use termination as a means of engaging in prohibited retaliation.
Learn more about workplace reprisals in Alberta, wrongful dismissal in Alberta and severance pay in Alberta.
Can You Get Compensation for Workplace Harassment in Calgary?
Compensation may be available, but workplace harassment does not automatically entitle an employee to damages or severance. The legal remedies depend on what occurred and which claims are available.
Depending on the circumstances, possible remedies may include:
- Severance compensation: If harassment results in a legally recognized constructive dismissal or your employer terminates your employment without providing sufficient notice or compensation.
- Human rights remedies: If the harassment involves discrimination based on a protected ground under Alberta’s Human Rights Act.
- Employment-related damages: In some cases, additional damages may be available where the evidence and applicable legal tests support them.
- Workplace safety remedies: Occupational health and safety enforcement may address an employer’s failure to meet its legal obligations.
Your circumstances may involve more than one legal process. An employment lawyer can help determine which applies and whether pursuing one claim could affect another.
What if the Harassment Is Sexual or Discriminatory?
Harassment involving sex, race, disability, religion, age or another protected characteristic may also violate Alberta’s human rights legislation.
A complaint to the Alberta Human Rights Commission generally must be filed within one year of the discriminatory act. Different deadlines can apply to employment-law and workplace safety claims.
For more information, visit our Human Rights Lawyer Calgary page or read about filing a human rights complaint in Alberta.
Workplace Harassment in Calgary: Common Questions
Do I need a workplace harassment lawyer in Calgary?
If you’re facing serious or ongoing harassment, employer inaction, retaliation or pressure to resign, an employment lawyer can help you understand your rights before taking action that may affect your job or compensation.
Can I sue my employer for workplace harassment in Alberta?
Potentially, depending on the circumstances and the legal basis for the claim. Workplace harassment does not automatically create a right to sue for damages. Constructive dismissal, human rights complaints and other remedies may be available, subject to applicable requirements and limits.
Can I get severance if I quit because of harassment?
Possibly. If the harassment and your employer’s response amount to constructive dismissal, you may have a claim for compensation despite leaving your job. Do not resign without understanding whether the legal test is met.
Does workplace harassment have to happen repeatedly?
No. Under Alberta’s OHS Act, a single incident may qualify as harassment if it meets the statutory definition. Repeated conduct may also amount to harassment.
Is workplace bullying illegal in Alberta?
Bullying can amount to workplace harassment under Alberta OHS law. Whether it also creates a human rights complaint or an employment-law claim depends on the facts.
What if HR refuses to investigate my complaint?
Employers have workplace harassment prevention and investigation obligations under Alberta OHS legislation. If your concerns are ignored, you may be able to contact Alberta OHS and should consider legal advice about any broader employment-law consequences.
How long do I have to file a workplace harassment complaint?
Deadlines depend on the type of complaint. Alberta human rights complaints generally have a one-year deadline. OHS disciplinary-action complaints generally have a 180-day deadline. Other employment claims may have different limitation periods. Get advice promptly.
Can I be fired after reporting harassment?
An employer cannot lawfully retaliate for conduct protected by applicable OHS or human rights legislation. However, whether a specific dismissal is unlawful depends on the circumstances. A lawyer can review your termination and potential severance entitlement.
Speak With a Calgary Workplace Harassment Lawyer
Workplace harassment can leave employees uncertain about whether to complain, stay in their job or resign. You do not have to make those decisions without understanding your employment rights.
The Calgary employment lawyers at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP help non-union employees in Calgary, Airdrie, Cochrane, Chestermere and surrounding communities assess serious workplace disputes, including harassment, retaliation and constructive dismissal.
Before you quit, sign a severance package or accept your employer’s decision, always check first.
Or call 1-855-821-5900.