Workplace Harassment Prevention Policy Template — Prince Edward Island

Published by: Canada Policy Manual
Jurisdiction: Prince Edward Island
Last updated: August 13, 2026
Document status: Published public template — approved for publication by Canada Policy Manual on August 13, 2026
Canonical page: https://canadapolicymanual.com/free-policies/workplace-harassment-policy/prince-edward-island

Important use notice

This is a rigorous drafting template, not legal advice or a promise of legal immunity. The governing jurisdiction depends on the workplace and undertaking; federally regulated status depends primarily on the undertaking, not simply the employee's physical location. Laws, regulator interpretations and sector-specific rules may change after the last-updated date.

Before an employer issues or relies on this policy, it must:

1. confirm that this is the correct jurisdiction and check all sector-specific requirements;
2. replace every square-bracketed field and delete all drafting notes;
3. complete all legally required consultation, joint development, assessment, posting, availability and training steps;
4. insert workplace-specific hazards, controls, reporting recipients, emergency contacts and support services;
5. reconcile the policy with collective agreements, contracts, privacy, human rights, accessibility, professional, child/vulnerable-person, whistleblower and other applicable rules;
6. obtain qualified jurisdiction-specific legal advice for its operations and workforce; and
7. keep evidence of approval, communication, training, investigation, corrective action and every required review.

Legal requirement identifies a rule expressly reflected in cited occupational health and safety legislation. Regulator-stated expectation or adopted code method identifies official guidance or an approved code method. Enhanced control identifies a stronger administrative practice and is not represented as a statutory rule unless the policy expressly says otherwise.

Quebec is intentionally excluded. Do not use this template for a Quebec workplace.

Workplace Harassment Prevention Policy

1. Adoption record

This policy was developed and implemented in consultation with [JHSC/H&S representative, if any], as required by s. 4(1) of the Workplace Harassment Regulations, and is readily available to all employees under s. 4(3).

2. Purpose, scope and definition

Every worker is entitled to work free of harassment. Under OHS Act s. 12(3) and the Workplace Harassment Regulations, [Employer] will take all reasonable measures to ensure no employee is subjected to workplace harassment, maintain reporting/investigation procedures, stop its source, take corrective action, remedy effects and prevent recurrence. It will not reprimand, seek reprisal against or discriminate against a worker who makes a workplace-harassment complaint in good faith. Nothing in this policy discourages or precludes a complaint under the Human Rights Act or the exercise of any other legal right.

It applies to the employer, employees, supervisors, managers, directors, contractors, volunteers and all work-related third parties and covers physical/remote work, client sites, travel, vehicles, employer lodging, training, conferences, work events and digital communication.

Under Workplace Harassment Regulations s. 1(b), harassment means inappropriate conduct, comment, display, action, gesture or bullying that the responsible person knows or ought reasonably to know could harm a worker's psychological or physical health or safety. It includes conduct based on a personal characteristic and inappropriate sexual conduct known or reasonably ought to be known to be unwelcome, including sexual solicitations/advances, suggestive remarks/jokes/gestures, sharing inappropriate images and unwanted physical contact. Section 2(1) confirms that repeated conduct or a single occurrence may qualify; s. 2(2) excludes reasonable workplace-management action.

The internal standard also prohibits threat, abuse, humiliation, discriminatory slur, malicious rumour, hazing, cyber-harassment, stalking, repeated exclusion, work sabotage, sexual coercion/benefit and retaliation. Reasonable feedback, allocation, scheduling, investigation, discipline or organizational change is not harassment when lawful and respectful.

3. Responsibilities and prevention

The employer consults, implements and makes the policy available; acts on knowledge; investigates; stops sources; corrects/remedies; protects confidentiality and prevents retaliation. Under Workplace Harassment Regulations s. 5, once it knows or ought reasonably to know harassment is occurring, it must identify and stop the source and take reasonable steps to remedy the effects and prevent or minimize future incidents. Under OHS Act s. 12(1)(c), the employer provides the information, instruction, training, supervision and facilities necessary to ensure workers' occupational health and safety; under s. 12(1)(d), it ensures workers and supervisors are familiar with occupational health or safety hazards at the workplace. Applying those general duties as enhanced harassment controls, it trains supervisors, requires supervisors to model respect, recognize/address conduct, escalate reports, protect immediate safety/evidence and implement controls, and directs workers to report every incident they experience or observe and keep a record of details. Workers' express regulatory duties are to cooperate in an investigation and keep complaint details confidential except as necessary to report the complaint or cooperate with the investigation (s. 3).

At annual enhanced review and after incident/change, [Employer] considers prior concerns, culture, staffing/workload, public/client contact, lone/remote work, digital systems, power imbalance, workforce vulnerability and third-party risk. Controls may include role clarity, staffing, client/contract rules, platform/access/security, de-escalation and early conflict support. Workplace violence is addressed in [violence plan]. Immediate danger: move to safety, call 911/local emergency services, use [security] and seek first aid/medical help.

4. Reporting and initial response

Report orally or in writing to [primary recipient] or [alternate independent recipient] if the normal route is involved or conflicted. A witness/representative may report. Supervisors must escalate knowledge; no confrontation, form or informal attempt is required.

Provide names, exact conduct/words, dates/locations/frequency, witnesses, records, impact and immediate needs if known. Anonymous, late or incomplete reports are assessed fairly. Enhanced target: acknowledge within 2 business days; screen emergency/violence, reprisal, conflict, accommodation and evidence risk; explain process/privacy/representation/external rights; preserve records; and offer support.

Interim no-contact, reporting/schedule/location changes, security, remote work, paid leave or reassignment are neutral, proportionate, reviewed every 30 days and should not penalize the reporting worker.

5. Investigation and corrective process

The employer ensures an investigation appropriate to the circumstances under s. 6. Under s. 4(2), it may refer a complaint to an impartial person; [Employer] commits to doing so when credibility, conflict, complexity or fairness requires. An impartial person must not be directly involved, be directly under the control of the subject, or otherwise be in conflict, and must know the harassment provisions of the Act, Regulations and other applicable laws. Under s. 7(2), an officer may order the employer, at its expense, to have an acceptable qualified impartial person conduct the investigation. Voluntary informal resolution is available only when safe and suitable and is not a prerequisite; it is generally excluded for violence, serious sexual/discriminatory conduct, retaliation, coercion or major power imbalance.

Written terms identify allegations, policy tests, scope and deliverable. Parties receive notice, sufficient particulars, appropriate representation/support and separate interviews. Relevant records are collected; the responding person can answer; parties can address material conflicting evidence; credibility is assessed neutrally; and findings use the balance of probabilities. Enhanced target: 90 calendar days, with reasons and monthly updates if longer.

The report records process, evidence, findings, reasoning and recommendations. An OHS officer may order a qualified impartial person to investigate at the employer's expense under s. 7. At the close of such investigation the impartial person determines whether harassment occurred and may recommend corrective action under s. 8; the employer determines and implements the required corrective action under s. 9, subject to an officer's statutory authority.

Parties receive a written result/corrective-action summary relevant to them without unnecessary personal/disciplinary detail. Corrective action includes direction, education, coaching, monitoring, voluntary restorative measures, accommodation, work/security/contract redesign, reassignment, discipline up to termination and third-party exclusion. Owners/dates and checks at 30, 90 and 180 days are documented.

6. Privacy, reprisal, records, training and review

Complaint details are disclosed only as necessary to report, investigate, correct, protect health/safety or comply with law. Participants may access representation, support, health/legal advice, a regulator or police and make protected reports. Reprisal, threat, ostracism, adverse action or evidence/witness interference is prohibited and separately investigated. An unsubstantiated complaint is not bad faith.

Files are secured separately from ordinary personnel records. Enhanced retention: 7 years after closure; policy/consultation/training/review records for active life plus 7 years, subject to privacy law and legal hold.

As enhanced controls grounded in the OHS Act's general duties rather than an express harassment-specific training clause, supervisors are trained to recognize and address harassment and all workers receive instruction on rights/duties, definitions, reporting routes, investigation, confidentiality, bystander response, supports and reprisal. Content, attendance and competency are recorded. Although the Regulations do not prescribe a universal fixed cycle, [Employer] adopts annual review and immediate review after legal change, incident, repeated pattern or procedure failure, with committee/representative consultation on revisions.

The JHSC or health and safety representative, if any, is consulted on policy development and prevention. Under OHS Act ss. 25(7)(b)–(c) and 26(6)(b)–(c), a committee or representative may receive, investigate and deal with occupational health and safety issues and participate in inspections, inquiries and investigations other than a complaint of workplace harassment; accordingly, this policy does not assign the employer's harassment-complaint investigation to the committee or representative. At workplaces to which OHS Act s. 23 applies (20 or more workers regularly employed), s. 23(5) excludes the results of a workplace-harassment investigation from the investigation-results and reports made available under s. 23(3)(h). Anonymized prevention information may still be shared where lawful and useful.

This policy does not limit access to PEI OHS/WCB, the PEI Human Rights Commission, Employment Standards where applicable, police, a union/arbitrator, privacy regulator or a court/tribunal.

Prince Edward Island authoritative sources

• Occupational Health and Safety Act Workplace Harassment Regulations
• Prince Edward Island Occupational Health and Safety Act — including ss. 12(1)(c)–(d), 23(5) and 46(1)(j.1)
• WCB PEI OHS Guide — Workplace Harassment
• WCB PEI — Workplace Harassment resources
• Prince Edward Island — official Table of Regulations

Operational schedules and forms

These schedules form part of this Prince Edward Island policy unless governing law requires a different process. They have been separated and specialized for this jurisdiction. A jurisdiction-specific rule overrides a generic target. Do not issue blank schedules as if they were completed controls.

Mandatory Prince Edward Island schedule preset

Insert this policy's express consultation, posting/availability, investigation, notice, training, review and companion-violence rules; never replace them with generic 90-day, annual or 7-year enhanced defaults.

Schedule A — Pre-issue implementation certificate

The accountable officer and implementation lead must initial each item and attach evidence.

Certification: We have not treated publication as implementation. Based on the attached evidence, the selected policy is customized, consulted on, communicated, trained and operational at the workplaces listed.
Senior officer: [Name/signature/date]
Implementation lead: [Name/signature/date]
Required workplace party acknowledgement: [Name/role/signature/date; acknowledgement is not a waiver of disagreement]

Schedule B — Workplace harassment and violence hazard assessment

Complete separately for each materially different workplace, work group or remote/camp setting. A check mark alone is not an assessment; document evidence, people consulted and control effectiveness.

B1. Assessment metadata

B2. Risk inventory and action plan

Rate likelihood and consequence using the employer's approved risk matrix. Psychological, sexual and discriminatory harm must not be discounted because no physical injury occurred.

B3. Control hierarchy and sign-off

For every high or critical risk, document why elimination is not reasonably practicable before relying only on policy or training. Consider elimination/substitution of the triggering activity; engineering/physical/digital controls; staffing/work-design/administrative controls; training/supervision; and emergency/support measures. Identify residual risk communicated to workers and the minimum necessary threat information.

Approved controls and funding: [ ]
Unresolved joint/consultation issues and governing resolution process: [ ]
Next review date or earlier triggers: [ ]
Signatures/decision record: [ ]

Schedule C — Report / notice of occurrence form

Use of this form is optional unless law requires particular information. Accept oral, accessible-language, representative-assisted and alternative-format reports.

C1. Reporter and people involved

• Reporter name/contact (optional for a witness where law permits anonymous notice): [ ]
• Person allegedly affected / preferred safe contact: [ ]
• Person(s) whose conduct is at issue / role / employer, if known: [ ]
• Witnesses or people with relevant information: [ ]
• Representative, interpreter, support or accommodation requested: [ ]
• Is any normal reporting recipient involved or conflicted? [Yes/no/details]

C2. Occurrence

• Date(s), time(s), physical/virtual location(s) and platform(s): [ ]
• Exact words, actions, displays, messages, gestures, contact or threats, in chronological order: [ ]
• Why the conduct was unwelcome or its health/safety/work impact: [ ]
• Related protected characteristic, sexual conduct, violence or domestic/family violence concern, if the reporter chooses to identify it: [ ]
• Was anyone told the conduct was unwelcome? [Optional; a “no” does not invalidate the report]
• Prior related occurrences/reports and response: [ ]

C3. Evidence, safety and outcome sought

• Emails, chats, images, audio/video, documents, access/security records, notes or other evidence and where preserved: [ ]
• Immediate or continuing danger; weapons; stalking; self-harm; medical/first-aid concern; contact with police/security: [ ]
• Reprisal, evidence-loss, conflict, privacy, housing/transport or immigration/precarity concern: [ ]
• Interim measure, support, accommodation or communication preference requested: [ ]
• Resolution preference, recognizing the employer may still have a duty to investigate/correct: [ ]

Accuracy: I believe the information is true and complete to the best of my knowledge. I understand the employer will share information only as necessary for safety, a fair process, corrective action or law and cannot promise absolute secrecy.
Signature / recorded oral confirmation / date: [ ]
Received by / date/time / channel / case number: [ ]

Schedule D — Recipient intake, safety and conflict checklist

Complete immediately and update whenever risk changes.

1. Jurisdiction and coverage: confirm governing law, workplace, worker status, former-worker rule and any sector-specific or collective-agreement process.
2. Emergency triage: imminent danger; medical/first aid; suicide/self-harm; sexual assault; child/vulnerable-person duty; weapon; stalking; domestic/family violence; police/security; serious-incident reporting; scene/evidence protection.
3. Conflict screen: recipient, investigator, decision-maker, counsel, representative, interpreter, senior leadership, family/community or reporting relationships. Record actual, potential and perceived conflicts and mitigation.
4. Acknowledgement: date due under law; actual date; policy/process/representation/external-right information provided; accessibility/language confirmed.
5. Evidence hold: identify custodians, platforms, auto-delete periods, CCTV/access retention, devices, notes, social media, work records and preservation owner. Preserve proportionately and lawfully; do not conduct overbroad surveillance.
6. Interim measures: risk addressed; party views considered; least prejudicial effective measure; pay/benefits/accommodation maintained; decision-maker/reasons; communication; 30-day review date.
7. Supports: EAP/medical/counselling/sexual-violence/community/culturally safe/union/legal/accommodation contacts offered without requiring a finding.
8. Process route: threshold review, required investigation, possible voluntary resolution, parallel criminal/regulatory/grievance process, privilege decision and statutory reporting.
9. Communications: safe channels, no-contact rules, status-update cadence, media/public-contact control where lawful, and no promise of exact discipline or absolute confidentiality.
10. Case plan: allegations/issues list, investigator/decision-maker, terms of reference, target dates, statutory deadline, review/report recipients and corrective-action owner.

Recipient signature/date: [ ]
Supervisor notification limited to need-to-know: [ ]
Next safety review: [ ]

Schedule E — Investigation terms of reference and mandatory protocol

E1. Appointment and independence

• Case number / appointing authority / governing policy and legislation: [ ]
• Investigator name, qualifications, role-specific legal/investigation training and secure contact: [ ]
• Written conflict declaration and continuing duty to disclose: [ ]
• Parties' input/selection process and any regulator order: [ ]
• Investigator decides facts and policy breach unless law/terms assign otherwise; employer decides discipline/corrective action.
• Legal privilege, if legitimately claimed, must be defined at the outset and not used to conceal a statutory report that must be disclosed.

E2. Allegations and scope

List each allegation separately: who; what; when/where; policy/statutory test; and whether retaliation, systemic failure, violence or protected-ground harassment is included. Scope changes require written reasons and notice sufficient for fairness. The investigator does not decide unrelated performance or credibility issues merely because they arise.

E3. Fair procedure

The investigator will:

1. provide each party a plain-language process explanation, allegations and a meaningful opportunity to participate;
2. arrange disability, trauma, language, cultural, scheduling and technology accommodations without compromising neutrality;
3. permit an appropriate union/other representative or support person, subject to non-interference and confidentiality;
4. interview separately, ask open and testing questions, obtain names/sources, and allow corrections to interview summaries;
5. collect relevant proportionate evidence and maintain an evidence log with source, date, authenticity and access history;
6. give the responding party sufficient particulars and a fair opportunity to answer;
7. put material adverse or contradictory evidence to the affected party before relying on it, while protecting safety and nonessential identity information;
8. assess relevance, reliability, consistency, plausibility, contemporaneous records, motive to misstate and corroboration without relying on myths about trauma, delayed reporting, disability, culture or demeanor;
9. apply the balance of probabilities unless governing law requires otherwise, decide each allegation separately and distinguish “not substantiated” from “false”; and
10. report facts, reasoning and recommendations within the governing deadline or documented enhanced target, with regular status updates.

No participant may secretly record an interview. The investigator may authorize recording with informed agreement, security controls and a retention plan. The employer will not require broad access to personal devices/accounts without lawful necessity and proportionality.

E4. Report structure

1. mandate, independence and legal/policy framework;
2. allegations and applicable tests;
3. procedure, participants, accommodation and limitations;
4. evidence considered and not obtained;
5. undisputed/material facts;
6. credibility and reliability analysis tied to evidence;
7. finding and reasons for each allegation;
8. retaliation, systemic risk and immediate safety findings;
9. corrective/preventive recommendations, owners or priorities where within mandate; and
10. appendices/evidence index, with redaction/version controls.

Target date / statutory final date / update cadence: [ ]
Required report copies and outcome notices: [ ]

Schedule F — Investigation quality and credibility worksheet

Do not use numerical scoring as a substitute for reasoning.

Quality checks:

• Were material contradictions put to the person affected?
• Were messages/records assessed in full context and authenticated sufficiently?
• Were trauma, disability, language, culture and power considered without stereotyping?
• Was demeanor given little or no weight unless specifically reliable and explained?
• Was each conclusion tied to evidence and the correct policy/legal definition at the time?
• Were intent and impact treated according to the applicable test?
• Were management-action exclusions examined for reasonableness, good faith and method?
• Were broader internal conduct standards kept distinct from statutory findings?
• Were exculpatory evidence and investigation limitations addressed?

Schedule G — Outcome notice templates

Adapt to the jurisdiction. Never use this template to disclose less than an express statutory outcome requirement.

G1. Notice to complainant / principal / allegedly affected worker

Private and confidential — Case [ ]
We investigated the report received on [date] concerning [brief neutral description]. The investigation was conducted by [role/name where appropriate] under [policy/law]. You had an opportunity to provide information and respond to material issues.

Result for each allegation: [substantiated / substantiated in part / not substantiated / unable to determine, only if policy/law permits, with the specific result description the jurisdiction requires]. [Concise reasons or findings summary required for a meaningful result notice, without unnecessary personal information.]

Corrective or preventive action taken or to be taken that may be disclosed: [specific measures relevant to the result; do not promise or reveal confidential discipline beyond what law requires]. The employer will monitor completion and retaliation. Report any concern to [channel]. Available supports/accommodations are [ ]. This notice does not restrict external legal rights listed in the policy.

G2. Notice to respondent / alleged harasser

Private and confidential — Case [ ]
Result for each allegation: [ ]. Corrective expectations/actions applicable to you: [ ]. Any discipline is communicated in a separate employment letter where appropriate. Retaliation, contact contrary to interim/final directions, and interference are prohibited. Questions about compliance go to [ ]. This notice does not restrict representation or legal rights.

G3. Closure acknowledgement

G4. Fixed reporting and outcome calendar

Schedule H — Corrective action and effectiveness tracker

Corrective action must address both individual conduct and enabling conditions. Possible indicators include repeat reports, affected-area climate, control use, training comprehension, turnover/absence themes, security events and completion audits. Do not measure success by “zero complaints” alone; under-reporting can produce that number.

Schedule I — Training standard and record

I1. Minimum curriculum

All-person training is workplace-specific and covers:

1. policy commitment, legal/internal definitions and reasonable-management boundary;
2. discriminatory, sexual, gender-based, personal, third-party and virtual harassment examples;
3. violence/domestic-family-violence overlap and emergency assistance;
4. workplace-specific hazards and controls;
5. reporting, alternate/independent channels, anonymous information and evidence preservation;
6. what happens after a report, interim measures, representation, investigation and outcomes;
7. confidentiality limits, lawful support/external reporting and prohibition on reprisal;
8. bystander options that do not require unsafe intervention;
9. accommodation, language, cultural and trauma-informed access; and
10. scenario practice and a documented comprehension check.

Supervisors/recipients receive additional training on duty to act without a formal complaint, emergency triage, domestic violence, conflict screening, intake, no promise of secrecy, neutral interim measures, evidence holds, procedural fairness, outcome communications, corrective action and record/reporting duties. Investigators meet the law-specific qualification rules.

I1A. Mandatory Prince Edward Island training override

• Prince Edward Island: apply this policy's training rule and any general OHS training duties. Treat any curriculum or timing that the policy labels as enhanced as an enhanced control rather than statutory wording.

I2. Record

Schedule J — Policy and program review record

Review trigger / legal deadline: [ ]
Participants and disagreements: [ ]
Approval / communication / retraining dates: [ ]
Next scheduled and event-triggered review rules: [ ]

Schedule K — Case record index and access protocol

Access is not granted merely because a person is a supervisor or executive. Every access/export is need-to-know, logged where practical, securely transmitted and limited to the minimum necessary. A privacy request, grievance, litigation hold, regulator order, police request or legal disclosure is routed to [privacy/legal lead]; no routine deletion occurs while a valid hold applies.

K1. Minimum Prince Edward Island retention preset

Do not destroy records merely because a listed minimum expires. Apply the authorized disposition schedule, privacy minimization requirements and any litigation, grievance, regulator, workers' compensation or preservation hold.

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