Alberta
Overview
Please review the information below and then return to the workplace harassment and violence prevention course.
Applicable Laws
The primary Alberta law prohibiting employment discrimination, including harassment, on the basis of any protected ground is the Alberta Human Rights Act.
The Alberta Occupational Health and Safety Act prohibits harassment and violence in the workplace.
Protected Grounds
Harassment or discrimination based on any ground set forth below is prohibited in Alberta.
- Mental disability
- Physical disability
- Gender (including pregnancy and sexual harassment)
- Gender identity
- Gender expression
- Sexual orientation
- Race
- Colour
- Ancestry
- Place of origin
- Religious beliefs
- Age
- Marital status
- Family status
- Source of income (such as government assistance or disability pension)
Some provincial or territorial laws provide additional, separate standards and remedies for certain prohibited conduct, such as laws addressing equal pay without regard to sex or other protected ground.
Definitions of Harassment and Violence
Harassment is defined as any single incident or repeated incidents of objectionable or unwelcome conduct, comment, bullying or action by a person that the person knows or ought reasonably to know will or would cause offence or humiliation to a worker, or adversely affects the worker’s health and safety, and includes:
- conduct, comment, bullying or action because of race, religious beliefs, colour, physical disability, mental disability, age, ancestry, place of origin, marital status, source of income, family status, gender, gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation, and
- a sexual solicitation or advance,
but excludes any reasonable conduct of an employer or supervisor in respect of the management of workers or a work site.
Violence, whether at a work site or work-related, means the threatened, attempted or actual conduct of a person that causes or is likely to cause physical or psychological injury or harm, and includes domestic or sexual violence.
Filing a Claim in Alberta
A claim for employment discrimination or harassment based on a protected ground may be filed with the Alberta Human Rights Commission.
A claim related to workplace violence, including harassment, may be filed with Alberta Occupational Health and Safety.
Retaliation Prohibited
Employer retaliation against an employee who files a complaint relating to harassment or workplace violence or is involved in the complaint process is unlawful.