Legislation that specifically outlines how Ontario employers must prevent violence and harassment against their employees goes into effect next week, leaving some businesses scrambling.

By June 15, employers must:

• Carry out a risk assessment to identify potential sources of workplace violence and harassment.
• Develop policies to address workplace violence and harassment.
• Train employees about the new policies.
• Be ready to investigate and deal with incidents or threats of workplace violence or harassment.

"It's a little bit confusing. I'm not sure what to do with it," said Derrick Hanson, president and co-founder of Attain Group, as he opened a 50-page copy of Bill 168. He'll have to figure out within the next few days how to apply the legislation, the latest update to the provincial Occupational Health and Safety Act, to all the employees at his Ottawa-based telecommunications consulting firm.

Darren Power, an Ottawa-based lawyer at the business law firm Ogilvy Renaud, said while the old legislation only required employers to do what's reasonable to protect employees, the new legislation is far more specific. For example, employers will be required to:

• Disclose an employee's history of violence to his or her co-workers.
• Prepare to protect employees from domestic violence in the workplace.
• Allow employees to refuse work if they feel harassed or endangered by a co-worker.

The legislation, spurred by the 2005 murder of a Windsor, Ont., nurse by her ex-boyfriend at the hospital where she worked, also takes a far more proactive approach, Power said.

The new legislation was introduced after the murder of nurse Lori Dupont in 2005 by her ex-boyfriend at the Windsor, Ont., hospital where she worked. (CBC)"It's all about dealing at the front end with this issue and putting processes and policies in place that hopefully position you so that this doesn't become an issue in your work place."

After the new legislation received royal assent on Dec. 15, 2009, employers were given six months to come into compliance. But a week before the legislation is set to go into effect, many employers like Hanson are still confused about what's expected.

Policy not enough

Caroline Richard, a partner at Bird Richard, a law firm that specializes in representing employers, said many business managers mistakenly believe that just having a violence and harassment policy will cover them off under the legislation.

"Some employers may have not realized the amount of work that's required to get compliant for Tuesday," she told CBC's Ottawa Morning Friday.

In particular, she thinks a big challenge for many businesses is the risk assessment. It is intended to identify potential risks to employees, such as working alone, handling cash or dealing directly with customers.

"Employers may not have put controls in place to deal with those risks and train employees in order to deal with that," she said.

However, she warned that the Ministry of Labour can prosecute an employer for failing to show it took all reasonable precautions to avoid a risk or situation involving violence or harassement.

"It's not a perfection test, but it's a high threshold."