Saskatchewan's new legislation banning bullying or harassment in the workplace is now in effect.

Under amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act that became effective Oct. 1, the statutory definition of harassment has been expanded to include personal harassment in the workplace, such as abuse of power and bullying.

The amended law also allows for the appointment of an independent adjudicator to hear appeals arising from harassment complaints.
  
The changes followed the public debate earlier this year over the Murdoch Carriere case.

Carriere is the former government manager who was convicted of assaulting two of his former employees at Saskatchewan's forest protection office in Prince Albert. Carriere was also found not guilty of two counts of sexual assault.

The case became a political hot potato after the NDP government agreed to pay Carriere $275,000 to settle the lawsuit he launched after he was fired several years earlier. The opposition Saskatchewan Party said in the legislature that giving him an out-of-court settlement was sending the wrong signal about harassment in the workplace.

The government emerged from the debate promising to toughen the workplace rules for harassment and bullying.

As of Monday, Saskatchewan Labour Minister David Forbes said Saskatchewan has joined Quebec as the only provinces that ban those types of activities.

Labour leaders like Randy Hoffman of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union favour the new rules, saying it's important to define what bullying means and the new law does that.

"In our view, it's there to help people deal with the situation that is never easy to deal with in the first place," he said.

Forbes said his department is already taking complaints. A special adjudicator who will investigate any complaints is expected to be hired next April.