Q: How can I address my personal career advancement with my employer?
A: You will want to speak with your supervisor and likely other individuals higher up in your employing organization. Let them know what your goals are and what you want for your career. Ask them if that is something they can support and if so, what do you need to do to get to where you want to be. If your current employer cannot support your career goals and aspirations, you will have to make the decision of whether to stay with your employer or look elsewhere for a position with an organization that has those opportunities for you.
Q: How can I discuss sanitary bathroom access on my job site or in my workplace?
A: Everyone deserves access to sanitary bathrooms. The state of the bathrooms on many job sites and skilled trades workplaces poses a risk to worker health and safety. There has been improvement in this area but there is still a way to go. A lack of sanitary bathrooms has a negative impact on workers’ moral and both physical and psychological health and safety.
The first step in addressing sanitary bathroom access is becoming informed on the jurisdictional requirements for washrooms in your workplace. These requirements vary by province/territory, industry, number of workers, and if your workplace falls under provincial or federal jurisdiction. In some workplaces in some jurisdictions, a designated women’s bathroom is required.
It is quite likely that your male coworkers are also dissatisfied with the bathroom conditions. Having a group of individuals to support you can increase the likelihood and speed of things being changed. Speak to your supervisor or someone in leadership that you trust and express your concerns about the bathrooms. Go into the conversation with the problem, the jurisdictional requirements that the bathrooms don’t meet, and the solution. The solution can be that you want a women’s bathroom, more bathrooms in total, more frequent cleaning, the appropriate supplies (re)stocked, a receptacle to dispose of menstrual hygiene products, running water, adequate lighting, heat, ventilation, etc.
Depending on the structure of your workplace your supervisor or employer may not be directly responsible for the bathroom arrangement. If you are working for a sub-contractor, it is likely (though not always the case) that the general contractor is responsible for the washrooms. This is something that is decided in the contracts signed when companies agree to work together on one site or in one workplace. Regardless of who is contractually obligated to provide and maintain the bathroom facilities it is still your employer’s legal responsibility to ensure that adequate bathrooms are provided for you and their other workers.
If you are a member of a union, you may choose to reach out to your job steward or union representative for their assistance in navigating this process.
If your supervisor or employer is not willing to improve the bathroom conditions or if you do not feel comfortable discussing it with them, you can contact the enforcement authority for your province/territory. It is the enforcement authority’s job to see that jurisdictional requirements are being met and to give fines or other consequences when the rules are not followed.
Q: How can I report mistreatment in my workplace?
A: Mistreatment in the workplace is something that is uncomfortable and extremely personal to deal with. Everyone will have their own approaches that match with their individual comfort levels, personality, and workplace. Every situation is unique and will have many factors contributing to how you decide to handle it.
When you start at a new workplace or with a new company make sure to review and learn their policies and rules surrounding workplace violence and harassment, employee misconduct, bullying, etc. While it is the hope that you will never have to use or reference them it is important to be prepared and equipped with knowledge that could assist you in the future. These policies may outline the exact steps for you to take in cases of mistreatment but if they don’t here are some options of how you can address the situation.
If you are comfortable and feel safe doing so you should try to address the issue(s) directly with the person or people involved first. This will not be the right choice for every person or every situation, but if it works for you, it is the simplest way to resolve the problem.
If you are not comfortable doing that or if that doesn’t work the next step would be to speak to your supervisor or someone else in leadership that you trust. You will need to use your discretion and consider the unique leadership hierarchy in your workplace when deciding who to speak to.
If you are a member of a union, you may choose to reach out to your job steward or your union representative for their assistance.
If your employer/workplace has an HR department or representative, you can contact them for guidance on policies and support addressing the issue.
Keep records of any cases of mistreatment even if you aren’t planning to address them at the time. Things can change and situations can escalate, it is important to have detailed records in case you need them in the future. These records should include the time and place, what was said or done to you, who did it, who witnessed it happen, and any other details you might consider to be important. When reporting or addressing mistreatment also keep records of everything you do in that process including who you told, when you told them, how they responded, what they said they would do, etc.