When “No Harassment Complaints” Doesn’t Mean “No Harassment” in the Workplace

“I’m glad to say we don’t really have a harassment problem here. The complaints we get are usually about unfavourable performance reviews, and we all know that management isn’t harassment.”

I’ve heard this from many HR professionals. And while it’s important not to find harassment where none exists, it’s equally important to ask whether we’re seeing the whole picture.

Let’s take a closer look at three areas where hidden risks often live 👇

1️⃣ Are those performance review complaints really “frivolous”?

Research shows that open-ended or rank-based performance ratings (for example, “on a scale of 1 to 10”) invite bias — especially against racialized, women, and gender-diverse employees.

And bias doesn’t just appear in scoring. Consider how access to “high-performance” opportunities might differ. Are evening networking events or lucrative client accounts only available to certain employees — often those perceived as the most “driven” or “available”?

✅ Tip: Harvard researchers Dr. Iris Bohnet and Siri Chilazi offer practical strategies in Make Work Fair, including:

• Use structured, pre-determined, and detailed performance criteria.

• Prevent managers from viewing employee self-assessments before completing reviews.

• Schedule refresher harassment and bias training just before review season.

These small process changes can make a big difference in both fairness and perception.

2️⃣ Could you have an underreporting issue?

According to Statistics Canada, roughly 1 in 4 workplace harassment incidents go unreported, most often due to fear of retaliation. The EEOC puts the underreporting rate as high as 90%.

So, what does your policy say about retaliation — and more importantly, do employees believe it?

Many complainants simply want the behaviour to stop, not necessarily to see someone punished. But when policies emphasize strict discipline as the default (even if sometimes warranted), they can unintentionally discourage reporting because employees fear backlash.

✅ Tip: Emphasize proportional, fair, and restorative approaches in your policy, and demonstrate them in action. Doing so not only builds trust in your program but can also help mitigate human rights, constructive dismissal, and wrongful dismissal risks.

3️⃣ Could you have a misinterpretation issue?

If you’re thinking, “No underreporting here — I walk around all the time and I just don’t see any harassment,” you’re not alone.

But here’s a valuable reminder from a 2023 Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) decision:

“Comments and behaviour that might appear neutral to someone with dominant culture privilege can feel and in fact be excluding, othering, and discriminatory to someone who does not hold the same privilege in that context.”

For instance, dismissing women’s complaints about freezing office temperatures in male-dominated spaces, or requiring bilingual employees to speak only English “so others don’t feel excluded,” can unintentionally create discriminatory effects.

✅ Tip: Base your training on a harassment risk assessment (a legal requirement in federally regulated workplaces). This helps identify culture-specific risks and ensures training reflects your actual workplace dynamics.

The more tailored the examples, the better. (One HR professional from a GP practice recently shared that generic hospital-based training modules didn’t resonate with her team — proof that context matters.)

Final Thoughts on Workplace Harassment

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, that’s not a failure — it’s insight.You’re already ahead of the curve by asking the harder questions and looking beyond the surface of “we don’t have a problem here.”

So, what small change can you make next to close those gaps?

Need help implementing any of the tips reviewed in this post? Reach out! I'd love to hear from you.