Workplace bullying can be workplace harassment under Ontario law. Repeated yelling, humiliation, intimidation, deliberate exclusion, personal attacks or other unwelcome conduct can cross the legal line when it becomes a course of workplace harassment.
Your employer can’t simply ignore a serious bullying complaint. Ontario employers have duties to maintain a workplace harassment policy and program and to ensure an investigation appropriate in the circumstances is conducted when an incident or complaint of workplace harassment arises.
But don’t quit because you’re being bullied without first getting legal advice. If the bullying is severe enough, it can contribute to constructive dismissal and a claim for severance. Resigning before your legal position is clear can put those rights at risk.
On This Page:
- 1. What Is Workplace Bullying?
- 2. Is Workplace Bullying Illegal?
- 3. Examples of Workplace Bullying
- 4. What Must Your Employer Do?
- 5. Bullying, Constructive Dismissal & Severance
- 6. What Should You Do?
What Is Workplace Bullying in Ontario?
Workplace bullying is repeated, unwelcome behaviour that intimidates, humiliates, undermines or targets someone at work.
“Bullying” is an everyday term rather than a separate legal category in Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act. The legal question is whether the behaviour meets the definition of workplace harassment in Ontario or violates another workplace right.
Ontario’s workplace harassment rules cover a course of vexatious comments or conduct against a worker that is known, or should reasonably be known, to be unwelcome. Harassment can also occur virtually through email, messaging platforms, video calls and other electronic communication.
Bullying can come from a manager, supervisor, coworker or another person you interact with through work.
Does workplace bullying have to happen repeatedly?
Bullying usually describes a repeated pattern of behaviour, and Ontario’s general workplace-harassment definition refers to a course of conduct.
That does not mean one serious incident should be ignored. A single incident involving violence, a serious threat, sexual misconduct or severe discriminatory conduct can trigger other legal rights and workplace obligations.
Is Workplace Bullying Illegal in Ontario?
Workplace bullying can be unlawful when the behaviour meets Ontario’s legal definition of workplace harassment or violates another workplace law.
The Occupational Health and Safety Act does not use “bullying” as a separate legal term. Instead, bullying behaviour is addressed through Ontario’s broader workplace-harassment framework.
You can learn more about those protections in our guides to workplace harassment and the Occupational Health and Safety Act in Ontario.
Does bullying have to involve discrimination?
No. Workplace harassment under Ontario’s health and safety legislation does not have to be connected to race, sex, disability or another protected characteristic.
Human rights law is different. If the bullying is connected to a characteristic protected by the Ontario Human Rights Code—such as disability, race, sex, age, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or family status—it can also amount to workplace discrimination, human-rights harassment or a poisoned work environment.
For example, repeatedly mocking an employee because of their disability is both bullying behaviour and potentially disability-related harassment. Racist comments, homophobic insults and sexist humiliation can similarly engage the Human Rights Code.
Is every unfair manager a workplace bully?
No. Your employer is allowed to reasonably manage your work.
Legitimate performance feedback, reasonable discipline, scheduling decisions, work assignments and normal supervision do not become workplace harassment simply because you disagree with them or find them stressful.
There is an important difference between being managed and being abused. Repeated personal attacks, screaming, humiliation, intimidation or deliberately targeting an employee are not made legitimate simply because they come from a manager.
Examples of Workplace Bullying in Ontario
Workplace bullying can be obvious or subtle. A pattern of behaviour is often more important than any single incident viewed in isolation.
Examples can include:
- Repeated yelling, swearing at or verbally attacking an employee
- Humiliating someone in front of coworkers, clients or customers
- Insulting or belittling an employee personally rather than addressing legitimate work concerns
- Threatening or intimidating an employee
- Repeatedly spreading malicious rumours about someone
- Deliberately isolating an employee from meetings, communications or workplace interactions to undermine them
- Sabotaging someone’s work or intentionally interfering with their ability to perform their job
- Repeatedly mocking, ridiculing or embarrassing an employee
- Sending abusive emails, texts or workplace chat messages
- Encouraging coworkers to gang up on, ostracize or target an employee
Is micromanaging workplace bullying?
Micromanagement by itself is not automatically workplace bullying.
A manager is entitled to monitor work, give directions and review performance. The situation becomes more serious when excessive supervision is combined with humiliation, personal attacks, intimidation, unreasonable targeting or conduct designed to undermine the employee.
Can coworkers bully you?
Yes. Workplace harassment does not have to come from your boss.
Coworker bullying can include repeated ridicule, exclusion, rumours, interference with your work, threatening conduct or coordinated “mobbing” by a group of employees.
Your employer’s obligations do not disappear simply because the person responsible is a coworker rather than a manager.
Can bullying happen remotely?
Yes. Workplace harassment can occur virtually.
Bullying through email, Teams, Slack, text messages, group chats or video meetings can be workplace harassment in the same way as face-to-face conduct.
Repeatedly humiliating an employee in group chats, excluding them from essential virtual meetings or sending abusive direct messages does not become acceptable simply because everyone is working remotely.
What Must Your Employer Do About Workplace Bullying?
Your employer must take workplace-harassment concerns seriously and follow Ontario’s harassment requirements.
Ontario employers subject to the Occupational Health and Safety Act must have a workplace harassment policy and program. When an incident or complaint of workplace harassment arises, the employer must ensure that an investigation appropriate in the circumstances is conducted.
That means an employer should not dismiss a serious complaint with statements such as “that’s just how your manager is” or “you two need to work it out” without first determining what actually happened.
Does your employer have to fire the bully?
No. You are not automatically entitled to demand a particular disciplinary outcome.
The employer’s responsibility is to investigate appropriately and respond to the situation. What corrective action is appropriate depends on what the investigation finds and how serious the behaviour is.
The important question for you is whether the employer meaningfully addresses the workplace problem rather than allowing serious harassment to continue.
Can your employer punish you for reporting bullying?
Your employer can’t lawfully punish you for properly exercising rights protected by Ontario workplace law.
If you complain about conduct covered by the Occupational Health and Safety Act and are then fired, suspended, threatened or otherwise penalized for exercising a protected health and safety right, Ontario’s reprisal protections can apply.
Human rights law also prohibits retaliation for asserting rights protected by the Human Rights Code.
If negative treatment starts after you make a complaint, document it and review our guide to workplace retaliation in Ontario.
Can Workplace Bullying Lead to Constructive Dismissal and Severance?
Yes. Serious or persistent workplace bullying can contribute to constructive dismissal when it fundamentally damages the employment relationship.
Constructive dismissal occurs when your employer fundamentally breaches the employment relationship even though it has not formally fired you.
A serious pattern of bullying or harassment can support a constructive dismissal claim where, viewed as a whole, the employer’s conduct shows that it no longer intends to be bound by the employment relationship.
This can include situations where management itself engages in serious abusive conduct or where an employer knows about severe ongoing harassment and fails to respond appropriately.
Not every bullying complaint reaches that threshold. Ordinary workplace friction, legitimate performance management and isolated disagreements do not automatically entitle an employee to leave and claim severance.
Can you get severance if you quit because of bullying?
Yes, if the bullying and surrounding circumstances amount to constructive dismissal.
When constructive dismissal is established, the law treats the end of the employment relationship as a dismissal rather than a voluntary resignation. You can then pursue the termination compensation you are legally owed.
For many non-unionized employees, full common-law severance is substantially greater than Ontario’s minimum employment standards. Depending on factors such as age, position, length of service and the availability of similar employment, severance pay in Ontario can reach 24 months’ pay.
If the bullying has created a broader abusive atmosphere, our guides to a toxic work environment in Ontario and a hostile work environment in Ontario explain how those issues connect to your employment rights.
Can you receive other compensation for workplace bullying?
The available remedy depends on what legal rights were violated.
If bullying is connected to a protected Human Rights Code characteristic, human-rights remedies can be available. If the treatment leads to constructive dismissal, you can pursue severance and other employment-law damages that apply to your case.
Workplace bullying itself is not a single stand-alone claim with a fixed amount of compensation. The facts determine which legal remedies apply.
What Should You Do if You’re Being Bullied at Work?
Document the bullying, report serious conduct appropriately and protect your legal position before making a major decision about your job.
1. Keep a detailed record
Write down dates, times, locations, what was said or done, who witnessed it and how you responded.
Avoid vague notes such as “my boss bullied me again.” Record the actual words or conduct wherever possible.
2. Preserve relevant evidence
Keep relevant emails, text messages, screenshots and other workplace communications that you are legally entitled to retain.
Do not take confidential employer documents simply because you believe they could become useful later.
3. Review your workplace harassment policy
Your employer’s policy should explain how workplace-harassment complaints are reported.
If your supervisor is the person bullying you, look for an alternative reporting route through HR, another manager or another person identified in the policy.
4. Put serious complaints in writing
A clear written complaint creates a record of what your employer was told and when it was told.
Describe the conduct rather than relying only on labels. Explain the repeated incidents, identify witnesses and attach relevant evidence where appropriate.
5. Keep track of what happens after you complain
Document meetings, investigation steps, communications from HR or management and any change in your treatment after the complaint.
If you suddenly receive discipline, a demotion, reduced hours or another negative change after asserting a protected workplace right, get legal advice promptly.
6. Speak with your doctor if your health is affected
Workplace bullying can have a serious effect on mental and physical health. If you are experiencing anxiety, depression, sleep problems or other symptoms, speak with your healthcare provider.
A medical condition can also trigger separate accommodation rights under the Human Rights Code.
7. Don’t simply stop attending work
Being bullied does not automatically give you the right to stop reporting for work.
If there is an immediate safety threat, protect yourself and seek appropriate assistance. Otherwise, get advice before refusing work, taking an unapproved absence or stopping attendance. You don’t want a legitimate workplace complaint complicated by an allegation that you abandoned your job.
8. Get advice before resigning
This is especially important if management is involved in the bullying, the employer refuses to address serious complaints or the situation has become intolerable.
An employment lawyer can assess whether the treatment is workplace harassment, discrimination, reprisal or constructive dismissal and explain what you should do next.
Employees in the GTA can speak with our Toronto workplace harassment lawyers. If bullying has made you believe you have no reasonable option but to leave your job, our Toronto constructive dismissal lawyers can review your severance rights before you resign.
Get Help With Workplace Bullying in Ontario
You don’t have to determine by yourself whether workplace bullying has crossed the legal line.
The Ontario employment lawyers at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP can review the pattern of behaviour, your workplace communications, the complaint you made and your employer’s response.
We can determine whether your situation involves workplace harassment, discrimination, retaliation or constructive dismissal—and get the full compensation that may be owed to you.
Most importantly, we can advise you before you resign or make another decision that affects your ability to pursue those rights.
The process doesn’t need to be overwhelming. Get advice before making a permanent decision about your employment.