Something happened at work.
Maybe your manager repeatedly speaks to you differently than your colleagues. A coworker has been making comments that leave you uncomfortable. You've been excluded from meetings you used to attend. Someone raised their voice at you. Or perhaps nothing dramatic happened at all — but after months of small interactions, going to work has become increasingly difficult.
So you start searching.
Is this workplace harassment? discrimination?
Am I being bullied?
Is this part of burnout?
Or is this just conflict?
Those distinctions can matter. But they don't necessarily need to be the first question you answer.
Workplace concerns don't always arrive with labels
Statistics Canada found that 19% of women and 13% of men reported experiencing workplace harassment during the previous year. The most commonly reported behaviour wasn't physical violence or sexual harassment. It was verbal abuse, reported by 13% of women and 10% of men. Humiliating behaviour was also reported by 6% of women and 5% of men. [1]
Other research illustrates just how varied troubling workplace behaviour can be. In a 2020 Statistics Canada survey, 47% of workers reported witnessing or experiencing inappropriate sexualized or discriminatory behaviour in a work-related setting during the previous year. [2]
And these experiences can have real consequences. Among women who experienced inappropriate verbal or non-verbal sexualized behaviour, for example, 48% avoided or wanted to avoid particular people at work. [3]
The numbers tell us something important: workplace concerns aren't unusual, and they don't always fit neatly into a category when someone first experiences them.
The label can become the starting point — when perhaps it shouldn't be
When something feels wrong, there's an understandable desire to name it.
A label can provide validation. It can also determine which organizational policies, legal protections or formal processes might apply.
But starting with “What is this called?” can sometimes distract from other useful questions:
What actually happened?
Is it an isolated incident or a pattern?
What impact is it having on you?
What would you like to see change?
And what options are available to you?
Answering those questions doesn't minimize the possibility of harassment, discrimination, violence or another serious workplace issue. Quite the opposite: understanding what happened is essential to determining how seriously it needs to be addressed and what response may be appropriate.
People don't always report what happens
There is another reason these conversations matter.
Federal consultations on workplace harassment and violence found that among respondents who experienced an incident but did not report it, concerns included retaliation, damage to career advancement and fear of being labelled a troublemaker. Among those who did try to resolve their situation, 75% reported encountering obstacles. [4]
More recent federal data show the issue hasn't disappeared. Federally regulated employers reported 7,523 occurrences of harassment and violence in 2024, an increase of 5.7% from the previous year. [5]
Sometimes people need somewhere to think before deciding what to do.
You don't need to diagnose your workplace problem before discussing it
An Ombuds can provide a confidential space to explore a workplace concern without requiring you to arrive with the correct terminology or a predetermined course of action.
The conversation can begin much more simply:
“Something is happening at work, and I'm not sure what to do about it.”
From there, you can better understand what you're experiencing, identify your options, consider their potential consequences and decide what — if anything — you want to do next.
You don't necessarily need a label to start asking for help.
References
- Statistics Canada. Harassment in Canadian workplaces. - View source
- Statistics Canada. Inappropriate sexualized behaviours in the workplace. - View source
- Statistics Canada. Impacts of inappropriate sexualized behaviours in the workplace. - View source
- Employment and Social Development Canada. Harassment and sexual violence in the workplace public consultations. - View source
- Employment and Social Development Canada. 2024 Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Annual Report: Key Highlights. - View source