From discrimination in the workplace to unwanted stares and lack of credit to invading personal space, experiencing discrimination or harassment in the workplace can be a distressing and depressing incident for us, which makes it harder to do productive work even if you have passion for it.
More than the incident itself, explaining the incident to authorities about how you were wronged is more overwhelming. That is why, by documenting such incidents, you can take action and protect your rights. It will provide evidence to support your claim, help you communicate with legal authorities, and strengthen your case.
Whether it is bullying or unfair treatment, having a detailed record of the incident will help you protect your rights with the help of an Ontario workplace lawyer whose guidance will significantly help you proceed with the case and how you can strengthen it too. Now for how you can do the documentation, read this article, which talks about a few tips that might help you.
Follow These Steps To Documentation
Create A Detailed Log
Explain the incident in as much detail as you can remember, and do not use emotional language. Add facts and details about what happened and what they did, and record the exact time and date of every incident. If there are dates and times you are not very sure of, try to estimate one to write it.
Write down details about the place where the incident occurs, like a breakroom or meeting room, and note down the people present, including eyewitnesses. If you do not know the names of people, try to explain them as best as possible.
After all of these key details, which will help the authority to verify evidence, make sure to mention how the incident has physically, emotionally, and professionally affected you, like feeding your anxiety or ruining your good coordination with your team members.
Make Sure To Save Evidence
To support your incident log, you will need evidence. So save messages, emails, or other written evidence that indicates harassment or discrimination, like inappropriate comments and message screenshots of planning out favoritism to discriminate.
If you are physically harassed, then you will need a photo or video evidence to strongly claim your side if the incidents are predictable, then try to take a video or photo, or if not, then try and get in the security camera’s vision radar, which you can later use as evidence.
In the case of discrimination, keep a record of your performance and reviews to bring attention to the way your work is not evaluated or not valued. Make sure you are sure any fixing or something is going on before you record it. And record any medical evidence also that is due to harassment you had to visit.
Record Conversation
Write down all the comments and conversations that occurred during the time of harassment as soon as you can to note down all of them properly. If you can add details like who said it and how they said that, it will be beneficial for catching the direct oppressors.
If you remember the exact details of the conversation, it is very good, and if you use the method of quote-unquote like the same word-to-word record, it will carry more weight and not seem fabricated. In the situation where you have reported the issue of being discriminated against to HR, make sure to note down all that was discussed in those meetings.
Maintain Secrecy
Carefully handle all the pieces of evidence and properly keep them if you can use password-protected folders or apps. Keep the digital pieces of evidence secure, and keep all physical evidence in a safe place too. Do not share information about the problem with your colleagues to avoid complications.
Get Legal Assistance As Early As Possible!
Going ahead with this journey might be overwhelming, and many times, even being on the truth side, all of it may backfire hence, getting a consultation and help from a legal representative is essential to claiming your rights and ensuring your safety.
