Dozens of Quebecers have taken advantage of new Bill 101 provisions allowing them to file complaints about alleged discrimination and “psychological harassment” in the workplace.
Premier François Legault’s government expanded the complaint procedure in 2022, saying it wanted to protect workers, especially those with little or no command of a language other than French.
Psychological harassment can include yelling, insults, verbal and physical violence, intimidation, threats and “vexatious incivility,” according to Quebec’s workplace health and safety agency.
Under a new mechanism, that agency — the Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail — investigates some complaints related to the French language.
Thirty-three Quebecers filed complaints alleging employers took reprisals against them over their lack of fluency in another language, according to figures obtained by The Gazette via an access-to-information request.
Another five people lodged grievances accusing employers of discriminating against them or psychologically harassing them over their inability to speak a language other than French.
The figures cover two years ending in June 2024.
The complaint rules were added to the Charter of the French Language in June 2022 when the National Assembly passed Bill 96, the biggest overhaul of language regulations since Bill 101 was adopted in 1977.
Of the 38 complaints:
- 12 were withdrawn by the complainants.
- Seven were settled amicably.
- Seven were deemed inadmissible.
- Six were transferred to the Tribunal Administratif du Québec, a quasi-judicial tribunal.
- Five are still being processed.
- One was closed because the complainant was not reachable.
The CNESST now handles two types of complaints.
One involves workers who say they suffered reprisals or were sanctioned “for the sole reason that the (employee) is exclusively French-speaking or does not have sufficient knowledge of a given language other than the official language.”
The second focuses on workers who feel they have suffered workplace harassment or discrimination with regard to a language other than French.
Workers can file complaints if, for example, they are singled out because they are unilingual francophones or have not mastered a language other than French.
The wording in the revamped Bill 101 refers simply to harassment. However, in its internal documents, the CNESST uses the term “psychological harassment.”
The agency defines discrimination as “the act of treating a person differently because of their personal characteristics.”
Psychological harassment is “any vexatious behaviour in the form of repeated and hostile or unwanted conduct, verbal comments, actions or gestures, that affects an employee’s dignity or psychological or physical integrity and that results in a harmful work environment for the employee.”
Bill 96 expanded employer responsibilities and worker rights.
The changes aimed to give workers the “right to a working environment free from discrimination or harassment linked to the use of French or the claim of a right arising from the Charter of the French Language,” the Coalition Avenir Québec government said.
In 2022, Simon Jolin-Barrette, then French language minister, told a National Assembly committee the updates would protect workers from “retaliatory measures.”
That could include “dismissal, harassment, a reduction in salary, constructive dismissal, any measure associated with the work environment (or) preventing an employee from receiving a promotion, moving them from premises — anything you can think of as measures that entail consequences related to the action you’ve taken.”
Jolin-Barrette cited as an example an employee demoted or fired for working on protecting French in the workplace.
“Let’s say I’m (an employee who) participated in the francization committee of my company, which has 100 or more employees,” he said. “My employer demotes me or fires me because I participated in the francization committee. At that point, I file a complaint with the CNESST (and) the CNESST takes up my cause.”
Francization committees are legally required in some companies. They are internal committees responsible for ensuring the generalized use of French.
Jolin-Barrette is now Quebec’s justice minister.
Internal communication obtained by The Gazette shows that in April 2023, the CNESST grappled with the question of how to handle a complaint from an employee of a federally regulated business in Quebec.
The name or type of company involved is not mentioned, but the category includes firms involved in banking, transport and telecommunications.
In the end, CNESST employees were told to accept such complaints and let the courts decide whether they are applicable.
“Until further notice, a company under federal jurisdiction may be the subject of a complaint filed” under Bill 101, the CNESST told employees in a July 2023 memo.
“Since the application of jurisdiction for complaints of prohibited practices and psychological or sexual harassment under the Charter is contentious, it will be up to the court to decide on this issue. The Commission must accept such a complaint in order to preserve the employee’s rights.”
This is the second access-to-information request filed by The Gazette about Bill 96’s impact on language complaints.
In June, The Gazette reported that official complaints about alleged violations of Bill 101 have surged since Bill 96 opened the door to anonymous grievances, in part to encourage whistleblowers to come forward.
In 2023-24, there were 9,125 complaints. That’s a 45-per-cent increase from two years earlier when complainants had to provide their names, according to data obtained through an access request with the Office québécois de la langue française.
The Legault government pre-emptively invoked the Constitution’s notwithstanding clause to shield Bill 96. The clause allows governments to override some fundamental rights in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Several lawsuits arguing Bill 96 is unconstitutional are winding their way through the courts.
Legault has said the changes were needed because the French language is under threat. Anglophone groups say the measures are excessive.