If you are a supervisory uncertain of your responsibilities

The Conflict Management and Human Rights Office is available to provide:

• support and advice to individuals dealing with conflict;
• conflict coaching to individuals; 
• mediation to teams and small groups; and
• investigative services when a formal complaint has been received.

We are available to:

• help you understand rights and responsibilities in the area of human rights and how they apply to specific situations within your area of supervision;
• provide you with information about what options are available to you when dealing with human rights issues in your area;
• guide you through the process of responding informally or formally to a human rights issue; and,
• work alongside you as you carry out a planned response.

The Conflict Management and Human Rights Office can design and deliver custom educational programming to your unit on topics related to Workplace Human Rights, Responding to Disrespectful Communication, Managing Difficult Conversations and more ...

To better understand you responsibilities related to human rights concerns, you can watch our online presentation on Supervisory Responsibilities. 

If you or someone that you supervise are experiencing behaviour that is having a negative impact, that is a problem. It is important that you seek help and advice whether the behaviour has been identified as harassment or not.  

• You can get help from the Conflict Management and Human Rights Office or from Counselling Services.
• If you have concerns that someone  is unsafe, contact the Safety Office or Campus Police.

If you want to know more about harassment and what it is, and your responsibilities as a supervisor you can also visit the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s website. They have some great e-Learning modules that can help you learn more e.g. Human Rights 101.

The Conflict Management and Human Rights Office has also created a number of presentations that provide more details about harassment, discrimination, stereotypes and prejudice. They describe what these are and how they can negatively impact our campus. 

A poisoned environment is an environment in which you cannot work, learn or live comfortably. It can be created by comments or behavior that make you feel  demeaned or disrespected.  

If your environment is interfering with your ability to work or learn, it is important that you seek help.

• You can get help from the Conflict Management and Human Rights Office or from Counselling Services.
• If you are feeling unsafe, contact the Safety Office or Campus Police.

If you want to know more about what can cause a person’s environment to be poisoned, you can also visit the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s website . They have some great eLearning modules that can help you learn more.

When you or your staff arrange to meet with someone from our office the first thing we will do is listen. After listening to your concerns, our staff will share information about policy and resources available at the University of Waterloo. They will also discuss what options are available to address the concerns either formally or informally.

Often people are afraid that when they come to us, they will lose control of the situation. It is important to understand that a person only needs to share with us the information that they feel comfortable sharing.  In fact, they don’t even need to tell us their name if they don’t want to.  We will explain what options and resources are available, but they get to decide what happens next.

At the end of the meeting we want to ensure that the person:

• Has been heard and understood;
• Is aware of the policy on campus that is applicable to their concern;
• Is aware of different options available, both formal and informal;
• Is aware of the different services available at the Conflict Management and Human Rights Office;
• Is aware of other applicable resources on campus;
• Understands that the Conflict Management and Human Rights Office can provided direction regarding who would be responsible for addressing their complaint (Department/Faculty); and
• Is aware that we are available to meet with them as many times as necessary to accomplish the above.

Contact CMAHRO when you are feeling safe but are concerned that something is not right in your workplace or learning environment. An early response increases the chance of addressing the issue in a way that minimizes relationship damage. 

Contact: Jeremy de Boer, Senior Case Consultant, Conflict Management and Human Rights Office