ANTI-BULLYING DAY

Recognized across Canada, Anti-Bullying Day (also known as Pink Shirt Day) aims to spread awareness about bullying and the negative impact it can have on those who experience it. 1 in 5 children will fall victim to acts of bullying, however, the act is not exclusive to children and schools. Bullying can occur at home, in the workplace, and among children or adults. Erb supports and recognizes today as Anti-Bullying Day, and will continue to actively combat bullying-related issues in our workplace. We will also continue to encourage employees to combat this issue outside of the workplace. Katerina Despotovska, our Human Resources Generalist, explained that “we are committed to ensuring our employees are happy and feel welcome in our workplace. We have a thorough Workplace Violence & Harassment Policy inclusive of bullying and we conduct awareness training. We have a zero tolerance policy for bullying and harassment. We also promote our open door policy so that employees who may be experiencing bullying in the workplace can speak up and ask for help.” Erb has crafted an environment intolerable of bullying by combining formal procedures and policies with an open and positive work environment. “We are lucky that we don’t have too many incidents here at Erb, but we let our employees know that it is unacceptable and remind them that Erb’s Supervisors and Human Resources department are here to help wherever we can.” Using Anti-Bullying Day as a moment to recommit ourselves to the fight against bullying is a small, but significant step towards a bullying-free world. If you are a victim of bullying, don’t hesitate to reach out and talk to someone. Roughly 40% of workers experience bullying in the workplace each week, and roughly 47% of parents have a child who is bullied at school.  Many people classify bullying as “just teasing” in order to downplay its severity, but this excuse is one that needs to be dispelled. If you, or someone you know, are a victim of bullying, Bullying Canada offers 24/7 support. They can be reached at 1-877-352-4497 or visit their website for more information: https://www.bullyingcanada.ca/  

Kindness can change the world. It's up to all of us to end bullying. #ChooseKindness #BullyingStopsHere #PinkShirtDay