Members of Employee Engagement participated in Pink Shirt Day this year to raise awareness and promote a respectful workplace. Confronting disrespectful behaviour may be difficult and stressful, but remember there are multiple ways to address it and you are not alone!

How does wearing a pink shirt stop bullying?

Some criticism exists around Pink Shirt Day; people have accused that it is a marketing scheme created to sell pink t-shirts and increase business for sponsors of the event such as London Drugs and Coast Capital Savings. Last year someone asked me, “how can wearing a pink shirt actually stop bullying?” This is a valid question many of you may be asking yourself – and I’d like to share my thoughts on this.

Although the act of wearing a pink shirt on one day out 0f the entire year may not directly prevent a real incident, the purpose of this event is to raise awareness and to educate. British Columbia celebrated our first Pink Shirt Day in 2009 after the Premier proclaimed that we would have a provincial Anti-Bullying Day. It has been five years and I for one, can see that there has been a huge shift in thinking when it comes to anti-bullying.

Bullying is not tolerated

We always hear the saying, “knowledge is power.” It is important to educate victims on the options and support available to them and it is equally important to educate culprits that we are now living in a culture where this type of behavior will not be tolerated. So next time someone is about to bully or harass others, they will think twice about it and hopefully change their course of action.

Within five years the concept of Pink Shirt Day has spread through our province’s education system, been implemented in employment legislation through Bill 14 of July 1, 2012, and now organizations across all industries are implementing policies to address this issue in the workplace. So yes, wearing a pink shirt once a year can make a significant impact!

Want more information?

More information on workplace bullying and harassment is available on the employee relations intranet site or you can download the policy and the brochure.

You can also check out this week’s blog and special edition.