I want to shine a bit of light on the “competent person” selection process.
There was some testimony that perhaps the appropriate method of selecting them would be to say, “Look, give some clear guidelines, but potentially default to the employer's choice.” I keep coming back in my mind, trying to put myself in the shoes of a harassed person in the workplace, who's not at their best because they have been harassed and they have no faith in the process. The natural human reaction is not to go to the legislation and the provisions in the regulation and say, “Oh, I have faith the employer will put a good person there.” They would tend to say, I think, if I can read human emotion well, “I don't want to go before the person selected by the person or company that has perpetrated the harassment.”
Is there a role for the unions and the employees to have a voice in who the competent people are who are going to be conducting this investigation?
I'll open it up to whoever wants to jump in.