May 2024: The FABS study is looking for food and beverage sector workers who have experienced bullying, harassment, and/or violence at work in British Columbia (BC) to complete a confidential survey about these experiences. Share your story! We offer $25 for participation.

In collaboration with the Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity, and the Department of History and Sociology at UBC Okanagan, we are looking at the impact of COVID-19 public health policies on the health and safety of food service workers. We seek to understand how public health restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic created and/or exacerbated bullying, harassment, and violence against workers, but workers who did not work during the time of COVID-19 restrictions are also eligible to participate.

Findings from this research will help us to develop guidelines to prevent harassment, bullying, and violence in food and beverage workplaces.

We are looking to recruit participants who:

• are 16 years of age or older
• are currently employed at any type of restaurant or bar in BC, including quick service (fast food, cafe) restaurants, and have been employed for at least one month
• have experienced any kind of bullying, harassment, or violence while working.

We know that women (cis and trans), gender diverse, 2SLGBQ+ people, BIPOC and im/migrant people are disproportionately negatively impacted as workers in the food and beverage service sector. Thus, we particularly welcome participants from these communities.

If you are interested in sharing your experiences, complete the survey here.

If you would like to learn more about the project, please contact: fabs.study@ubc.ca or Suhail Marino at suhail.marino@ubc.ca or 604-822-0200.

Study Co-Principal Investigators: Dr. Chris McLeod, PWHS & Dr. Kathleen Deering, Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity.