Recruitment
- We are 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 online survey about these experiences.
- We are looking at the impact of COVID-19 public health policies on the health and safety of restaurant workers and 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.
- Individuals will receive a $25 honorarium as a thank you for their time.*
- 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, please email fabs.study@ubc.ca to request a link to the survey.
- 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.
- Download a resource guide for mental health and support services.
*Please note that to receive the honorarium, you will be asked to provide your email address and have a Canadian banking account. Sharing your email address may potentially identify you. We will then reach out to you and ask four related questions to confirm your eligibility before processing your payment. Please note that to receive your stipend, you will need to match all these answers to your previously answered questions. It is important to also note that we have implemented bot-checks to the survey including collecting IP addresses for verification purposes and if you fail these checks, no compensation will be provided by the research team.
Background
- The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated many work-related inequities, with essential workers having to work at considerable risk in environments with high risk of COVID-19 exposure.
- In BC, the food and beverage sector remained open throughout most of the pandemic, with reduced hours, masking, and restricted capacity. In August 2021, by order of the public health officer, patrons of licensed restaurants, pubs, and other establishments were required to show proof of vaccination for entry. Businesses were required to check for vaccination status and deny services to those not meeting this requirement.
- Women, LGBTQ+, racialized persons, and youth are overrepresented in the food and beverage service sector and in lower paid positions and are at high risk of harassment and violence at work. Such workers are often precariously employed and are at a power disadvantage with employers and customers.
- Growing evidence suggests that COVID-19 working conditions, including the requirement to enforce COVID-19 workplace safety protocols, puts these workers at a greater risk for harassment and violence as well as consequent negative physical and mental health outcomes.
- In an earlier phase of this project, we interviewed food and beverage service workers in the Metro Vancouver and Central Okanagan regions about their experiences of bullying, harassment, and violence while working under COVID-19 restrictions.
- Findings from the interview phase of the project were used to inform the current phase, where we are surveying food and beverage service workers across BC, whether they worked under COVID-19 restrictions or not.
More information
- Study Co-Principal Investigators: Dr Chris McLeod, PWHS and School of Population and Public Health, UBC; and Dr Kathleen Deering, Division of Social Medicine, Department of Medicine, UBC.
- This mixed methods study is being conducted in collaboration with the Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity and the Department of History and Sociology at UBC Okanagan at two research sites in BC: Metro Vancouver and the Central Okanagan region. There are three research objectives:
- Explore the gendered and racialized lived experiences of bullying, harassment, and violence of food and beverage sector workers while working under COVID-19 restrictions.
- Assess and characterize the prevalence and social-structural correlates of bullying, harassment, and violence of food and beverage workers in the Metro Vancouver and Central Okanagan regions.
- Work with community-based organizations, employer and worker associations, and WorkSafeBC, to develop and implement a knowledge translation strategy that will provide recommendations and guidelines to prevent and mitigate harassment and violence in the workplace due to public health measures.
