Violence in the Workplace (a) The parties agree that violence shall be defined as any incident in which an employee is abused, threatened or assaulted while performing his or her work. The parties agree it includes the application of force, threats with or without weapons and severe verbal abuse. The parties agree that such incidents will not be condoned. Any employee who believes he/she has been subjected to such incident shall report this to a supervisor who will make every reasonable effort to rectify the situation. For purposes of sub-article (a) only, employees as referred to herein shall mean all employees of the Employer notwithstanding Article 2.12.
(b) The Employer agrees to develop formalized policies and procedures in consultation with the Joint Health and Safety Committee to deal with workplace violence. The policy will address the prevention of violence and the management of violent situations and support to employees who have faced workplace violence. These policies and procedures shall be communicated to all employees. The local parties will consider appropriate measures and procedures in consultation with the Joint Health and Safety Committee to address violence in the workplace, which may include, among other measures and procedures:
i) Alert employees about a person with a known history of aggressive and responsive behaviours and their known triggers by means of:
A) electronic and/or other appropriate flagging systems,
B) direct verbal communication / alerts (i.e. shift reports),
ii) Communicate and provide appropriate training and education,
iii) Reporting all incidents of workplace violence,
iv) Long-term care home wide violence risk assessments.
(c) The Employer will report all incidents of violence as defined herein to the Joint Health and Safety Committee for review.
(d) The Employer agrees to provide training and information on the prevention of violence to all employees who come into contact with potentially aggressive persons. This training will be done during a new employee’s orientation and updated as required.
(e) Subject to appropriate legislation, and with the employee’s consent, the Employer will inform the Union within three (3) days of any employee who has been subjected to violence while performing his/her work. Such information shall be submitted in writing to the Union as soon as practicable.
Political Activity Prohibited None of the funds, materials, property or services provided directly or indirectly under the Agreement shall be used for any partisan political activity, or to further the election or defeat of any candidate for public office.
Workplace Harassment The Hospital and the Union are committed to ensuring a work environment that is free from harassment. Harassment is defined as a “course of vexatious comment or conduct that is known or ought reasonably to be known to be unwelcome”, that denies individual dignity and respect on the basis of the grounds such as gender, disability, race, colour, sexual orientation or other prohibited grounds, as stated in the Ontario Human Rights Code. All employees are expected to treat others with courtesy and consideration and to discourage harassment. ref. Ontario Human Rights Code, Sec. 10(1). Harassment may take many forms including verbal, physical or visual. It may involve a threat, an implied threat or be perceived as a condition of employment. The Parties agree that harassment is in no way to be construed as properly discharged supervisory responsibilities, including the delegation of work assignments and/or the assessment of discipline. If an employee believes that she/he has been harassed and/or discriminated against on the basis of any prohibited ground of discrimination, there are specific actions that may be undertaken. The employee should request the harasser to stop the unwanted behaviour by informing the harassing individual(s) that the behaviour is unwanted and unwelcome. Should the employee not feel comfortable addressing the harasser directly, she/he may request the assistance of the manager or a Union representative. If the unwelcome behaviour was to continue, the employee will consult the Hospital policy on harassment and will be free to pursue all avenues including the complaint investigation and resolution. The Parties agree that an employee may have a representative of the Union with her/him throughout the process, if requested.
WORKPLACE BEHAVIOR
3.1 The Employer and the Union agree that all employees should work in an environment that fosters mutual respect and professionalism. The parties agree that inappropriate behavior in the workplace does not promote a college’s/district’s business, employee well-being, or productivity. All employees are responsible for contributing to such an environment and are expected to treat others with courtesy and respect.
3.2 Inappropriate workplace behavior by employees, supervisors and/or managers will not be tolerated. If an employee and/or the employee’s union representative believes the employee has been subjected to inappropriate workplace behavior, the employee and/or the employee’s representative is encouraged to report this behavior to the employee’s supervisor, a manager in the employee’s chain of command and/or the Human Resources Office. An employee or the employee’s representative should identify complaints as inappropriate workplace behavior. The Employer will investigate the reported behavior and take appropriate action as necessary. The employee and/or union representative will be notified upon conclusion of the investigation. Upon request, the Employer will provide the employee and the union representative with a copy of the investigation report.
3.3 Retaliation against employees who make a workplace behavior complaint will not be tolerated.
3.4 Supervisors, managers and Human Resource Office staff will be trained on Article 3, Workplace Behavior. The Employer and the Union agree to prepare and make available online a 15-minute joint training online presentation on workplace behavior for all employees covered by this CBA and their supervisors, managers and Human Resources staff.
3.5 Grievances related to this Article may be processed through Step 3 of the Grievance Procedure.
Workplace The Employee shall be required to perform work at or any other site of work for the Employer.
Workplace Violence (a) It is recognized that at certain worksites or in certain work situations employees may be at risk of physical violence or verbal abuse from clients, persons in care or custody, or the public.
(b) Where such potential exists:
(1) employees at those worksites or in those work situations shall receive training in the recognition and management of such incidents;
(2) physical and procedural measures for the protection of employees, applicable to those worksites or work situations, shall be implemented.
(c) The Permanent Occupational Health and Safety Committee shall be consulted regarding the curriculum of training and the applicable physical and procedural measures referred to in (b) above.
(d) The Permanent Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee shall jointly develop a new or approve an existing training package on risk assessment.
(e) Employees shall be informed concerning the potential for physical violence or verbal abuse from clients, a student, instructors or other members of the public, subject to statutory limitation.
(f) Immediate critical incident stress debriefing and post traumatic counselling shall be made available for employees who have suffered as a result of violence. Leave required to attend such debriefing or counselling sessions will be without loss of pay.
Entities that Discriminate Against Firearm and Ammunition Industries In accordance with Senate Bill 19, Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., pursuant to Section 2274.002 of the Texas Government Code (relating to prohibition on contracts with companies that discriminate against firearm and ammunition industries), Contractor verifies that: (1) it does not, and will not for the duration of the Contract, have a practice, policy, guidance, or directive that discriminates against a firearm entity or firearm trade association or (2) the verification required by Section 2274.002 of the Texas Government Code does not apply to the Contract. If circumstances relevant to this provision change during the course of the Contract, Contractor shall promptly notify System Agency.
Smoke Free Environment The Lessor shall make all parts of the leased premise smoke-free. "
Human Trafficking Prohibition Under Section 2155.0061 of the Texas Government Code, Contractor certifies that the individual or business entity named in this Contract is not ineligible to receive this Contract and acknowledges that this Contract may be terminated and payment withheld if this certification is inaccurate.
Human Trafficking BY ACCEPTANCE OF AGREEMENT, CONTRACTOR ACKNOWLEDGES THAT THE COUNTY IS OPPOSED TO HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND THAT NO COUNTY FUNDS WILL BE USED IN SUPPORT OF SERVICES OR ACTIVITIES THAT VIOLATE HUMAN TRAFFICKING LAWS.
