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.
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.
Handling Sensitive Personal Information and Breach Notification A. As part of its contract with HHSC Contractor may receive or create sensitive personal information, as section 521.002 of the Business and Commerce Code defines that phrase. Contractor must use appropriate safeguards to protect this sensitive personal information. These safeguards must include maintaining the sensitive personal information in a form that is unusable, unreadable, or indecipherable to unauthorized persons. Contractor may consult the “Guidance to Render Unsecured Protected Health Information Unusable, Unreadable, or Indecipherable to Unauthorized Individuals” issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to determine ways to meet this standard.
B. Contractor must notify HHSC of any confirmed or suspected unauthorized acquisition, access, use or disclosure of sensitive personal information related to this Contract, including any breach of system security, as section 521.053 of the Business and Commerce Code defines that phrase. Contractor must submit a written report to HHSC as soon as possible but no later than 10 business days after discovering the unauthorized acquisition, access, use or disclosure. The written report must identify everyone whose sensitive personal information has been or is reasonably believed to have been compromised.
C. Contractor must either disclose the unauthorized acquisition, access, use or disclosure to everyone whose sensitive personal information has been or is reasonably believed to have been compromised or pay the expenses associated with HHSC doing the disclosure if:
1. Contractor experiences a breach of system security involving information owned by HHSC for which disclosure or notification is required under section 521.053 of the Business and Commerce Code; or
2. Contractor experiences a breach of unsecured protected health information, as 45 C.F.R. §164.402 defines that phrase, and HHSC becomes responsible for doing the notification required by 45 C.F.R. §164.404. HHSC may, at its discretion, waive Contractor's payment of expenses associated with HHSC doing the disclosure.
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.
Protected Activity Not Prohibited Nothing in this Agreement or in any other agreement between you and the Company, as applicable, will in any way limit or prohibit you from engaging for a lawful purpose in any Protected Activity. For purposes of this Agreement, “Protected Activity” means filing a charge, complaint, or report with, or otherwise communicating, cooperating, or participating in any investigation or proceeding that may be conducted by, any state, federal, or local governmental agency or commission, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the National Labor Relations Board (the “Government Agencies”). You understand that in connection with such Protected Activity, you are permitted to disclose documents or other information as permitted by law, and without giving notice to, or receiving authorization from, the Company. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you agree to take all reasonable precautions to prevent any unauthorized use or disclosure of any information that may constitute Company confidential information under the Confidentiality Agreement to any parties other than the Government Agencies. You further understand that “Protected Activity” does not include the disclosure of any Company attorney-client privileged communications. Any language in the Confidentiality Agreement regarding your right to engage in Protected Activity that conflicts with, or is contrary to, this paragraph is superseded by this Agreement. In addition, pursuant to the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016, you are notified that an individual will not be held criminally or civilly liable under any federal or state trade secret law for the disclosure of a trade secret that (i) is made in confidence to a federal, state, or local government official (directly or indirectly) or to an attorney solely for the purpose of reporting or investigating a suspected violation of law, or (ii) is made in a complaint or other document filed in a lawsuit or other proceeding, if (and only if) such filing is made under seal. In addition, an individual who files a lawsuit for retaliation by an employer for reporting a suspected violation of law may disclose the trade secret to the individual’s attorney and use the trade secret information in the court proceeding, if the individual files any document containing the trade secret under seal and does not disclose the trade secret, except pursuant to court order.
Workplace The Employee shall be required to perform work at or any other site of work for the Employer.
Agents in Their Individual Capacity Each Agent and its affiliates may make loans to, accept deposits from and generally engage in any kind of business with the Borrower or any other Credit Party as though such Agent were not an Agent hereunder. With respect to the Loans made and Letters of Credit issued and all obligations owing to it, an Agent shall have the same rights and powers under this Credit Agreement as any Lender and may exercise the same as though they were not an Agent, and the terms "Lender" and "
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.
Contractor Designation of Trade Secrets or Otherwise Confidential Information If the Contractor considers any portion of materials to be trade secret under section 688.002 or 812.081, F.S., or otherwise confidential under Florida or federal law, the Contractor must clearly designate that portion of the materials as trade secret or otherwise confidential when submitted to the Department. The Contractor will be responsible for responding to and resolving all claims for access to Contract-related materials it has designated trade secret or otherwise confidential.
