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.
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 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 The Employee shall be required to perform work at or any other site of work for the Employer.
Safe Workplace A) The Employer and employees recognize the need for a safe and healthful workplace and agree to take appropriate measures in order that risks of accidents and/or occupational disease are reduced and/or eliminated. Employers will take all reasonable steps to eliminate, reduce and/or minimize threats to the safety of employees.
B) An employee performing visitation to clients in the community shall have the right to request backup to attend where there is reasonable cause to expect a violent situation and will have access to appropriate communication equipment.
C) When the Employer is aware that a patient/resident/client has a history of violent behaviour, the Employer shall make such information available to the employee. Upon admission or transfer the Employer will make every reasonable effort to identify the potential for aggressive behaviour. In- services and/or instruction in caring for the violent patient will be provided by the Employer.
D) The Employer will provide orientation and/or in-service which is necessary for the safe performance of work including universal precautions, the safe use of equipment, safe techniques for lifting and supporting patients/residents/clients and the safe handling of materials and products. The Employer will also make readily available information, manuals and procedures for these purposes. The Employer will provide appropriate safety clothing and equipment.
Volunteer Firefighting Leave Leave without pay will be granted when an employee who is a volunteer firefighter is called to duty to respond to a fire, natural disaster or medical emergency.
Nepotism No employee shall be directly supervised by a member of his/her immediate family. “
WORKPLACE FLEXIBILITY The employer must ensure that any Individual Flexibility Agreement (IFA) is genuinely agreed to by the employer and the employee and result in the employee being better off overall at the time the IFA is made than the employee would have been if no IFA had been agreed to.
8.1 Notwithstanding any other provision of the Agreement, the employer and an individual employee may agree to vary the application of certain terms of the Agreement to meet the genuine individual needs of the employer and the individual employee. The terms the employer and the individual employee may agree to vary are the application of those permitted under Section 172 of the FW Act, and relates only to:-
8.1.1 arrangements for when work is performed;
8.1.2 salary sacrifice arrangements;
8.1.3 reduction in ordinary hours; and
8.1.4 are not unlawful terms under Section 194 of the FW Act.
8.2 The employer and the individual employee must have genuinely made the IFA without coercion or duress. An IFA can only be entered into after the individual employee has commenced employment with the employer.
8.3 The IFA between the employer and the individual employee must:
8.3.1 be confined to a variation in the application of one or more of the terms listed in Clause 8.1; and
8.4 The IFA between the employer and the individual employee must also:
8.4.1 be in writing, name the parties to the IFA and be signed by the employer and the individual employee and, if the employee is under eighteen (18) years of age, the employee’s parent or guardian;
8.4.2 state each term of the Agreement that the employer and the individual employee have agreed to vary;
8.4.3 detail how the application of each term has been varied by agreement between the employer and the individual employee;
Major Workplace Change 11.1 If the Employer has made a decision to introduce a major workplace change that is likely to have a Significant Effect on a number of Employees, the Employer must notify the Employee(s) who will be affected by the decision .As soon as practicable and prior to implementation, the Employer must discuss with the relevant Employees and/or their nominated representative/s (e.g. Union or other representative) the introduction of the change; and the effect the change is likely to have on the Employees. The Employer must discuss measures to avert or mitigate the adverse effect of the change on the Employees.
11.2 For the purposes of the discussion the Employer will provide the relevant Employees and/or their nominated representative/s in writing:
(a) All relevant information about the change including the nature of the change proposed;
(b) Information about the expected effects of the change on the Employees; and
(c) Any other matters likely to affect the Employees. However, the Employer is not required to disclose confidential or commercially sensitive information. The Employer must give prompt and genuine consideration to matters raised about the major change by the relevant Employees.
Employee Orientation Each and every person working for a contractor, including sub- contractors, will be given an orientation to familiarize them with the site safety program. Unless otherwise specified, each sub-contractor is responsible for the orientation of their workers.
