Approval: Senior Leadership Team
Responsibility: Vice-Principal (Finance and Administration)
Date Initially Approved: January 2001
Date(s) Revised: October, 2023; July, 2010
Definitions
Employment Supervisor means persons with administrative and supervisory responsibilities, such as Department Heads, Directors, Managers and Unit Supervisors, all of whom have responsibility under this Policy and Procedure. The supervisor is usually the first contact for Employees inquiring about this Policy.
Employee (Worker), as defined by the Occupational Health & Safety Act, means any of the following,
- A person who performs work or supplies services for monetary compensation. This includes students who have an employment relationship with the University (i.e. casual employee, residence Don, work study student, graduate student employed as a teaching assistance teaching fellow or research assistant, etc.) and who are acting in their employment capacity.
- A secondary school student who performs work or supplies services for no monetary compensation under a work experience program authorized by the school board that operates the school in which the student is enrolled.
- A person who performs work or supplies services for no monetary compensation under a program approved by a college of applied arts and technology, university, or other post-secondary institution.
Reprisal means the act or threat of penalizing, intimidating, or coercing an individual for acting in good faith to carry out or assist with any step provided for in the Policy. Engaging in an act of Reprisal constitutes a breach of this Policy.
University Property means property owned, rented, or otherwise used by the University.
Workplace means any place where a University Employee engages in employment activity. This includes the learning environment and virtual/online workspace (such as a virtual meeting, lecture, conference, etc.), employment activities outside the normal place of work, and employment activities that occur outside of normal work hours. A workplace does not include a home office or similar location that has been approved as a Designated Work Location under a Remote Work Arrangement.
Workplace Violence, as defined by the Occupational Health and Safety Act, means,
- The exercise of physical force by a person against a worker, in a workplace, which causes or could cause physical injury to the worker,
- An attempt to exercise physical force against a worker, in a workplace, which could cause physical injury to the worker,
- A statement or behaviour that is reasonable for a worker to interpret as a threat to exercise physical force against the worker, in a workplace, which could cause physical injury to the worker. This may include:
- Verbally threatening to attack a worker.
- Leaving threatening notes at or sending threatening e-mails.
- Shaking a fist in a worker's face.
- Wielding a weapon at work.
- Hitting or trying to hit a worker.
- Throwing an object at a worker.
- Sexual violence against a worker.
- Kicking an object the worker is standing on such as a ladder; or
- Trying to run down a worker using a vehicle or equipment such as a forklift.
- Domestic/Intimate Partner Violence is included in the definition of workplace violence when it is likely to expose an employee to physical injury in a workplace. It is defined as a pattern of behaviour used by one person to gain power and control over another person with whom they have or previously had an intimate relationship1. Domestic/Intimate Partner violence can include:
- Physical violence with the use of hands, objects, or weapons.
- Sexual violence, including threats, intimidation, physical force or using a position of power for sexual purposes.
- Emotional abuse, verbal abuse, or psychological intimidation, including threatening to kill a partner, a child, a pet, or livestock.
- Spiritual abuse, including using religion to threaten or intimidate, forcing someone to comply with religious beliefs against their will or preventing someone from practicing their beliefs.
- Financial abuse, including stealing, controlling finances, forcing a partner to work, or prohibiting a partner from working.
- Harassment and stalking, including monitoring a partner鈥檚 activities online, using electronic devices to watch or control them, following them or consistently invading their privacy; and/or
- Cyber-violence, including image and video sharing without consent, taking pictures or video without a person鈥檚 consent, online bullying, harassment, unwanted sexting and hate speech.
The definition of Workplace Violence is broad enough to include acts that would constitute offences under .
1
Purpose
To outline the university鈥檚 approach to managing incidents or risks of Workplace Violence on University Property and in University Workplaces, in compliance with provincial regulatory requirements regarding Workplace Violence. The legislation includes the following:
In situations involving workplace harassment, which includes sexual harassment and harassment by provocation or incitement, the 皇冠体育鈥檚 Harassment and Discrimination Prevention and Response Policy is the guiding document.
Scope
This Policy applies to all individuals engaged as Employees (Workers) by the University, on University Property, or in a University Workplace, including work related functions, business, and social events.
This Policy and its Procedure do not override or diminish the rights provided to employees under . Where there is a conflict between this Policy or its Procedures and a collective