Employees: Workplace harassment and violence occurrence – File a notice of occurrence with your employer
Before following the steps to file a notice of occurrence with your employer, ensure that you have read the definition of harassment and violence and the definitions of key terms.
3. File a notice of occurrence with your employer
If you feel that you have been a victim, or a witness, of workplace harassment and violence, you have the right to file a notice of occurrence with your employer. A witness may provide notice of an occurrence anonymously.
Step 1
Notify your employer, supervisor or the person or work unit designated to receive a notice of occurrence of harassment and violence. You must notify them either orally or in writing, and can use this sample notice of occurrence template or the form developed by your employer, if any. The form must contain:
- the name of the principal party and responding party, if known
- the date of the occurrence, and
- a detailed description of the occurrence
Note: You can provide a notice of occurrence to your employer or designated recipient, even for events that happened years in the past.
Step 2
Your employer or designated recipient must respond to your notice of occurrence within 7 days of receiving it.
In the employer’s official response to your notice of occurrence, they must inform you of the following:
- your notice of occurrence has been received or that you have been named and identified as the principal party in a notice of occurrence provided by a witness
- how you can access the workplace harassment and violence prevention policy
- each step of the occurrence resolution process, and
- you may be represented during the resolution process (such as, by a family member, colleague, friend, union representative, or other support person)
Step 3
Your employer or designated recipient must set up a meeting with you (in person, virtually, phone, etc.) within 45 days to begin negotiated resolution. You and the employer or designated recipient must make every reasonable effort to resolve the occurrence through this process.
Step 4
As part of negotiated resolution, the employer or designated recipient will jointly review with you the notice of occurrence against the definition of harassment and violence. The employer or designated recipient is required to proceed with the resolution process if:
- you and the employer or designated recipient cannot agree on whether the occurrence falls under the definition of harassment and violence, and
- you wish to proceed with the resolution process
Step 5
If the occurrence is not resolved through negotiated resolution, you have the option of also seeking resolution through conciliation and/or an investigation. This may run parallel to continued efforts under negotiated resolution.
If you choose to proceed with conciliation
Both you and the responding party will have to jointly agree to participate in conciliation. Both will also have to agree on who will act as the conciliator.
If you choose to proceed with an investigation
Your employer or designated recipient must provide you and the responding party with notice that an investigation will be carried out. Your employer can appoint an investigator from a list of investigators that has been jointly developed with the following (depending on the size of your workplace):
- policy committee
- workplace committee, or
- health and safety representative
If your employer has not jointly developed a list of investigators as above, then you, the employer or designated recipient and the responding party must jointly decide who will act as the investigator. You must jointly reach a decision within 60 days of when your employer or designated recipient provided the notice of an investigation.
Step 6
If you, the responding party and the employer or designated recipient cannot come to an agreement on the investigator within 60 days after the day on which the employer provided the notice of an investigation, your employer can select a qualified investigator from the list provided by the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety.
Step 7
At the end of the investigation, the investigator will submit a report that provides:
- a general description of the occurrence
- the investigator’s conclusions, and
- the investigator’s recommendations to eliminate or minimize the risk of a similar occurrence in the future
You, the responding party, the employer and the workplace committee or health and safety representative will receive a copy of the report. However, the report will not disclose the identities of any of the persons involved.
If you are the person who is alleged to be responsible for the occurrence (responding party)
If you have been notified that you are the responding party, you are required to participate in:
- negotiated resolution, and
- investigation
The employer or designated recipient must inform you of the following:
- you have been named or identified as the person responsible for an occurrence in a notice of occurrence
- how you can access the workplace harassment and violence policy
- each step of the resolution process, and
- you may be represented during the resolution process
Related links
- Requirements for employers to prevent harassment and violence in federally regulated workplaces
- Guide to Writing an Occupational Health and Safety Policy Statement
- Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, information on violence and bullying
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