Casual legal: Workplace violence & harassment
DISCLAIMER: This article is meant to provide information only and is not intended to provide legal advice. You should seek the advice of legal counsel to address your specific set of circumstances. Although every effort has been made to provide current and accurate information, changes to the law may cause the information in this article to be outdated.
By Lauren Chalaturnyk
Reynolds Mirth Richards Farmer LLP
Alberta Municipalities Casual Legal Service Provider
As employers, municipalities owe an obligation to their employees to ensure a safe and violence-free workplace. Unfortunately, consistent engagement with the public can sometimes result in situations that make maintaining a safe workplace challenging for municipalities. Fortunately, there are several mechanisms available to municipalities to assist with ensuring continued public access to municipal services while also protecting the interests and safety of their employees.
All municipalities as employers must have a violence and harassment policy in place. This policy can and should make reference to what senior managers and staff are expected to do in the event that an interaction with a member of the public has created an unsafe or threatening condition in the workplace. Typically, this would include a requirement that any unsafe conditions be reported to a senior member of administration as soon as possible, as well as explaining to staff that they are not required to continue engaging with a member of the public where they feel unsafe. Using a policy to clearly outline the processes and procedures in relation to an unsafe condition created by a member of the public is a prudent first step in addressing these types of situations in the workplace.
Where an individual is harassing employees of the municipality either in-person or via other forms of correspondence, such as email, it is incumbent upon the municipality to put measures in place to remove the harassing behaviour. This could include communicating to the individual that they are only to have contact with one member of the municipality’s administration (typically the CAO) and that they will not receive a response if they engage with any other municipal staff. In more extreme cases, the municipality may need to consider issuing a trespass notice to individuals that are engaging in threatening or harassing behaviour. In those cases, members of the public do still need to be provided with an ability to pay their taxes or utility bills, for example, but they can be prevented from attending municipal facilities. Restricting a member of the public’s access to municipal facilities should be used with restraint and should only be used in serious cases where no alternatives exist.
Harassing and threatening behaviour can also occur during Council meetings. In those cases, the chief elected official or their deputy should exercise control over the meeting, indicate that no further submissions from an individual engaging in such behaviour will be accepted, and, if necessary, insisting on their removal from the meeting. While members of the public have a right to engage with their elected officials, they do not have a right to do so in a manner that is threatening or harassing to municipal staff.
In all circumstances, if there is an imminent threat to an employee’s safety, the municipality should never hesitate to engage the assistance of law enforcement.
To access Alberta Municipalities Casual Legal Helpline, Alberta Municipalities members can call toll-free to 1.800.661.7673 or email casuallegal [at] abmunis.ca (casuallegal[at]abmunis[dot]ca) and reach the municipal legal experts at Reynolds Mirth Richards and Farmer LLP. For more information on the Casual Legal Service, please contact riskcontrol [at] abmunis.ca (riskcontrol[at]abmunis[dot]ca), or call 310.MUNI (6864) to speak to Alberta Municipalities Risk Management staff. Any Regular or Associate member of Alberta Municipalities can access the Casual Legal Service.
