After much discussion, changes have been agreed to and made to the Appendix B – Harassment Complaint Procedure. These changes were made to steps 1 and 2 and are reproduced are in bold below. The full text of Appendix B is available on with the rest of the Collective Agreement.
We believe these changes better protect the rights of all CULE members.
Please contact your director should you have any questions or concerns.
Appendix “B” Harassment Complaint Procedure (changes in bold)
Any employee can initiate a complaint of harassment as described in Article 5 of this collective agreement. When an employee feels they are being harassed, the following steps shall apply:
STEP 1 (Initial)
Each party to the collective agreement shall appoint an harassment complaint coordinator or where appropriate harassment complaint coordinators. Any employee with an allegation of harassment shall first contact their respective harassment complaint coordinator. The harassment complaint coordinator and the complainant will determine whether the conduct which gave rise to the complaint might constitute harassment, as defined by Article 5 of the collective agreement, and will consider the best approach to address the concern. The harassment complaint coordinator shall contact the alleged harasser to advise them that an allegation of harassment has been made and with a view to resolving the problem. In situations where employee(s) outside of one union’s bargaining unit is involved, the respective harassment coordinator(s) may also be contacted.
At this step there is no Employer involvement in the process. It is understood that a complaint is to be addressed with all possible confidentiality and dispatch and that all parties to a complaint are expected to keep all matters relating to the complaint strictly confidential.
Frivolous complaints or complaints filed in bad faith can constitute harassment which may lead to disciplinary action.
No more than twenty-five (25) days shall lapse between the date the complainant contacts their harassment coordinator and either Step 2 or Step 3 (where Step 2 is not used) is initiated. These time limits may be extended by mutual consent of the parties; however, there should not be any undue delays.
STEP 2 (Problem Solving – Optional)
Employees are expected to try to resolve the complaint prior to filing a grievance. In the interests of exploring all possible avenues to create a positive working environment, it may be deemed appropriate by the complainant and the respective harassment complaint coordinator (and, where possible, the alleged harasser) to involve the employer in a problem solving initiative. The objectives of any such initiative would be to explore the nature of the problem and discuss possible short and long term solutions.
No more than twenty-five (25) working days shall lapse at this step of the procedure. These time limits may be extended by mutual consent by the parties; however, there should not be undue delays.
When the respective harassment complaint coordinator and the complainant may determine that problem solving will not take place, or that, once begun, problem solving initiatives have concluded unsuccessfully .The harassment complaint coordinator will advise the alleged harasser and the Employer that a grievance may be filed. The parties agree that the time limit referred to in Article 14.10 (a) will begin at the time of such notification.