PLEA gratefully acknowledges our primary core funder the Law Foundation of Saskatchewan for their continuing and generous support of our organization.
Under the Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations an incident of workplace harassment or violence is called an occurrence and is reported using a Notice of Occurrence.
Employers can have additional procedures, aside from the Notice of Occurrence process, for dealing with harassment or violence. The resolution of a Notice of Occurrence does not result in any disciplinary measures when there has been harassment or violence, so this may be something employers want to address with additional policies.
An employee who has experienced harassment or violence can report it using a Notice of Occurrence. Witnesses to harassment or violence can also report it using a Notice of Occurrence. Witnesses are people who have either...
While the person is still an employee there is no time limit on how
long after an incident a Notice of Occurrence may be filed.
A Notice of Occurrence can be filed by a former employee if the employer is informed of the occurrence within 3 months of the person being employed. A former employee can apply to extend the time period beyond 3 months if they can show that they were unable to make the occurrence known to the employer within the time period because they incurred trauma as a result of the occurrence or because of a health condition.
Employees can notify an employer about an occurrence of harassment or violence orally or in writing. The Notice of Occurrence must include:
It can be given to the employee's supervisor or a person designated to receive it in the Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Policy. If it is about the employer it must go to the person designated to receive it.
If the alleged harasser is not an employee or the employer, the assessment of the workplace’s risk factors for harassment or violence must be updated to take into account the circumstances of the incident. This is then used to update the preventative measures that are in place, if needed. No further action needs to be taken in this situation.
PLEA offers free online training on preventing and addressing workplace harassment.