Collective Agreements

Employees in unionized workplaces elect members to represent their interests. These members negotiate with the employer to establish working conditions. The negotiated terms are included in a collective agreement.

A collective agreement cannot take away any legal rights. Parties cannot contract out of the rights and obligations or minimum standards in laws such as the Canada Labour Code, the Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations or the Canadian Human Rights Act. A collective agreement can include additional rights and responsibilities and set out the process to deal with issues such as workplace harassment or violence. Collective agreements may also include a more expansive definition of harassment or violence and explicitly prohibit certain behaviours or actions.

Workplace harassment or violence is often covered in three ways in collective agreements:

• There may be a general commitment to a harassment-free, violence-free and discrimination-free workplace. This will often include a definition of harassment and a list of the prohibited grounds of discrimination.
• The collective agreement usually also lists the employer's obligations including the employer's obligations to prevent harassment, violence and discrimination and to deal with incidents if they occur.
• Finally the processes for dealing with an issue through a complaint or a grievance is generally outlined.

Collective agreements vary from workplace to workplace. There are different ways that workplace harassment or violence can be a breach of a collective agreement. When a collective agreement is breached the union can file a grievance. Generally only a union can file a grievance.

Workplace harassment or violence can be a breach when the collective agreement…

• prohibits workplace harassment or violence
• requires the employer to protect the health and safety of employees
• prohibits discrimination
• includes a policy about harassment or violence and this policy is not followed

Grievances can also be based on an employer breaking laws such as human rights laws and occupational health and safety laws.

A grievance could be based on...

• an employer’s failure to provide a harassment-free workplace
• how an employer has dealt with an alleged perpetrator of harassment or violence
• how an employer treated an employee who has experienced harassment or violence