Alix council implements revisions to policies

ECA Review/Submitted

Alix village council discussed revisions to Policy No. 46: Workplace Violence and Harassment during their June 21 meeting.

“We were deficient in that OHS requires a workplace violence and harassment policy,” said Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Michelle White. “So I reached out to e2r solutions and they did a fantastic job and worked with me and helped us out to get a compliant policy that we could use.”

Policy No. 46: Workplace Violence and Harassment covers violence and harassment, stating “the Village will not tolerate violent behaviour from employees, non-employees, visitors, guests, or any others that attend at the Workplace.”

The policy will also outline the complaint procedure which shows the steps for making an official report.

Councillor Ed Cole inquired, “Does that also encompass false complaints?”

He clarified that he was referring to situations where individuals deliberately made malicious complaints, and whether they would be subjected to disciplinary measures.

White responded that if the complaint were found malicious, it would undergo an investigation to determine if it was malicious or if there were grounds for the complaint.

Council also engaged in discussions regarding the implementation of mechanisms to establish connections between the policy and other relevant codes and handbooks. This approach aims to ensure coherence and consistency across various guidelines and resources, enhancing the effectiveness and clarity of the overall framework.

When asked by Deputy Mayor Tim Besuijen. if the village handbook should be referenced here in the policy because one of them’s got to be the precedent setter, White said she would look into it and see what the policies say and bring it to administration.

Administration will revisit taking into account the matters discussed by council and return it to council at a later meeting.

Council reviewed and approved the revisions to Policy No. 37: Health and Safety.

Article published by East Central Alberta Review