Supervisors/Managers: What to do when you receive a notice of occurrence

April 6, 2021 -  Defence Stories

Do you know what to do if an occurrence of harassment and violence happens in the workplace? As a supervisor/manager, you have a critical role in protecting and supporting employees of the organization. Please ensure you have completed the mandatory training and understand your responsibilities.

**** If you believe that your life/physical safety, or that of someone you know in the workplace, is at immediate risk, please contact the Military Police if you are on a base, wing, or in a DND building. If not on DND property, call 911.

If you receive a Notice of Occurrence (a formal notice reporting an occurrence of harassment and violence in the workplace) either verbally or in writing, follow these steps:

**** If the Notice of Occurrence involves the supervisor/manager as a principal party or responding party, then it must be submitted to the designated recipient.

• Review the Notice of Occurrence to ensure all required information is included: name of the principal party (an employee or employer who is the object of an occurrence) and responding party (the person who is alleged to have been responsible for the occurrence), date of occurrence, and detailed description, if known. If any information is missing, the principal party may provide it during the initial meeting.
• Respond to the Notice of Occurrence within seven calendar days of receipt using the Response to a Notice of Occurrence Principal Party Template and report the Notice of Occurrence to the Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Center of Expertise for tracking purposes.
• Set an initial meeting with the principal party to attempt to determine together whether the occurrence falls within the definition of harassment and violence in the regulations. If the occurrence meets the definition, the resolution process can begin.
• Initiate the negotiated resolution process to discuss the occurrence and possible resolutions no later than 45 days after the notice of occurrence was submitted. All parties involved must make every reasonable effort to resolve an occurrence as outlined in DND’s interim policy.

During negotiated resolution, the responding party should only be contacted once agreement is received from the principal party or if the principal party chooses to proceed with conciliation and/or a prevention investigation by using the Response to Responding Party Regarding a Notice of an Occurrence template.

The goal is to resolve the Notice of Occurrence at the most informal level. Some cases can be resolved at the negotiated resolution level, civilly precluding the need to involve the responding party.

• If it is decided to proceed with the Conciliation/Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) process, contact the Conflict and Complaint Management Services Centres for services (accessible only on the National Defence network). Conciliation/ADR can only proceed if both, the principal party and responding party agree to it and agree on who will facilitate the process.
• If it is decided to proceed with a prevention investigation, contact the Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations (WHVP) Centre of Expertise for more information. A prevention investigation focuses on the root cause of occurrences in the workplace and develops recommendations around how to prevent similar occurrences..

Remember, the privacy and confidentiality of employees must be maintained throughout the process. As a supervisor, you are required to keep all information related to the occurrence and resolution process confidential. Do not disclose any information to other colleagues or supervisors.

For more information, visit the New workplace harassment and violence prevention regulations involving Defence Team Public Service Employees web page, call HR Connect RH at 1-833-RHR-MDND (1-833-747-6363) or email the Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations (WHVP) Centre of Expertise. For definitions of terminology used in this process, consult Useful terms and definitions.