{"id":6689,"date":"2024-07-10T15:25:10","date_gmt":"2024-07-10T19:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/workplace-violence-prevention-policies-plans\/"},"modified":"2025-07-10T16:44:55","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T20:44:55","slug":"workplace-violence-prevention-policies-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/labour-and-employment\/workplace-violence-prevention-policies-plans\/","title":{"rendered":"Workplace violence prevention policies and plans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Workplace violence can take many forms and the cost can be significant. For employees, it can have an emotional and financial toll. For employers, it can result in increased insurance and legal claims, high staff turnover, and property damage. Efforts have been made at both the federal and provincial levels to reduce the incidence of violence in the workplace. This article will provide an overview of those efforts with specific reference to the recent amendments to The<\/em> Saskatchewan Employment Act<\/em> (\u201cSEA\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On January 1, 2021, the Canadian government enacted the Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations<\/em> and legislation (Bill C-65 (42-1)), which amended Part II of the Canada Labour Code<\/em>.[1]<\/a> The Regulations apply to federally regulated employees, and focus on improving prevention efforts; mandating supervisor response times when notified of a violent incident; mandatory harassment and violence prevention training programs; and more robust requirements around privacy and confidentiality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a provincial level, an employer\u2019s workplace violence obligations vary across jurisdictions but typically include an obligation to identify and assess the risk of workplace violence, to develop workplace violence policies and procedures, to provide violence prevention training to the workforce and to investigate incidents of workplace violence.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saskatchewan<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As of May 17, 2024, all<\/strong> provincially regulated workplaces within Saskatchewan are required to implement a violence policy and prevention plan.[3]<\/a> Section 3-26 of The Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, 2020 <\/em>defines \u201cviolence\u201d as \u201cthe attempted, threatened or actual conduct of a person that causes or is likely to cause injury, and includes any threatening statement or behaviour that gives a worker reasonable cause to believe that the worker is at risk of injury.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The amendment specifically requires all Saskatchewan employers to implement a Violence Prevention Policy and Plan that includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n