Resolving Harassment and Disability Issues
in the Workplace
Post-Conference Workshop

Presented by Lancaster House

Thursday, December 16, 2010
Full-Day Interactive Session
9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver
900 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, B.C., V6C 2W6

• This program has been accredited by the Law Society of British Columbia towards the professional development requirement for certification.

Labour Law             5.5 hours

Employers and unions are increasingly looking for better ways to work together to quickly identify and resolve issues relating to workplace harassment and the need to accommodate disabilities. In this interactive workshop, Lancaster's panel of experts will use scenarios and provide you with strategies to better facilitate union-management cooperation in the workplace. Topics to be discussed include:

• What are the benefits of a collaborative process? What do both sides stand to gain from a cooperative approach? Are there possible downsides to a joint approach?
• Is there any evidence that joint strategies are effective?
• How can union and management work together to devise preventative strategies in relation to workplace harassment?
• How can the parties work together to design and enforce an effective anti-harassment policy?
• How can the union and management work together to investigate and resolve harassment complaints?
• How can language in a collective agreement or letter of understanding be structured to ensure both parties buy into joint strategies?
• Are there potential legal pitfalls that the parties must avoid in agreeing to joint investigative/accommodative strategies? How can there be cooperation without violating the worker's right to union representation?
• How can workers' privacy be safeguarded in the context of joint investigative and accommodative practices?
• What is the role of an accommodation committee and how can it be used to address disability issues in the workplace?