Alberta: Changes to Workplace Violence Prevention Plans Now Apply

Recent amendments to Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety Code (the “Code”) will impact employer obligations to address violence and harassment in the workplace. These changes, announced with little warning, have caught many employers off guard. Are your workplace violence and harassment policies compliant with the new Code requirements?

Background

On Dec. 4, 2024, the Government of Alberta implemented extensive amendments to the Code through Ministerial Order 2024-12. While there are plenty of changes throughout the Code resulting from this Ministerial Order, the ones of most interest to employers in Alberta concern Part 27 – Violence and Harassment.

The Way Things Were

Under the Code, as it existed prior to these amendments, violence and harassment were considered workplace hazards. This meant that employers were required to conduct hazard assessments before work could commence, prepare reports of those assessments, and eliminate or reasonably control the hazard. Employers were also required to have policies and procedures regarding violence and harassment prevention. There were also investigation and reporting requirements under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) regarding violence and harassment in the workplace.

What’s Changed?

Violence and Harassment Are No Longer Workplace Hazards

Section 389 of the Code has been repealed, which means violence and harassment are no longer considered “hazards.” That means the requirements of Part 2 of the Code no longer directly apply to violence and harassment in the workplace, and a hazard assessment does not need to be completed before work begins on the worksite. However, amendments to Part 27 import a lot of the same language and concepts from Part 2.

Redundant Provisions Have Been Removed 

Part 27 now requires employers to have a single violence and harassment prevention plan. Echoing language from Part 2, the plan must include:

• Measures to eliminate or, if not reasonably practicable, reduce violence and harassment toward workers.
• Procedures to inform workers about the nature of violence and harassment.
• Procedures for how to report violence and harassment and how complaints and incidents will be investigated.

As before, the plan must also address measures the employer will take to protect the confidentiality of parties involved and when disclosure of that information will be required.

Reviewing Violence and Harassment Prevention Plans

Requirements remain in Part 27 to review and, if necessary, revise the prevention plan every three years or if the joint health and safety committee/representative requests a review. However, an incident of violence or harassment no longer automatically triggers a review unless the incident indicates a review is required. Another change with these amendments is that a review is now required where there is a change to the work or worksite that could affect the potential for violence or harassment to occur.

Training Requirements Are Largely Unchanged

The employer’s obligation to train workers with respect to the violence and harassment prevention plan remains largely the same following the amendments. One small difference is that the employer must ensure that workers are trained on the violence and prevention plan, including when revisions are made to the plan. Previously, revisions to the plan were not specifically identified in the training requirements.

Employers Don’t Have to Send Investigation Reports to the Director

Previously, the employer had to prepare a report of the circumstances of the incident of violence and/or harassment and the corrective action, if any, taken to prevent a recurrence. The report had to be kept readily available and provided to an occupational health and safety officer on demand. These requirements are unchanged. 

However, the employer is now no longer obligated to provide a copy of the report to the director, to the joint health and safety committee/representative, or, if there is no committee or representative, to workers once the investigation is complete. The director and workers are no longer entitled to a copy of the report. Further, there is now an explicit requirement for the employer to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident of violence and harassment. This change probably has little practical effect, as it is unclear how a report could have been completed in the past without first conducting an investigation of some sort.

Entitlement to Pay

Under the previous version of the Code, if a worker sought treatment or referral from a physician during regular working hours because of an injury or symptom resulting from an incident of violence or harassment, the employer was prohibited from making a deduction from the worker’s pay or benefits for the time during which the worker attended the session. Following the most recent amendments, if a worker seeks treatment under these circumstances during regular working hours, the Code says that the worker is deemed to be at work during that treatment. Deductions from pay or benefits are no longer expressly mentioned.

When Do These Changes Take Effect?

All of these amendments are currently in effect and have been since Dec. 4, 2024. However, Ministerial Order 2024-16, issued on Dec. 10, 2024, provides a transition period. Until March 31, 2025, employers may comply with the requirements of either the amended Code or the version of the Code that existed before Dec. 4, 2024. Note that after March 31, 2025, all employers must comply with the amended Code.

What Does This Mean for Employers?

Employers will need to review their violence and harassment prevention policies to ensure they comply with the amended Code. They should become familiar with the new requirements for when a review of the policies is required and the changes to reporting obligations. Reducing redundancy in the Code will probably make these policies more streamlined, though the Code now contains fewer details than in the previous version about the specific contents of the procedures. As of the date of this post, the Alberta Government has not yet updated the Occupational Health and Safety website or its sample policies to reflect the amendments.

Stephen Torscher and Alex Norris are attorneys with Carbert Waite in Calgary, Alberta. © 2025 Carbert Waite. All rights reserved. Reposted with permission of Lexology.