The Yukon government’s Public Service Commission has opened a new investigations office dedicated to digging into workplace investigations related to serious interpersonal misconduct like harassment, abuse of authority, discrimination, sexual harassment and violence, according to an internal memo.
The June 5 memo obtained by the News notes the office will conduct “thorough and impartial” investigations as needed to support Yukon government employees who have experienced or witnessed serious interpersonal misconduct at work.
Workers now have the option to report an incident or behaviour to their supervisor, the next level of management, human resources in their department or the investigations office, per the memo.
The investigations office is intended to guide and support all parties involved in an investigation.
The memo states the respectful workplace policy has been updated to address these kinds of issues accordingly.
Furthermore, the old respectful workplace office now goes by conflict management services. This is where staff can go to deal with “unhealthy conflict or incivility” at work, as noted in the memo. It’s intended for when issues don’t meet the criteria for serious interpersonal misconduct and is best used early in the conflict resolution process.
While an interview wasn't available, in response to questions from the News, acting assistant deputy minister Ash Kayseas of the Public Service Commission said by email that opening the new investigations office isn’t a response to any particular investigation.
It was developed by working with the Yukon Employees’ Union (YEU) and the Yukon Association of Education Professionals (YAEP).
Kayseas noted that, as part of a deal with the unions, disrespectful conduct in the workplace was previously dealt with through the respectful workplace office. That required external investigators being contracted to look into allegations of serious staff misconduct like harassment and bullying.
The problem with external investigations is that they are costly, lengthy and generally done outside the territory, per Kayseas.
The new office will mean complaints are investigated more efficiently, Kayseas said.
Kayseas pointed out that a 2021 regulation under the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Act mandates all Yukon employers to have policies and procedures to prevent violence and harassment at work and for investigating complaints.
“Yukon government has always been in compliance with legislation,” Kayseas said, specifically regulation 19 in the workers’ safety act.
“Accordingly, complaints of such behaviour have always been addressed as required by legislation — the Yukon government is simply changing the manner in which we meet our obligations as an employer.”
Ted Hupé, who heads the Yukon Association of Education Professionals, gives credit to the Public Service Commission for working together with unions to make this new investigation office possible for Yukon government employees.
While he believes the role of the former respectful workplace office was necessary, he said it wasn’t appropriate for that office to be doing both mediation and investigations.
“You can't be a mediator, a judge and an executioner,” he said.
That led to a “battle of ideals” about the role of the office and procedural fairness, per Hupé. He wanted the office to stick with mediation and task someone else with investigations — which is what the outcome came to be.
“This is a seismic shift,” he said.
“Why I speak favourably is because [the Public Service Commission] heard us, they acted on it, and we feel they got it right.”
Now it’s about putting the new office into practice, Hupé said.
“Independence and fairness and integrity and trust is something that will have to be built,” he said.
“It will either build trust, or there will be calls to make it better.”
YEU president Justin Lemphers hopes the new office will permit the Yukon government to investigate issues and come to a timely resolution.
“We're hopeful that this process will work. What we are concerned about is having all these organizations housed under one reporting entity,” he said by phone on June 12.
In the past when investigations or even just training sessions were happening at the department level through the former respectful workplace office, Lemphers said that “sometimes staff were being disciplined on the outcome of those training sessions or information that was gathered when it wasn't an actual investigation, and there was a crossing of lines.”
Lemphers said all parties being engaged around the respectful workplace office had concerns about the function of that office and whether it could properly carry out investigations while respecting the integrity of the process.
Lemphers wants the new office to be separate from whatever function remains of the old office.
“Because we want independence and investigations where those bodies are not under the same departmental structure or same reporting structure, so that if there is the need to do a higher-level review or investigation, there are different public bodies or different people accountable for reviewing the process and the decision making,” he said.
“That's just to ensure that there's no perception of bias in the process.”
Lemphers noted the office has yet to pass its first substantive test.
The Yukon government’s internal memo highlights the territorial government’s dedication to keeping employees working in safe and respectful environments that are “free from interpersonal misconduct.”
“We do not tolerate any behaviour that compromises the integrity, health or safety of our workplaces and are committed to preventing and eliminating these behaviours from our workplaces,” reads the memo.
Contact Dana Hatherly at dana.hatherly@yukon-news.com
