Employers are responsible for maintaining policies and procedures to ensure a safe workplace. The worker’s role is to follow safe work practices and to report safety hazards and anything else that they believe goes against the legislation.

Under section 126(1)(j) of Part II of the Canada Labour Code, every worker has a duty to report to the employer any situation they believe contravenes the Code, whether involving the employer, another worker, or any other person, as well as any circumstance that is likely to pose a hazard to the health and safety of workers. Upon receiving such a report, the employer is required to respond and take appropriate action, in accordance with their obligations under section 125(1)(z.02) of the Code. An internal complaint resolution process is established in section 127.1 of the Canada Labour Code Part II. This internal process has to be used before other recourses.

Key steps of the complaint resolution process

Step 1: A worker who reasonably believes that there has been a contravention of the Code, or that a situation is likely to cause an accident or injury to health, may bring the matter to the attention of their supervisor by making a complaint, as provided under s.127.1(1);

Step 2: The worker and the supervisor must attempt to resolve the complaint between themselves as soon as possible (s.127.1(2));

Step 3: Either person can refer an unresolved complaint to a chairperson of the workplace committee or the health and safety representative (s.127.1(3));

Step 4: Those who investigate the complaint must inform the worker and the employer in writing of the results of the investigation (s.127.1(4));

Step 5: Those who investigate the complaint can make recommendations to remedy the situation, whether they think the complaint is justified or not (s.127.1(5));

Step 6: If the complaint is justified, the employer must inform the investigators in writing right away of when and how they will resolve the matter (s.127.1(6));

Step 7: If those who investigated the complaint conclude that a danger exists, the employer must ensure that no worker is exposed to that danger (s.127.1);

Step 8: The worker or employer may refer to a health and safety officer in the following circumstances (s.127.1(8)):

• the employer does not agree with the results of the investigation;
• the employer has failed to take action to resolve the matter or to inform those who investigated the complaint of when and how the matter would be resolved;
• those who investigated the complaint do not agree on whether the complaint is justified.

Step 9: The health and safety officer must investigate the complaint (s.127.1(9));

Step 10: After the investigation, the officer (s.127.1(10)):

• can issue directions to an employer or worker;
• can recommend that the employer resolve the matter between themselves;
• shall, if they conclude that a danger exists as described in s. 128.1, issue directions under s.145.2.