HomeMy WebLinkAboutPR 542 HR - Alleged Employee Misconduct Toward A Student
PROCEDURE PR 542 HR
TITLE: Alleged Employee Misconduct Toward a Student
Date Authorized: 30 April 2001
Last Revised: 26 May 2025 (Minor Housekeeping Edits)
Last Reviewed: 3 September 2024
COMMITMENT TO INDIGENOUS RIGHTS, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND EQUITY
The District recognizes its responsibility to ensure that this procedure and the associated work
promote and protect Indigenous rights, human rights, and equity. The District will strive to address
and eliminate discrimination and structural and systemic barriers for students, staff, and the
community.
1.0 RATIONALE
This Procedure describes the process to follow when the OCDSB is investigating allegations of
Misconduct Toward a Student or Harassment of a student as defined by Policy P.103.HR
Alleged Employee Misconduct Toward a Student policy (the “Policy”). The primary purpose of
this Procedure is to ensure workplace investigations are conducted fairly and effectively.
2.0 DEFINITIONS
Please refer to Appendix A for a list of definitions of terms used in this procedure.
3.0 PROCEDURAL FAIRNESS AND PRIVACY
3.1 The Employer and Investigator must follow the principles of procedural fairness for all
complaints investigated under this Procedure:
a) Impartiality: The Investigator must be impartial and unbiased. The Investigator
must not take sides.
b) Opportunity to be Heard: The Investigator must give the Respondent a
meaningful opportunity to express their perspectives, give evidence, and respond
to the allegations.
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c) Notice and Reasons: When the Respondent is under investigation, the
Employer must notify the Respondent about the investigation. The Employer
must also give the Respondent enough information and enough time to prepare a
meaningful response. When the investigation is complete, the Employer must
explain the reasons for the outcome.
d) Timeliness: The investigator must complete the investigation within a
reasonable time, but must also make sure the investigation is appropriately
thorough. In most cases, a reasonable time is within 90 calendar days.
e) Confidentiality: As best as possible, everyone involved in the investigations
keeps the investigation information confidential while still making sure the
process and outcome are fair and clear.
f) Representation: Unionized employees under investigation are entitled to be
supported and represented by their union representatives.
4.0 PROCEDURE
The main sections in this Procedure are:
A. Pre-Complaint and Informal Resolution
B. Formal Complaint
C. Threshold Assessment
D. Investigator ’s Process
E. Respondent’s Involvement
F. Investigation Conclusion
G. Corrective Action and Discipline
A. Pre-Complaint and Informal Resolution
Information for the Complainant:
4.1 You may informally resolve your concerns directly with the Respondent. If you are
unable or unwilling to resolve your concerns directly with the Respondent, the
Respondent’s Supervisor may be able to help resolve your concerns. You may contact
the Respondent’s Supervisor to ask for help with an informal resolution.
Information for Supervisors:
4.2 If you are uncertain about the interpretation of any aspect of this Procedure or Policy,
you should contact the Investigations Advisor in the Labour Relations office for
clarification and guidance.
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4.3 If a Complainant asks for your help with informal resolution, you may help the
Complainant and Respondent to resolve the concerns.
4.4 If informal resolution is not appropriate, or if attempts at informal resolution are
unsuccessful, you must refer the matter to Labour Relations.
B. Formal Complaint
Information for the Complainant:
4.5 If you are unable or unwilling to resolve your concerns directly with the Respondent or
with the help of the Respondent’s supervisor, you may submit a formal complaint.
4.6 You submit your formal complaint by contacting one of these people to explain your
concerns:
a) If the complaint is about a non-supervisory employee, you must contact the
Respondent’s Supervisor; but if the circumstances make it inappropriate for
you to contact the Respondent's supervisor, you may contact an Investigations
Advisor in the Labour Relations office.
b) If the complaint is about a supervisor, for example, a principal, you must contact
the Investigations Advisor in the Labour Relations office;
c) If the complaint is about an employee in the Labour Relations office, you must
contact the General Counsel;
d) If the complaint is about a member of the Director ’s Executive Council, you
must contact the General Counsel; or
e) If the complaint is about the General Counsel, you must contact the Director of
Education.
4.7 If you are a student under age 16, you may submit your own formal complaint, or your
parent or guardian may submit a formal complaint on your behalf.
4.8 If you are a student aged 16 or over, you may submit your own formal complaint and
another person, including your parent or guardian, may help you if you want.
4.9 You must include enough detail in your formal complaint to show that the Respondent
may have engaged in Misconduct Toward a Student or Harassment of a student.
4.10 Except in rare circumstances, you cannot remain anonymous in a formal complaint. The
Respondent has the right to know the identities of the Complainant and the other
Witnesses.
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4.11 If you submit a formal complaint more than six months after the alleged incident, the
Employer may decide to not investigate your complaint. Typically, the Employer
investigates complaints about sexual harm even if you submit a complaint more than six
months after the alleged incident.
4.12 Once you submit a formal complaint, in order to protect the integrity of the investigation
you should try as best as you can to keep the complaint confidential.
Information for Employees who Witness Harm to a Student:
4.13 If you have a reason to believe a child under 16 is being abused or neglected, you must
report your concern to the Children’s Aid Society immediately. This law applies to
everyone in Ontario. You can’t expect someone else to make the report for you. To learn
more about reports to the Children’s Aid Society, review OCDSB Procedure
PR.605.SCO.
4.14 If you believe that an employee has engaged in Misconduct Toward a Student or
Harassment of a student, you must immediately submit a formal complaint to the
employee’s Supervisor or to your own Supervisor.
4.15 Once you submit a formal complaint, in order to protect the integrity of the investigation
you must not discuss information about the complaint with staff, students, or parents,
especially any potential Witnesses. This helps to protect the integrity of the
investigation. However, if you have a legal or professional obligation to report your
concerns to another person or organization, you are still allowed to do so.
For clarity, the reason you must not discuss information with others is that the
Investigator must assess each Witness’s independent memory of the allegations.
Discussing your information with other people may cause each person’s independent
memory to be affected by other people’s memories. If this happens, the Investigator
may be unable to effectively and fairly assess the information.
Information for Supervisors:
4.16 When you receive a formal complaint, you must forward the complaint to the
Investigations Advisor in the Labour Relations office.
4.17 If you have information suggesting that the Respondent has engaged in Misconduct
Toward a Student or Harassment of a student, you may initiate a formal complaint on
your own and forward the complaint to the Investigations Advisor in the Labour
Relations office.
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C. Threshold Assessment
Information for the Complainant:
4.18 The Employer, typically the Labour Relations office, completes a Threshold Assessment
for every formal complaint under this Procedure. The purpose of the Threshold
Assessment is to decide if your complaint shows that the Respondent may have
engaged in Misconduct Toward a Student or Harassment of a student. The Threshold
Assessment is not meant to be hard or complicated. It is there to filter out complaints
that don't fit into this Procedure, or complaints that are improper or unnecessary.
4.19 To complete the Threshold Assessment, the Employer may collect and consider
additional information that is not in your complaint.
4.20 If your complaint does not meet the threshold for an investigation, the Employer tells
you the outcome of the Threshold Assessment.
4.21 There are four possible outcomes of a Threshold Assessment:
a) Your complaint is dismissed. This happens if your complaint does not show that
the Respondent may have engaged in Misconduct Toward a Student or
Harassment of a student. This also happens if your complaint is improper or
unnecessary.
b) Your complaint is transferred to a different person within the OCDSB. This
happens if your complaint does not show that the Respondent may have
engaged in Misconduct Toward a Student or Harassment of a student, but the
concerns in your complaint could be effectively resolved by someone else at the
OCDSB.
c) Your complaint is moved into a non-disciplinary dispute resolution or diversion
program. This happens if the Employer believes that your concerns can be
resolved fairly and effectively without further investigation. The Employer may
create criteria and protocols to manage these programs. If the program is
unsuccessful, the Employer may either dismiss your complaint or assign an
Investigator to conduct an investigation.
d) The Employer assigns an Investigator to conduct an investigation. This
happens if your complaint shows that the Respondent may have engaged in
Misconduct Toward a Student or Harassment of a student, and a non-disciplinary
program is not appropriate.
4.22 The Employer may assign any person as an Investigator. This includes the
Respondent’s Supervisor, an Investigator employed by the OCDSB, an external
Investigator, or any other person the Employer believes is appropriate.
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4.23 The Employer may separate or combine complaints if appropriate. For example, if your
complaint engages multiple policies, the Employer may separate your complaint into
multiple complaints under each policy. Similarly, if the Employer receives multiple
related complaints, the Employer may combine those complaints into a single
complaint.
D. Investigator ’s Process
Information for the Investigator:
4.24 You must follow any internal protocols or directives the Employer has created to guide
your investigation. Internal protocols or directives are intended to facilitate the efficient
and appropriate application of this Procedure. Internal protocols or directives must
follow the principles of procedural fairness in Part 3 of this Procedure.
4.25 Your investigation should generally involve the following steps:
a) Interview the Complainant,
b) Interview Witnesses,
c) Review documents and other evidence provided by the Complainant and
Witnesses (see below for more about evidence),
d) Share relevant information and evidence with the Respondent,
e) Interview the Respondent,
f) Interview any additional Witnesses,
g) Review any additional documents or other evidence provided by the Respondent
or additional Witnesses,
h) Decide if the Respondent engaged in Misconduct Toward a Student or
Harassment of a student, and
i) Prepare an investigation report.
4.26 You may change the steps described above to ensure the investigation is appropriate in
the circumstances. If you change the steps, you must still follow the principles of
procedural fairness in Part 3 of this Procedure. Some examples of factors that may
cause you to change these steps include:
a) The seriousness of the allegations,
b) Any relationships that exist between Witnesses,
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c) The types and scope of anticipated evidence,
d) The urgency in reaching an outcome,
e) Any ongoing risk of harm,
f) The identities of the individuals involved, including declared identity as an
Indigenous person, racialized person, or identity in a historically marginalized
group,
g) The best interests of any children involved, and
h) The potential impact on the parties.
4.27 You must consider all relevant evidence. Examples of relevant evidence might include:
a) Interviews with Witnesses, including the Complainant and Respondent,
b) Information provided by an employee’s Supervisor,
c) Written statements,
d) Documents,
e) Digital or physical files,
f) Discipline history,
g) Human resource records and information,
h) Site visits,
i) Expert opinions, and
j) Other evidence relevant to the complaint or allegations.
4.28 You must give the Respondent an opportunity to submit relevant evidence, and to
challenge the evidence that allegedly shows Misconduct Toward a Student or
Harassment of a student.
4.29 You must keep all evidence connected to the investigation confidential as best as
possible. For clarity, confidential does not mean anonymous. Except in rare
circumstances, the Respondent has the right to know the identities of the Complainant
and the Witnesses.
4.30 You must ensure that the Complainant and Respondent are regularly updated about the
status and progress of the investigation.
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4.31 The Employer may direct you to pause or terminate the investigation. For example, this
might happen if:
a) There is a parallel investigation by the police,
b) There is a parallel investigation by a Children’s Aid Society,
c) The Respondent is on a medical leave,
d) Schools are closed for a break, or
e) The Respondent resigns or retires.
E. Respondent’s Involvement
Information for the Respondent about the Notification Meeting:
4.32 As soon as practical after an investigation begins, the Employer must notify you about
the complaint. The Employer may ask your Supervisor, the Investigator, or another
appropriate person to notify you on behalf of the Employer. In many cases, it may not be
practical to notify you until the Investigator has enough information to prepare a written
summary of the allegations.
4.33 When the Employer notifies you of the complaint, the Employer must give you:
a) A description of the allegations, including which policies you may have breached;
b) If you are unionized, clear information that
i) you may ask your union for help,
ii) the Employer can help you find contact information for your union, and
iii) you do not need to say anything about the allegations until you have
consulted with your union.
c) A directive not to discuss information connected to the investigation with staff,
students, or parents, especially the Complainant or any potential Witnesses; and
d) Information about the Employer ’s employee assistance program.
Information for the Respondent about Temporary Actions:
4.34 At any point during an investigation, the Employer may take any of the following
temporary actions:
a) Reassign you within your work site or to a new work site,
b) Reassign you to work from home (also known as “Home Assignment”),
c) Change your work schedule or responsibilities,
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d) Give you additional support or supervision,
e) Direct your not to communicate or interact with certain people, and
f) Other temporary actions appropriate in the circumstances.
Information for the Respondent about Investigation Meetings:
4.35 The Investigator must give you enough time and sufficient information to meaningfully
prepare for meetings during the investigation.
4.36 Enough time typically means at least two working days. There is no minimum amount of
time if you do not need to answer questions or make a statement during the meeting.
4.37 Sufficient information means enough information for you to understand the complaint
and to meaningfully respond. The Investigator gives you a written summary of the
allegations, typically including the name of each Witness and the information collected
from each Witness.
4.38 At the meeting, the Investigator invites you to explain your perspectives about the
complaint. The Investigator asks you questions to understand your perspectives and to
learn more about you. You can give the Investigator evidence or information that is
relevant to the investigation.
4.39 If the Investigator reasonably believes that giving you time and information to prepare
for the meeting will compromise the integrity of the investigation, the Investigator may
meet you without allowing you to prepare. For example, this might happen if the
Investigator has reliable information suggesting that you may destroy evidence, harm
someone, damage property, or talk to other Witnesses. The Investigator must not use
this option unless it is necessary to protect the integrity of the investigation.
F. Investigation Conclusion
Information for the Investigator:
4.40 At the end of the investigation, you must decide if the Respondent engaged in
Misconduct Toward a Student or Harassment of a student. To do this, you must use the
legal standard of a balance of probabilities. “Balance of probabilities” means that
something is more likely to be true than not.
4.41 You must explain to the Employer the reasons for your conclusions.
4.42 You must prepare a written report about the investigation unless the Employer directs
you otherwise.
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Information for the Respondent:
4.43 The Employer must tell you the conclusions of the investigation, and the reasons for
those conclusions. The Employer gives you this information in writing.
Information for the Complainant:
4.44 The Employer must tell you the conclusions of the investigation, including any
non-disciplinary corrective action. The Employer gives you this information in writing. To
protect the privacy of the Respondent, the Employer does not tell you the details of any
discipline.
G. Corrective Action and Discipline
Information for the Respondent:
4.45 If you engage in Misconduct Toward a Student or Harassment of a student, the
Employer may discipline you or take other corrective action. The Employer follows the
principles of progressive discipline. To determine the appropriate level of discipline, the
Employer considers
a) your level of blame for the conduct ,
b) the seriousness and impact of your conduct,
c) other mitigating factors, if any, that tend to suggest a lower level of discipline is
appropriate, and
d) other aggravating factors, if any, that tend to suggest a higher level of discipline
is appropriate.
4.46 To support the discipline process, the Employer may share the outcome of the
investigation with your Supervisor or the appropriate supervisory officer.
4.47 If you are a member of a regulated profession, for example, a Teacher or an Early
Childhood Educator, the Employer may report the matter to your profession’s governing
body. In some situations, the Employer may have a legal obligation to report the matter.
5.0 REVIEW:
5.1 The Employer reviews this Procedure at least once per year.
6.0 APPENDICES
Appendix A: Policy Definitions
Appendix B: Simplified Guide to Workplace Investigations
7.0 REFERENCE DOCUMENTS
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Education Act
Child, Youth and Family Services Act
OCDSB Policy P 103 HR - Alleged Employee Misconduct Toward a Student
OCDSB Policy P 032 SCO - Safe Schools (Managing Student Behaviour)
OCDSB Procedure PR 605 SCO - Reporting Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect of a Student
under 16 Years of Age
OCDSB Policy P 125 SCO - School District Code of Conduct
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APPENDIX A: PROCEDURE DEFINITIONS
In this procedure,
Complainant means the person who was harmed by the alleged Misconduct Toward a Student or
Harassment of a student, or a person acting on their behalf, such as a parent of a young student.
District means the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board.
Employer means the Director’s Executive Council (DEC) or any employee who is acting on behalf of
the DEC.
Harassment means a pattern of Disrespectful Behaviour. In some circumstances, a singular incident
may be recognized as Harassment, depending on the nature of the comment or conduct. Code-based
Harassment is Harassment based on a Protected Ground. If a person does not explicitly object to
harassing behaviour or appears to be going along with it, this does not mean that the behaviour is
okay. The behaviour could still be considered Harassment. Examples of Harassment include:
a) epithets, remarks, jokes, or innuendos related to a person who identified with a Protected
Ground;
b) posting or circulating offensive pictures, graffiti, or materials, whether in print form or via e-mail
or other electronic means related to a Protected Ground;
c) singling out a person for humiliating, demeaning, “teasing”, or jokes because of a Protected
Ground; and
d) comments ridiculing a person because of characteristics that are related to a Protected
Ground. For example, this could include comments about a person’s dress, speech, or other
practices that may be related to their sex, race, gender identity, or creed.
Investigator means the person who figures out if the Respondent engaged in Misconduct Toward a
Student or Harassment of a student.
Respondent means the employee who allegedly engaged in Misconduct Toward a Student or
Harassment of a student.
Supervisor means an OCDSB employee who oversees or manages another OCDSB employee’s
work.
Witness means a person who has information about the alleged Misconduct Toward a Student or
Harassment of a student. A witness may have seen or heard the incident, or they may have
information that helps the Investigator understand what happened. For example, a Witness may be a
student, another employee, or a parent. The Complainant and Respondent are both Witnesses.
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You can find additional definitions in the Alleged Misconduct Toward a Student policy (P.103.HR).
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APPENDIX B:
SIMPLIFIED GUIDE TO WORKPLACE INVESTIGATIONS
The following is a simplified summary of the main steps in a workplace investigation.
Pre-Complaint & Informal Resolution
The Complainant and Respondent attempt to resolve the Complainant’s concerns together. The
Respondent’s Supervisor can help if necessary.
↓
Formal Complaint & Threshold Assessment
The Complainant submits a formal complaint explaining the alleged misconduct.
The Employer decides whether to start an investigation or use a non-disciplinary program.
↓
Investigation Meetings
The Investigator collects information from the Complainant, Witnesses, and Respondent.
The union helps the Respondent throughout the investigation.
↓
Investigation Conclusion and Decision
The Investigator reviews all the evidence and decides if the Respondent breached a policy.
The Employer explains the conclusion to the Complainant and the Respondent.
↓
Corrective Action and Discipline
The Employer imposes appropriate corrective action and discipline if necessary.
The Employer reports the matter to the employee’s professional governing body, if applicable.
The “Complainant” is the person who was harmed by the alleged Misconduct Toward a Student.
The “Respondent” is the employee who allegedly engaged in Misconduct Toward a Student.
The “Investigator” is the person who figures out if the Respondent engaged in Misconduct Toward a
Student.
A “Witness” is a person who has information about the alleged Misconduct Toward a Student.
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