Legislation aims at curbing violence in the workplace

Manitoba may have one of the toughest anti-workplace legislation in place. Even thought workplace violence is hard to predict, it is good to have a strategy in place to deal with it when it arises.
As of August 31, 2011 employees who work in high risk environment - pharmaceutical, dispensing, health care, finance, law enforcement, taxicabs and education are mandated to develop a violence prevention policy.
    Under the legislation, an employee might have the right to know of persons with a history of violence if workers will encounter such persons in their day to day work. This dictate will have to be carefully balanced against an individual's right to privacy under the Privacy Act.
Employers will also be required to report on the number of violent incidents that have occurred in their workplace on a yearly basis.
Whether this legislation has enough teeth to protect workers is still to be seen but at least it is a start in the right direction.