CDA Essentials 2018 • Volume 6 • Issue 1

25 Issue 1 | 2019 | I ssues and P eople you are in Ontario, Alberta or British Columbia, you have very clear responsibilities under provincial Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) legislation to protect Janine, the assistant, or any employee who is experiencing domestic violence that’s coming into the workplace. Other jurisdictions have not specifically written such employer responsibilities into their occupational health and safety legislation. However, most labour lawyers will say that as long as your jurisdiction has general provisions under OHS legislation to keep employees safe and prevent violence in the workplace, that obligation extends to domestic violence. Nadine: There are a couple of questions here: what are the dentist’s professional obligations and what are the legal obligations? In terms of professional obligations, I would recommend that the dentist look at their code of practice and their College regulations to see what their professional scope of practice is around this. For example, if the dentist was caring for Janine’s family and her children were exposed to violence in the home or were at risk of direct harm, then the dentist must meet a professional obligation to protect her children through mandatory reporting. C an a dentist dismiss a patient before he/she has even been seen at the office? Kathryn: There is no obligation for a dentist to accept an individual as a patient or prohibiting a dentist from dismissing a potential patient before he or she has been seen at the office. In this case, there are extenuating circumstances which may compromise the safety and well- being of staff, which justifies the refusal. There may be other situations which are not so clear-cut, and dentists should consult with their regulatory body if there is uncertainty about the appropriate next steps. W ho is the best person or organization to reach out to for help in ensuring the safety of Janine, both at work and outside of the dental office? Barb: I would suggest a good place to start is your local women’s shelter. They have expertise in assessing risks and in safety planning. That safety plan has to cover getting to and from work as well as time spent at work. Nadine: One of the misperceptions about women’s shelters is that you have to stay at the shelter to use its services—you don’t. You can call and get advice and get outreach services, which support women in this situation and often men as well. A well-prepared dental practice could have resources from Make it Our Business (see Additional Resources ) so that both the professional and legal obligations are built into policies developed for that practice. Inna: From a legal perspective, the best person for Janine to reach out to is the employer to ensure her safety at work, because employers have a legal obligation to protect staff at work. The employer may address the situation internally by investigating and taking action against the alleged harasser, and may involve external help, such as the police, if the circumstances warrant. In Ontario specifically, Janine would also be entitled to up to 10 days and up to 15 weeks of a job-protected leave of absence from work if she or her child experienced domestic or sexual violence, or threat of domestic or sexual violence, and Janine would require time off work to seek medical attention, obtain services from a victim services organization, relocate or seek law enforcement assistance. In other words, even if Janine were to seek the assistance of an outside organization, she should consider disclosing the issue to her employer as well. W hat measures need to be put in place to ensure Janine’s safety? Inna: The dentist in this scenario has a legal obligation to ensure Janine’s safety at work. Since Janine’s former boyfriend calls her in the office, the office staff may be instructed to screen Janine’s calls and only pass calls to her from an approved list of individuals. The dentist may also post a photo of the former boyfriend in a place that is conspicuous to staff and instruct employees that they are to contact security or the police if the former boyfriend attends at the clinic. As Janine advised that the former boyfriend follows her after work, the dentist may assist Janine by ensuring that she gets to her vehicle or public transportation station safely, arranging for her transportation to and from work, or by arranging for security to accompany her to and from work. If these measures do not assist with the circumstances, the dentist may consider speaking with Janine about contacting the police, and even accompanying her or assisting her if she chooses to report her former boyfriend to the police. Nadine: We need to understand that women who experience violence are experts in their own experience and often they’ve already taken steps to try to protect themselves and their children, if there are children present. So maybe start by asking, what have you done, what’s been helpful and how do we build on that to ensure that you’re safe. It’s about finding the things that work best for that • Healthy Workplace Series •