Medical College of Georgia Administrative Policies and Procedures
Office of Primary Responsibility: Public Safety Division
No. 1.6.22

Workplace Violence Policy

1.0 Purpose
To define behavior which constitutes workplace violence and to define procedures for reporting and resolving incidents of workplace violence.

2.0 Policy

2.1 For purposes of this policy, "workplace violence" shall mean any behavior, act or statement that:

• would be interpreted by a reasonable person to be aggressive, intimidating, harassing, or unsafe and,
• which carries an expressed or implied intent to cause harm to a person or property; and
• is related to an MCG activity.

2.2 Workplace violence shall be considered a violation of MCG classified employee, faculty and student conduct codes and may subject an individual to discipline in accordance with the terms of the applicable policies and procedures (see "MCG Administrative Policies and Procedures," Section 1.4.07; "MCG Faculty Manual: Removal of Faculty Members"; "MCG Student Handbook: Student Conduct Code").  Where appropriate, violators may be subject to criminal prosecution.  Contractors and their agents are expected to take appropriate actions to deal with incidents of workplace violence.

2.3 Every employee, faculty member and student is responsible for reporting instances of workplace violence in accordance with this policy.  Every supervisor, administrator and manager is responsible for responding promptly and thoroughly to allegations of workplace violence in accordance with the terms of this policy.

2.4 All persons at MCG should report instances of workplace violence.

2.4.1 In emergency situations, MCG Police should be contacted at 721-2911.  The employee, faculty or student should then report the incident to his/her immediate supervisor, faculty advisor or resident advisor.  It should be considered an emergency situation whenever a fear of violence exists, threats of violence are made, or any type of physical assault is imminent or occurring.

2.4.2 In non-emergency situations, workplace violence should be reported first to an immediate supervisor.  If the immediate supervisor is the instigator of the workplace violence, the incident should be reported to the next level supervisor or MCG Police at 721-2911.  The Director of Human Resources or designee (ext. 1-3777) may also be contacted in addition to MCG Police.  Examples of non-emergency situations would be when verbal exchanges are loud, disruptive, and short of duration, and escalation to threatening behavior is a concern.

2.4.3 In situations where a person witnesses an instance of workplace violence and does not know how to contact the supervisor of those involved in the incident, MCG Police should be contacted.

2.5 Reported instances of workplace violence should be handled by immediate supervisors in accordance with applicable MCG conduct policies for classified employees, faculty, and students.  Additionally, supervisors are encouraged to consult with MCG Public Safety, Human Resources Division, Employee/Faculty Assistance Program, and/or Legal Office about appropriate resolution of instances of workplace violence.  Where appropriate, disciplinary action should be administered in accordance with applicable MCG Policies and Procedures.

2.6 All persons should avail themselves of the training and other resources developed by Public Safety and provided by the Human Resources Division so that they will be able to recognize the warning signs of workplace violence and to appropriately respond to them.

3.0 Review of Incidents

3.1 The Vice President for Administration and the Vice President for Legal Affairs shall serve as resources for issues related to workplace violence and shall have the ability to call for a review of any incidents of Workplace Violence.  If a review is ordered, the review committee shall consist of: the Director of Human Resources, one representative from the Legal Office, one representative from Public Safety, one representative from Employee/Faculty Assistance Program, one representative from University Advancement, two representatives at-large and one representative from Enrollment and Student Services if a student is involved in the incident.  The Vice Presidents shall designate one member of the committee as the chair and it shall meet as necessary.

3.2 The review committee will have an opportunity to provide advice and guidance on MCG policies and procedures, intervention, counseling and prevention after each review.  The committee may also make recommendations on resolutions such as attending mandated training for employees and students involved in any incidents.

3.3 Supervisors responding to allegations of workplace violence shall report all such allegations and their resolution to the MCG Police and the Director of Human Resources or designee.  The Director of Human Resources or designee in conjunction with MCG Police shall conduct a post-incident review and, where appropriate, make recommendations for preventing or responding to future incidents.  The Director of Human Resources or designee and MCG Police may forward any reported incidents to the Vice President for Administration or the Vice President for Legal Affairs to have a review committee convened.

3.4 The Human Resources Division in coordination with the Public Safety Division shall be responsible for designing and implementing workplace violence training and education for MCG faculty, students, and employees.  Such training programs will be reviewed at least annually, administered and tracked by the Training Section and will be offered as deemed necessary.

Date: 1 December 1996 | Rev. No: 06-01 | Rev. Date: 21 April 2006 | No. 1.6.22