[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council
of the Township of Burlington as Sec. 3:4 of the 1975 General Ordinances;
amended 9-12-2000. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Personnel policies — See Ch. 58.
Burlington Township is committed to providing
a safe and healthful workplace for its employees. Due to the incidence
of violence in the workplace, Burlington Township is implementing
this policy pertaining to acts of aggression or violence in the workplace.
The purpose of this policy is to minimize the
risk of personal injury to employees in the workplace and the damage
to property. Through the development of this policy, the conducting
of a work-site analysis, the design of hazard prevention and controls,
and education and training, Burlington Township can achieve its goal
to greatly reduce the risk of workplace violence.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Any physical assault, threatening behavior, or verbal abuse
occurring in the workplace. The workplace may be any location, either
permanent or temporary, where an employee performs any work-related
duty.
It is essential that all employees recognize
that, before any actual physical act or violence occurs, there are
often behaviors that individuals exhibit, specifically:
A.
Coworkers display overt resentment, anger or hostility.
B.
Coworkers display signs of extreme stress.
C.
Coworkers make ominous threats related to harm or
misfortune to another employee or that a catastrophic event may occur.
D.
Coworkers whose job performance has deteriorated suddenly
and/or significantly.
E.
Coworkers who display irresponsible, irrational or
inappropriate behavior.
Workplace violence, verbal and nonverbal threats,
and related acts toward or by any employee will not be tolerated.
Burlington Township has established a zero tolerance policy for these
types of acts or behavior. For the purpose of the policy, threats
include any verbal or physical harassment, attempt at intimidation
or to instill fear in others, menacing gestures, brandishing or flashing
concealed weapons, stalking, verbal or physical abuse, or other hostile,
aggressive, injurious and destructive actions undertaken for the purpose
of domination or intimidation.
All actual or perceived acts of violence experienced
by an individual should be reported immediately to supervision. All
threats will be promptly investigated. Reports of threats made by
individuals may be made anonymously. No employee will be subject to
retaliation, intimidation or discipline as a result of reporting a
threat under this policy. If an investigation confirms that the violence
or threat is committed by an employee, Burlington Township will take
swift, appropriate, corrective measures, which may, at the discretion
of Burlington Township, include discharge of the offender.
