Violence in the Workplace Policy

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is committed to providing a safe and healthy workplace for all employees. To that end, it is the policy of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that workplace violence in any form is unacceptable. Any form of violence by an employee against another employee, student, vendor or visitor to the University, including but not limited to physical attack, intimidation, threats or property damage, will be cause for disciplinary action up to and including dismissal as unacceptable personal conduct.

Prohibited acts of workplace violence include threats, intimidation, physical attack or property damage.

A Threat is the expression of an intent to cause physical or mental harm. Such an expression constitutes a threat without regard to whether the person communicating the threat has the ability to carry it out, and without regard to whether the threat is made on a present, conditional or future basis. In determining whether the conduct constitutes a threat, including whether the action was intended as a threat, the totality of the circumstances will be considered.

Physical Attack is unwanted or hostile physical contact such as hitting, pushing, kicking, shoving, throwing of objects or fighting.

Intimidation includes but is not limited to stalking or engaging in actions intended to frighten, coerce or induce distress.

Property Damage is intentional damage to property owned by the University, students, University employees, vendors or visitors to the University.

A Weapon is any object used to attack or intimidate another person.

This policy covers every employee of the University, SPA and EPA, full-time and part-time, permanent and temporary, work study students or anyone in an employment capacity with UNC-Chapel Hill. It covers such employees while engaged in any activity related to their employment with the University, whether on University property or elsewhere. An employee who believes that he or she has been the target of workplace violence should report this to the appropriate supervisor or manager, or to the Employee & Management Relations Department in the Office of Human Resources (843-3444). In emergency situations the employee should dial University Police at 911.

It is management's responsibility, when notified, to respond in a prompt and effective fashion. Effective response includes a full and prompt investigation, disciplinary action as appropriate and follow-up with victims and any affected staff.

All employees are encouraged to be alert to the possibility of violence on the part of employees, former employees, customers and strangers. Any report of violence will be handled in a confidential manner, with information released only on a need-to-know basis.

Employees who act in good faith by reporting real or implied violent behavior or violations of this policy will not be retaliated against or subjected to harassment.

Deliberately false or misleading reports of violence under this policy will be handled as incidents of unacceptable personal conduct and the employee making such false or misleading reports will be subject to disciplinary action under the University's disciplinary policy.

This policy will be disseminated to all University employees by the following methods: direct mailing, presentation to the Employee Forum and the Faculty Council, inclusion in the Employee Handbook, the Office of Human Resources website, and coverage in the University Gazette, as well as publication on the Internet and by bulletin board postings across campus. It will be the responsibility of Tar Heel Temps to provide information on this policy to its temporary employees. It shall be the responsibility of individual departments to provide information on this policy to temporary employees not hired through Tar Heel Temps.

It is a violation of this policy to:

• Engage in workplace violence as defined herein; or
• Use or possess a weapon during a time covered by this policy unless required for job duties (e.g., University Police).

A violation of this policy shall be considered unacceptable personal conduct and will subject the violator to disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal.

All weapons including concealed firearms with permits are prohibited on the UNC campus. However, an employee may possess a weapon if possession:

• Is in compliance with North Carolina law; and the employee
• Is authorized by the Chancellor or his/her designee; or
• The employee is a certified law enforcement officer; or
• Is required as a part of the employee's job duties with the University, or
• Is connected with training received by the employee in order to perform the responsibilities of his/her job with the University.

This policy is part of the University's response to increasing incidents of violence in the workplace and is intended to function as a part of the University's overall workplace violence prevention plan.

The University shall:

• Maintain records and periodically report on the operation of this policy and provide data on the incidence of workplace violence in a manner prescribed by the Office of State Personnel.
• Designate, assign or establish a crisis management team and coordinator to develop a workplace violence prevention plan and serve as a resource to management.
• Develop and implement a written workplace violence prevention plan.
• Provide training for supervisors, employees, and crisis management team on workplace violence including but not limited to reporting requirements, intervention, prevention, safety procedures and security issues.

The supervisor shall:

• Report alleged workplace violence by submitting the Workplace Violence Reporting Form immediately to the Employee & Management Relations Department in the Office of Human Resources.

The employee should, if he/she decides to follow up on alleged workplace violence:

• File reports of alleged workplace violence by submitting the Workplace Violence Reporting Form with the appropriate supervisor or with Employee & Management Relations Department generally no later than 72 hours after the incident.
• All reports will be compiled by the Employee & Management Relations Department and reviewed by the crisis management team at its monthly meeting. In the event it is deemed necessary to call an emergency meeting of the crisis management team, the Employee & Management Relations Department will immediately contact the crisis management team's chairperson.

The Chancellor has directed that the existing Emergency Warning Committee shall constitute a crisis management team for the purpose of assessing and reviewing workplace violence issues and incidents.

The Emergency Warning Committee is composed of:

• the Executive Vice Chancellor (Chair)
• the Assistant to the Chancellor/Senior University Counsel
• the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
• the Associate Vice Chancellor for Public Relations
• the Associate Vice Chancellor for Business
• the Associate Vice Chancellor for Human Resources
• the Director of Public Safety
• the Director of the Physical Plant
• the President of the Student Body
• the Director of News Services

Function of crisis management team/Emergency Warning Committee:

• Make recommendations to Chancellor and other appropriate persons on safety issues that have an impact on employees.
• Develop a plan of action for risk assessment.
• Debrief the public, employees, and families on incidents of workplace violence.
• Conduct investigation and post-incident analysis to ensure that appropriate policies and procedures were followed.
• Monitor all data relating to violence in the workplace (i.e., perpetrator gender/age, weapon(s) used, number of victims, number and nature of incidents reported, types of workplace violence, disciplinary action taken, violence by non-employees, recommendations for improvements to physical facilities of the workplace and the presence of security measures, etc.)