BC courthouses are experiencing severe staffing shortages, impacting the ability of the Sheriff Service to staff criminal proceedings in court. Every day, in courthouses around the Lower Mainland, there are criminal court rooms that do not have an assigned sheriff.
 
The union has been advised of situations where court clerks are being asked to work in court rooms without a deputy sheriff present. This can be a potential safety hazard, particularly in criminal cases. Court clerks are being asked after the Judge and the Staffing Sergeant have decided that the matter can proceed to court without a Sheriff. These kinds of requests put a lot of pressure on court clerks to accept the decision.
 
The Union is therefore respectfully reminding all members – including clerks working in court proceedings– that all workers have a right to refuse unsafe work.
 
This right is enshrined in section 3.12 of the WCB Occupational Health and Safety Regulation, which states that:

• You have the right to refuse work you believe endangers your safety or the safety of those around you.
• You cannot be disciplined for refusing unsafe work.
• All workers in our province are entitled to exercise this right if they believe the task at hand could be unsafe.

 
If you are assigned work that you feel is unsafe, do the following:

1. Notify your supervisor that you are refusing unsafe work. Court clerks can provide personal safety reasons for not wanting to proceed.

• You may be assigned other duties while your supervisor investigates.
• Always let your local OHS representative and shop steward know that you are refusing unsafe work.
• Your supervisor must investigate and fix the hazard, or let you know that s/he doesn't agree that there is a hazard.
  
  2. If you still believe that the work is dangerous, then you can continue to refuse and the supervisor must continue the investigation in the presence of the worker (you) and a worker representative from the OH&S committee;
  
  3. If, after your OHS rep has investigated, you still feel the work is unsafe to perform, contact WorkSafeBC’s prevention line for their assistance.

• They can be reached 24 hours a day by phone at:
  Phone: 604.276.3100 (Lower Mainland)
  Toll-free: 1.888.621.7233 (1.888.621.SAFE) (Canada)
• You may be reassigned to alternate work, at no loss in pay, while you wait for the WCB officer's decision
  
  4. If you disagree with WorkSafeBC’s determination, you can request a review of their decision. However, you will be required to return to the task if WorkSafeBC has decided it is safe to perform.

Important: there is nothing preventing the employer to approach another court clerk to do work that was previously reported unsafe. However, if you are assigned to a task that has previously been refused by another worker for being unsafe, your supervisor must:

• inform you in writing the basis for the previous refusal;
• the reasons provided for each refusal;
• the reasons why the work would not create an undue hazard for you or any other person; and
• your right to refuse unsafe work following the same process outlined above.

In other words, court clerks have the right to refuse unsafe work, and to know if work being asked of them has previously been refused on the basis that it was considered unsafe.
 
For more information on your Occupational Health & Safety Rights visit: https://ohs.bcgeu.ca/your-rights You may also want to download, print and share this poster.
 
Given the court house staffing crisis, the Union is encouraging all court clerks to carefully consider the work being assigned and to exercise their right to refuse unsafe work when appropriate. In addition, clerks may want to consider whether to accept work that was previously deemed unsafe.
 
The Union is well aware of the court house staffing challenges and has been incessantly advocating government to fix the recruitment and retention crisis, including by improving pay and benefits for courthouse workers.
 
Read more here about the BCGEU senior leadership meeting with BC Attorney General, Niki Sharma last year: Sheriff Issues Taken to BC Attorney General.
 
In Solidarity,
 
DJ Pohl, Component 12 Vice-President
Jennifer Elkabbany, Local 1203 Chairperson
Romeena Sidhu, Staff Representative
Oliver Rohlfs, Staff Representative

Download a PDF of this notice