Workplace Adviser Program

Workplace Adviser Roles & Responsibilities

• Role: Provide Information and Assistance

  Workplace advisers meet and speak confidentially with staff members about workplace issues. The workplace adviser may assist a staff member by:

  • Listening and asking questions to understand the situation.
  • Acting as a sounding board.
  • Providing information about and referral to other campus resources.
  • Helping the visitor to explore options for resolving the situation.
  • Empowering the visitor to decide which option(s) might be best to pursue.

   

• Role: Actively Solve Problems

  With the staff member’s consent, a workplace adviser might also participate in active problem-solving by:

  • Gathering information.
  • Facilitating discussions between the employee and others involved in the conflict.

  This might make it impossible to maintain the staff member’s confidentiality, which is why further involvement by the workplace adviser requires agreement. The workplace adviser is to provide a neutral or objective viewpoint in such discussions.

   

• Responsibility: Maintain Confidentiality

  Workplace advisers are expected to maintain the confidences of those who consult them. Care must be taken in choosing meeting places and other means of communication to ensure that privacy is respected and confidentiality is maintained.

  Only with an employee’s explicit permission will a workplace adviser communicate with another person about a specific conflict or consultation, except in two situations:

  • Immediate danger: If the workplace adviser believes an individual is in immediate physical danger from themself or another person, the adviser will consult with an Employee Assistance Plan (EAP) counselor, who will handle the matter in accordance with applicable professional standards for health care providers. The initial consultation with the EAP counselor need not identify the name of the visitor unless, in the professional judgment of the EAP counselor, such disclosure is necessary.
  • Sexual misconduct: If information regarding an incident of sexual misconduct or relationship violence is shared with a workplace adviser, the adviser is required to complete a Sexual Misconduct and Relationship Violence Reporting Form within 24 hours of receiving the report.

   

• Responsibility: Provide Consultation

  Workplace advisers consult. They are not empowered or authorized by the University to impose resolutions on employees who have consulted them or on other parties to a particular conflict. They may, if requested, offer alternatives for the parties to consider as resolutions.

  If the assistance of the workplace adviser does not help the staff member with the problem at hand, the staff member may always request intervention by supervisors, managers or Human Resources. The informal and formal problem-solving processes may also be used at the option of the staff member. One advantage of consulting a workplace adviser is that it may promote speedier and less formal resolution before a small problem becomes a major conflict.

   

• Responsibility: Be Available During Work Hours

  Workplace advisers should be available during their normal work hours for consultation and will be provided appropriate release time for this purpose. Meetings and other necessary discussions associated with consultations are arranged by mutual agreement and convenience.