What are joint committees?
Joint committees are committees comprised of representatives of the employer, the academic staff association and, in some cases, representatives of other campus unions.
Examples include:
- occupational health and safety (OH&S) committees
- equity committees
- benefits committees
- pensions committees
While ad hoc joint committees may be created to address a specific, time-limited is-sue — for example, the creation of a new policy — this document focuses primarily on ongoing committees required by law (e.g., OH&S) or collective agreements (e.g., equity).
Key principles
- Where legislative requirements do not apply, all joint committees should:
- have broad participation by academic staff
- draw on different groups’ experiences and relevant academic expertise
- practice the open sharing of information
- adhere, and pay rigorous attention, to relevant provisions in law, policy and the collective agreement
Joint committee updates to governing bodies
The work of some types of joint committees — for example OH&S or equity — touch on the well-being of members and the overall health of the institution. Joint committees should provide the institution’s governance bodies (the board and senate, or equivalents) with periodic reports and apprise them of significant issues when they arise. Significant issues include those that involve institutional risk, affect the academic mission, relate to approved institutional policies or plans, or concern the financial health or operational effectiveness of the institution.
The board of governors and the senate (or equivalents) should be able to request additional reports or information from joint committees as they deem necessary for upholding their governance responsibilities.
Adequate resources and staffing
Governance bodies should ensure that the administration is supporting the necessary data collection (including archiving of agendas, minutes and reports) and analysis of work of joint committees and that any institutional offices responsible for this work are adequately resourced and staffed.
Robust policy frameworks
The work of joint committees often relates closely to institutional policies and legal obligations (e.g., occupational health and safety) and may relate to goals, priorities or initiatives in approved institutional plans (e.g. equity or Indigenization). The board of governors and the senate (or equivalents) should ensure that sufficiently robust policy frameworks are in place and that institutional plans are sufficiently clear, so that joint committees have a meaningful role and are operating under conditions that foster their effectiveness. Likewise, joint committees should be free to make, and the board and senate should have the opportunity to fully consider, recommendations for improving institutional policies, procedures, plans and administrative structures.
How can an academic staff association support joint committees?
For all joint committees, effective representation of members’ interests depends on regular, active involvement of the academic staff association. The following list offers guidance on how to organize around and support effective joint committees.
Recruitment and nomination of committee members
- Is the association actively recruiting members of joint committees?
- Do committee members broadly reflect the association’s makeup, considering such factors as employment categories, equity-deserving groups, a range of faculties, and relevant academic expertise (e.g., for OH&S committees, health-and-safety related disciplines, including engineering, health sciences and law; and for equity committees, sociology, gender studies, etc.)?
- Have sufficient efforts been made to identify and remove barriers to equitable participation on joint committees?
Support for effective participation
- Has the employer, in addition to meeting its obligations under both the collective agreement and relevant legislation, provided appropriate training for committee members, staff support, budget, and other resources for the effective functioning of such committees, including meeting support, minute-taking and archiving of meeting materials?
- Is the association holding regular meetings of its representatives, as a group, for these purposes:
- to ensure that representatives are aware of key information and responsibilities
- to exchange information on emerging and ongoing areas of concern, including those which may affect more than one joint committee
- to apprise representatives of relevant issues that are raised through grievances, complaints or inquiries
- to facilitate discussions between representatives and the association’s leadership on any opportunities for strengthening collective agreement provisions
- to keep representatives and the association’s leadership apprised of any oversight or policy gaps (for instance, OH&S committees may not be deemed responsible for hazards related to public health, such as notifiable diseases)
- Has the association provided joint committee representatives, at or before the start of their terms, with copies of:
- any relevant legislation
- joint committee terms of reference, including the role and authority of chairs and co-chairs on such matters as calling meetings and setting agendas
- relevant articles in the collective agreement
- briefing materials on ongoing and recent areas of concern, including recent annual reports
- Does the association collaborate with other unions to support solidarity and informed work on joint committees?
- Does the association draw on its members’ expertise and experiences to help set priorities for improving policies and procedures related to joint committees and to ensure those committees stay current with academic consensus, best practices, and the labour environment?
Educating and informing the association membership
- Does the association annually collect, archive and share reports from all joint committees?
- Reports from joint OH&S committees should normally include the number of incidents reported to the committee, resolutions (resolved or not, how quickly), and ongoing health and safety concerns. These reports should be shared with members and also with other institutional bodies (e.g., the board, senate, other relevant).
- Does the association track trends and maintain briefing documents or educational resources concerning relevant matters?
- Does the association send all members an annual bulletin outlining key information, including workers’ rights and the responsibilities, and contact information for each joint committee?
- Does the association maintain links to relevant resources on its website (e.g., links to institutional and provincial OH&S resources)?
- Does the association remind its members annually of their legislated rights and protections, including under OH&S (e.g., the right to participate, to know, and to refuse)?
Bargaining strong collective agreement provisions:
- Where a joint committee is established as a requirement of the collective agreement instead of by legislation, does the collective agreement clearly articulate the committee’s charter? At a minimum, a charter should describe:
- the committee’s mandate, authority and expected activities, including to whom and how often the committee reports
- the committee’s ability to act or make recommendations
- the committee’s membership and how it is populated
- provisions for meetings (e.g., meeting requirements, quorum, voting, schedule of meetings, calling further meetings)
- Does the collective agreement require the employer to provide sufficient supports to each joint committee? Examples of obligations to consider include:
- training for members
- supports for effective meetings (budget and staff support, minute taking and document archiving, timely provision of agenda packages, etc.)
- committee member access to minutes, reports and other relevant information
- Does the collective agreement ensure meaningful support for an academic staff member joint committee (co-)chair, including release time from other duties (where appropriate) and the power to introduce agenda items and call additional meetings?
- Does the collective agreement ensure that the association is provided access to joint committee minutes and reports (except for confidential materials)?
- Does the collective agreement protect intramural academic freedom rights and protect against the inappropriate use of non-disclosure agreements? It is important that committee members may comment on committee effectiveness, propose improvements to institutional policies and plans, consult with the association, and report to the groups that appointed them (except where confidentiality is necessary to protect whistleblowers, complainants or the privacy of personal information).
- Does the collective agreement state that there shall be no discrimination or retaliation against members serving on joint committees?
- Does the collective agreement have robust provisions ensuring that joint committees are not bypassed under exigency and emergency conditions?
- Does the collective agreement outline coordination of the association’s grievance procedure and health and safety violations deemed by OH&S committees?
Specific joint committees
Joint occupational health and safety committees
Joint OH&S committees constitute a distinctive type of joint committee, the structure, roles and responsibilities of which are specified in provincial legislation (see Appendix A). Although there is variation across the country, in general joint OH&S committees:
- are comprised of at least 50% worker representatives who reflect different groups of workers (e.g., groups with substantially different health and safety concerns, such as lab versus clinical work). In unionized workplaces, unions can appoint workers to the committee. In addition to representing employee groups, OH&S committees may be specific to a worksite or building focus: one institution may therefore have multiple OH&S committees to ensure appropriate levels of participation by workers as well as attention to specific hazards.
- identify hazards to health and safety, including sub-par HVAC, inadequate lighting, etc.
- investigate reported concerns and incidents, ‘near misses,’ and refusals to work
- review and ensure adequate documentation is maintained and accessibly archived regarding workplace health and safety concerns (including incidents, injuries and other harms, and investigations)
- request information from the employer as needed to meet its mandate, including to respond to emerging situations (e.g. a novel pathogen or a building fire)
- make recommendations to the employer for improving workplace health and safety
- coordinate with OH&S provincial government officials to ensure compliance with the legislation, including reporting requirements
Health and safety is broad in scope, including, for example, equipment, safe and healthy buildings and other facilities, and violence and harassment prevention and response. Associations should develop and disseminate a flowchart mapping the communication between union-appointed OH&S committee members and bargaining unit members, union stewards/faculty-representatives, employer representatives, and OH&S provincial government officials. The flowchart should be regularly updated to reflect policy changes and current contact information, with a view to being prepared to promptly escalate OH&S concerns. This will ensure that committee members can be supported in urgent situations and that bargaining unit members can draw the committee’s attention to the anticipated introduction of new materials and equipment, work processes and technologies into the workplace, or to changes in staffing levels that could impact health and safety.
While members are protected as workers under the legislation, collective agreements may have language to clarify and reinforce key matters:
- no discrimination or retaliation against employees exercising their rights
- no use of confidentiality/NDAs in relation to OH&S committee work except as needed to protect the identity of whistleblowers or other complainants and to protect employee privacy (e.g., medical information)
- composition and responsibilities of the OH&S committees
- coordination of the association’s grievance procedure and health and safety violations deemed by OH&S committees
Joint equity and Indigenization committees
Employment equity committees and Indigenization committees are also common joint committees.
Institutions which fall under the Federal Contractors Program are mandated to comply with the federal Employment Equity Act. The act requires that employers consult with employee representatives and inform and involve employees in the preparation, implementation and revision of the employment equity plan. While not mandated, the Canadian Human Rights Commission and federal Labour Program encourage the creation of Joint Employment Equity Committees as a best practice to meet the act’s collaboration and consultation requirements.
Joint employment equity committees are meant to:
- facilitate meaningful consultation and participation of the association’s members in equity matters
- provide a structured forum for reviewing workforce data, identifying barriers, and developing action plans
Joint employment equity committees may be permanent committees or ad hoc to address specific needs such as equitable compensation.
Though it may overlap with equity in some respects (such as the Federal Contractors Program), Indigenization is distinct from equity because of a constitutional framework that recognizes rights and treaties as well as activities in support of reconciliation and decolonization. For example, the Faculty Association of the University of St. Thomas negotiated a Memorandum of Agreement for the Joint Committee of union and employer representatives to explore ways to decolonize and indigenize the full-time and part-time collective agreements.1 The British Columbia Institute of Technology and the BCIT Faculty and Staff Association have established a working group to discuss and develop recommendations to advance reconciliation and Indigenization, consistent with BCIT’s Indigenous Vision.2
These committees are best placed to ensure access to the necessary data, agree upon the methodology to be used to address the issues, and ensure remedies and recommendations are implemented.
Appendix A: Legislation
- Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulations
- British Columbia Occupational Health and Safety Regulation, BC Reg 296/97
- Alberta Occupational Health and Safety Act, SA 2020, c O-2.2
- Occupational Health and Safety Code, Alta Reg 191/2021
- Occupational Health and Safety Regulation, Alta Reg 184/2021
- The Saskatchewan Employment Act, SS 2013, c S-15.1
- Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, RRS c S-15.1 Reg 10
- Manitoba The Workplace Safety and Health Act, CCSM c W210
- Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act, RSO 1990, c O.1
- Quebec Act respecting occupational health and safety, CQLR c S-2.1
- New Brunswick Occupational Health and Safety Act, SNB 1983, c O-0.2
- Occupational Health and Safety Regulation, NB Reg 91-191
- Nova Scotia Occupational Health and Safety Act, SNS. 1996, c 7
- Workplace Health and Safety Regulations, NS Reg 52/2013
- Prince Edward Island Occupational Health and Safety Act, RSPEI 1988, c O-1.01
- Newfoundland Occupational Health and Safety Act, R.S.N.L. 1990, c O-3
- Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, 2012, NLR 5/12
Appendix B: Resources pertaining to OH&S
- ASHRAE 241 (Control of Infectious Aerosols)
- Federal Westray law
- WorkSafeBC’s Responsibilities for OH&S course module
- Ontario’s Guide for Health and Safety Committees and Representatives
Appendix C: Resources pertaining to joint committees to advance equity or Indigenization
Appendix D: Other resources
- WUFA Grievance #0866 - Confidentiality Forms for BoG Pension Committees
Endnotes
1 Collective Agreement between St. Thomas University and the Faculty Association of the University of St. Thomas Full-Time Bargaining Unit, 2025-2028, https://www.stu.ca/media/stu/site-content/documents/FT-Agreement-2025-Final-.pdf, p. 107
2 Bargaining for Indigenization of the Academy (CAUT Bargaining Advisory, March 2025), https://www.caut.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/caut-bargaining-advisory-bargaining-for-indigenization-of-the-academy-2025-03.pdf), p. 23
