5. What happens in the meantime?
The rest of the Council is briefed on the case, without learning the employee’s name and, if the Council as a whole believes it can assist, the employee is notified and then the company is discretely informed as needed to be able to carry out the assessment and ensure that workplace relations don’t further deteriorate. The Council then performs an assessment, usually by interviewing people familiar with the situation or knowledgeable about the safety issues or programs involved, and sometimes brings in outside experts.
Frequent contact is made by staff or Council members with the employee to keep him or her posted on progress, to ask for more information, or to seek input about possible resolutions. Often, the employee participates directly in developing the solutions to the safety issues. The employee is free to contact the Council office or Council members at any time with questions.