Canadian HR Reporter Weekly

2 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2018 CANADIAN HR REPORTER WEEKLY Nearly one in five managers (19 per cent) are at least some- what likely to consume cannabis for recreational purposes before going to work, while 14 per cent said it's somewhat likely they will consume cannabis during work hours. As for workers, seven per cent said they are likely to use cannabis before work, while four per cent will consume it during work hours, found a recent survey of 1,000 people, 500 of whom are managers, by Ipsos, commissioned by ADP Canada. But some employees might not have a choice: As the Oct. 17 deadline approached for the legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada, several employers — such as Air Canada, the RCMP, and the Edmonton police — announced they would be placing restrictions on cannabis consumption before work. Policies are being amended to prohibit use of any kind, so that means zero tolerance, not just impairment, said Niki Lundquist, a lawyer at Unifor in Toronto. "I would say zero-tolerance policies for impairment are absolutely legitimate, but for use, I don't think so, in light of the fact that cannabis is going to be a legal substance." e restrictions around before-work usage stretch anywhere from 24 hours for federal prison guards to 28 days for safety-sensitive positions at WestJet. Some restrictions are OK, as it's been shown impairment can last up to four hours after consumption, said Lundquist. "If (employers) can actually link their measures to the science behind that, I don't think they would find opposition to that. Workers' organizations want safe workplaces, and so do workers." However, 28 days is an arbitrary number, she said. "ere is no chance somebody is impaired for 28 days, zero chance of it. at being said, I understand that the 28 days is related to a clean urinalysis test, so the airlines are going to do whatever they think is necessary to make sure that there's no hint of impairment." Over the next 18 or 24 months, there's going to be a lot of litigation both in civil arenas and in the criminal courts with people fighting the arbitrariness of the standards imposed, she said. "is kind of change is a significant one on both a legal and policy level, and people need direction. And employers are, in my view, overstepping because they don't have appropriate direction." "ey have these tools already and to me it's really interesting that a lot of new policies or amended policies purport to expand on that to impose random testing, and I honestly feel as though it's the employer's attempt to relitigate cases that have been lost and rejected random testing, and it's an excuse," she said. "Both levels of government have left people in a really tough situation because what is inevitably going to happen is workers are going to test positive and they're going to be fighting for their livelihoods — regardless of whether they're impaired or not." Positions such as airline pilots or enforcement officers are considered safety-sensitive, so there is some legal ground to prevent employees from attending the workplace if they're not fit for duty, said Nadia Halum Arauz, an associate at MacLeod Law Firm in Toronto. "But in terms of the more stringent policies… as far as I'm aware, those are internal policies that employers are creating. I'm not aware of any external law that would justify those kinds of policies," she said. "ose kinds of policies reflect a very prohibitionist mindset and (employers are) sticking their head in the Employers clamp down on cannabis 'It's an arbitrary number. ere is no chance somebody is impaired for 28 days' BY SARAH DOBSON Sign up for the Canadian HR Newswire today for free and enjoy great content from the publishers of Canadian HR Reporter. HR News at Your Fingertips THE LATEST NEWS THE BEST COMMENTARY DELIVERED WEEKLY FOR READING ON ANY DEVICE Visit www.hrreporter.com/ canadian-hr-newswire

• Cover