Canadian HR Reporter

PM40065782 RO9496 THE NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT February 2018 www.hrreporter.com Alberta revamps its safety rules Changes around supports, workers' rights, responsibilities BY SARAH DOBSON WITH sweeping changes to its occupational health and safety legislation, along with its workers' compensation system, Alberta has caught up to — and in some cases surpassed — other provinces. at's according to experts look- ing at highlights from the Act to Protect the Health and Well-being of Working Albertans, in eff ect as of Dec. 15. e legislation is meant to modernize Alberta's health and safety system to reflect today's workplaces, increase employee participation, improve safety, and boost supports to injured workers. Some of the major changes in- clude the right to refuse unsafe work, mandatory joint health and safety committees, clarifi ed roles for workplace individuals, protec- tions against workplace violence and harassment, and reporting of near miss incidents. e new legislation is signifi - cant, said Gordana Ivanovic, a lawyer at McMillan in Calgary. "Nothing has been done in the last 40 years in terms of a comprehensive review of that ARE EMPLOYERS READY? page 19 B.C. human rights Supreme Court of Canada clari es expanse of code page 3 Is Google Glass making a comeback? Enterprise edition bodes well for training, remote workers page 6 High-altitude lessons Mountaineer shares workplace insights from Everest page 12 Legal marijuana is raising many questions, but the answers may not be that diffi cult BY MARCEL VANDER WIER T he legalization of recreational marijuana through Bill C-45, Cannabis Act, is set to occur this summer in Canada. But are em- ployers ready for what comes next? e implications for the workplace have HR practi- tioners around the country scrambling to update drug and alcohol policies ahead of the impending legisla- tion, according to Jason Fleming, director of HR at MedReleaf in Markham, Ont. "It's safe to say it's defi nitely sinking in," he said. "I think there's a bit of a clock set for a lot of workforces and heads of HR, saying that 'My priority to start off 2018 is to tackle this and build a plan.'" "Cannabis is by far the most misunderstood sub- stance that I've ever encountered in the workplace. It's misunderstood, but what's even worse is a lot of people are writing policies based on inaccurate or out- dated information. It's such a challenging topic that a lot of people, rather than dive into it, take that de facto position of 'Well, this is too complicated to touch.'" Credit: Shawn Goldberg (Shutterstock) Despite the hype and confusion around marijuana, employers can always expect employees to be sober at work, say experts. DEFINING > pg. 11 In Focus: Background screening The importance of an up-to-date policy, criminal checks and hiring people with criminal records payroll-reporter.com LEGISLATION PAYROLL NEWS, AND TIPS After more than 40 years, Alberta's health and safety rules have been revamped to better reflect today's workplace and boost supports for workers. GREATER > pg. 8 Credit: Sarah Dobson Find out more... Proud Winner Discount Program Provider Instant mobile and online access to exclusive discounts on everything from tickets and dining to shoes and travel. An award-winning core element of a complete compensation and benefi ts strategy. © Copyright 2018 Venngo Inc. All rights reserved. WorkPerks ® is a registered trade-mark of Venngo Inc. V1_20180119 .com/perks 1.866.383.6646 ext.202 the original perks company TM

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