Canadian HR Reporter - Ontario

PM40065782 RO9496 THE NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT July 2018 www.hrreporter.com Undue hardship cited in medical marijuana ruling Worker denied accommodation for safety-sensitive position BY SARAH DOBSON FOR employers concerned about the growing use of medical mari- juana by employees, a recent deci- sion provides more answers — and perhaps some comfort — when it comes to accommodation. Essentially, employers may be able to claim undue hardship when it comes to employees in safety- sensitive positions who consume medical cannabis. It's a notable decision, said Heather Hettiarachchi, a labour and employment lawyer at Integ- ritas Workplace Law in Vancouver. "It can amount to undue hard- ship for an employer to accom- modate medical cannabis use in a safety-sensitive position because there's no test for actually assess- ing current impairment with can- nabis use," she said. "What the arbitrator is saying is: if you cannot measure it, then you cannot manage it, and in a safety- sensitive position, that's a huge risk for an employer, so it amounts to undue hardship." Background e case involved Harold Tizzard, who applied for a job at Valard Construction — a major contrac- tor working on a project owned by Nalcor Energy involving a hydro- electric generating facility in Lab- rador. He applied for a labourer position in November 2016 and was accepted, subject to a satisfac- tory drug and alcohol test. Tizzard — who suffers from osteoarthritis and Crohn's disease — revealed he took medical can- nabis, and later presented a note confi rming his authorized use of the drug, but the employer re- quested more information. While waiting several months to BANDING TOGETHER TO FIGHT YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT Eight employers make pledge to hire 40,000 young people over fi ve years BY JOHN DUJAY F or employers that say they can't fi nd enough good workers, there are about 400,000 young persons in Canada who are not in school or employed and are actively searching for work, according to Statistics Canada. So Starbucks and seven other companies are hop- ing to benefi t from this untapped job market by pledg- ing to hire 40,000 youth over the next fi ve years. "This is an extraordinary opportunity to get more workers because the reality is there is a war for talent. We all want great people and there shouldn't be a 19 per cent (youth) unemployment rate in Toronto," said Luisa Girotto, vice-president of public aff airs at Starbucks Canada in Toronto. " at is unacceptable and it begs the question 'What's going on?'" Along with Walmart, Chipotle, HMSHost, Tridel, the Source, Coast Capital Savings and Telus, Star- bucks Canada has announced a partnership that will target NEET (Not Employed, in Education or Train- ing) youth who face multiple barriers to accessing meaningful employment. NEET youth, as defi ned by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), are people aged 15 to 29. e Starbucks-led initiative will target those who have been disconnected from employment for four months or longer. Spearheading the new eff ort is Richard Derham, lead executive at Opportunity for All Youth (the co- alition's operating group) in Toronto. "I'm excited about this because this is the fi rst time it's been a national eff ort by employers to actually work on a demand-led, hiring-focused program," he said. "It's my job to see the coalition employers actually deliver on the mission they've given themselves to see this sort of employee coalition grow in number, and the likely impact it can make in hiring NEET youth." e goal of the program is not simply to be a Credit: Sarah Dobson Starbucks Canada and seven other employers have formed a partnership promising to hire 40,000 youth over five years. PROGRAM > pg. 10 Nalcor Energy's headquarters in St. John's. NO > pg. 6 Credit: Google Street View Looking for relief Ontario employers hope for change with arrival of PC party page 2 Discrimination at 65 Discontinuing employee bene ts must be justi able in Ontario page 3 Readers' Choice Awards Nearly 3,000 professionals vote for their favourite suppliers page RC1 page 11 Putting wellness in the walls Of ce environments play a big role when it comes to wellness — including air quality, lighting and noise pollution 2 0 1 8 READERS' WINNER CHOICE

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