Canadian HR Reporter Weekly

3 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2018 September 5, 2018 in more meaningful groups of substances rather than trying to target one specific substance over another." Grouping substances together and managing the categories — such as recreational cannabis and alcohol, and medical cannabis and opioids — to create somewhat defined categories, and then applying strategies to the categories rather than individual substances is one way to manage this issue, he said. "And when we think of the decision-making in terms of roles — C-suite roles, for example — it's still important but also relevant to note that people can be impaired from stress and lack of sleep and cough medicine as well, so it's important to look more broadly at impairment and supporting employees through health and wellness initiatives." While it makes sense to focus on safety-sensitive roles, employers should also be concerned about impairment when it comes to decision-critical roles, such as a CEO involved in a merger and acquisition, or an HR leader advising employees on termination issues, said Boucher. "It's not necessarily about defining what impairment looks like as much as it is defining what you require for that job." HR professionals should look at the requirements for roles where there are critical decision-makers, because that will help with accommodation requests, said Daniel Boucher, director of regulatory affairs and research, and registrar at CPHR Alberta in Calgary. "It's still going to be acceptable for an employer to outline in their policy that… employees have a requirement to be fit for duty, and not to be impaired at the workplace." Employers don't have to allow for recreational marijuana at their workplace, but it's important to look at how the accommodation process is set up, said CPHR's Boucher. Communications key Despite all the changes, only 22 per cent of employee re- spondents to the Mercer survey said their workplace has clearly communicated medical cannabis policies. Employers have been doing the work behind the scenes, and there have been a lot of unknowns, said Daniel Boucher. "As we get closer to the date for recreational marijuana being legal, employers are going to be rolling out communication plans." But it's important for them to explain the rationale behind their policy to ensure there's understanding and buy-in from employees, he said. "It's important for employees to be trained on what the consequences are for not complying with these policies, and why these policies were put in place." An employer does not have to accept a person who is not fit for duty or not able to perform his job, said CPHR's Boucher, "so an employer should rely on their performance management processes as well in this." e absence of internal communications is still very much apparent, and it's important to ensure the policy is very clearly communicated and expectations of conduct are clearly communicated, said Fleming. "What's missing is a global announcement in many organizations saying, 'Here's our policy, here are the expectations for employees, and here's how we will support you. Here's where you can direct further questions.'" Medical cannabis grows e Mercer survey also found 42 per cent of respondents expect to see their health and drug plans provide at least some coverage of medical cannabis. "Employers are going to need to be proactive with their communication around… what your approach will be or what your benefits provider's approach is, because that is a limitation for employers: What is the health insurance and benefits industry willing to provide?" said Daniel Boucher. With large insurers such as Manulife and Greenshield releasing products to cover cannabis, that has really sparked the discussion among employees who are currently medical cannabis patients, said Fleming. "is is not an inexpensive medication, so… that allowed many patients to say, 'ese products are now available, it's no longer an anomaly to see an employer cover cannabis, so when are we going to have this discussion? When can we expect coverage?'" But employers are still waiting to assess how this will impact overall premiums, he said. "It's difficult to rush into covering something with very little historical data to help make projections in terms of cost implications. So I still think employers' motivations are, one, 'Let's deal with legalization in terms of policy' and, two, 'Let's talk about cannabis when we have more clarity about how this will impact us from a financial perspective.'" It's important for employees to be trained on what the consequences are for not complying." Credit: Chris Wattie (Reuters) Smoke rises during the annual 4/20 marijuana rally on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on April 20.

• Cover