Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER October 31, 2016 6 NEWS "There are psychomotor and cognitive deficits associated with use of marijuana, including hal- lucinations, visual disturbances, inability to concentrate, decreased motor control, decreased ability to respond quickly to events and an inability to drive safely," said Enform. Not the Wild West Despite the pending legislation, it will not become a Wild West workplace of rampant stoners, ac- cording to legal experts. In fact, the framework is already in place for employers to easily manage the new world. "Like alcohol in the workplace, they're going to have to be con- cerned about any employee who is smoking up during the workday or doing something after lunch," said Natalie MacDonald, found- ing partner at Rudner MacDonald in Toronto. Employers are advised to revise policies and procedures to specifi- cally include the word marijuana and to provide parameters to deal with the issue, she said. "We want to make sure there is no adverse impact on employ- ers because it's not a named substance." Not much should change, de- spite the expected full legalization of marijuana, according to Drew Demerse, partner at Roper Greyell in Vancouver. "Legalization will not permit marijuana use at work or allow workers to be impaired in the workplace," he said. "As marijuana becomes more readily available, employers will face a challenge in ensuring recreational users are free from the effects of consuming marijuana when they do report to work." If it's legal, no one should show up for work under the influence of any substance, whether it's mari- juana, alcohol or any other prod- uct, said Barry Kurtzer, medical di- rector of DriverCheck in Ayr, Ont., a company that provides medical testing of drug and alcohol usage in the workplace. "You have to create a workplace policy with applicable procedures to address the whole context of the use of any substance that could cause impairment on the job." To help firms navigate the new landscape, rewriting corporate policies is a best practice, accord- ing to Demerse. "In the run-up to legalization, they ought to be reviewing or cre- ating a drug and alcohol policy that deals with impairment in the workplace," he said. "Marijuana use is no different from any other im- pairing substance." But unlike with alcohol, there is no current testing protocol that can accurately assess just how high a person is after consuming mari- juana, according to Kurtzer. "We can't really identify impair- ment with the test itself, but at least we can identify that someone is us- ing the product consistently. ere is no breathalyzer like we have with alcohol." THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) can be detected in the body, he said, but it is impossible to mea- sure the effect on a person's brain. "ere's no doubt that THC is an impairing chemical and marijuana contains THC." Earlier Health Canada guide- lines called for people to abstain from driving for four hours if mar- ijuana was smoked, six hours if it was swallowed and eight hours if there were any feelings of eupho- ria, said Kurtzer. e guidelines were further re- vised to say impairment may last as long as 24 hours, which illustrates the real effects of the drug are still not fully understood, he said. For safety-sensitive workplaces, ensuring workers are impairment- free is already an ongoing concern, said Kurtzer. "When we take a look at work- place health and safety, we have to expect the fact that certain workers are not going to be medically quali- fied to do safety-sensitive work if they are using high-concentration THC products," he said. "ey should have the venue to have someone medically evaluated to determine whether or not mari- juana is a contributor, or (if there are) any other problems at hand, including health conditions that may be contributing to someone being impaired on the job." Because it is difficult to measure just how impaired someone is, the current standards of observation and investigations still apply when an employee is suspected of being under the influence while at work, said Demerse. "If the employer were to termi- nate someone's employment or discipline them on the basis that they were impaired in the work- place, the employer had better be prepared to prove the employee was impaired. That's where the challenge comes in." e employer has an "absolute obligation" to ensure no impaired workers are on the job, and that any worker can be removed from the workplace until he isn't impaired. But in a labour arbitration or a civil case, the employer's burden of proof is a balance of probabilities that an employee was impaired and reasonable doubt does not ap- ply, as in a criminal case, he said. e question of how much THC in the system is too much will have to be answered before a standard such as the blood alcohol level of 0.08 is implemented for a mari- juana high, according to Demerse. "If we can test for present im- pairment, society in general, the criminal justice system or labour arbitrators will have to grapple with (how) the level of THC con- tent in a person's body equates to impairment." The issue of impairment in- cludes more than just marijuana or booze and should also be ad- dressed in a larger conversation, according to Dave Earle, director of human resource services and government relations for the Con- struction Labour Relations Asso- ciation of B.C. "We are dealing with substance use and when we lose focus on that, we are not going to do the job that we need to do," he said. "Any substance that is a mind- altering substance causes some level of effect." ere is little research available on what level of THC causes what effect on a worker and how much is tolerable in the workplace, said Earle. "We're really operating from a place of ignorance," he said. "Mari- juana doesn't really have physi- cal side effects. You can walk a straight line — giggling and eating your Cheetos — but you can walk a straight line. "ere is no way to detect physi- cal impairment; it is by definition a cognitive impairment substance and that can be very difficult to tease out." As well, the current state of rec- reational marijuana in Canada is highly unregulated, said Earle. "When you go out and spark a joint, you have absolutely no idea of the concentration, of the strain, of the effect, of the amount; you've got nothing." In B.C., the law already requires workplaces to manage impair- ment, which includes non-sub- stance items such as fatigue, stress or other mental health issues. "(An employer's) job is not to seek out the person smelling like marijuana in the workplace, your job is to find a person whose head isn't in the game, who isn't working safely," said Earle. "e issue isn't testing, the issue is the person not being right." The employer must make it clear to the employees they must be sober when carrying out duties and responsibilities — regardless of whether or not it's alcohol or marijuana or any type of drug, said MacDonald. Institute of Professional Management 2210-1081 Ambleside Drive, Ottawa, ON, K2B 8C8 Tel: (613) 721-5957 Toll Free: 1-888-441-0000 ipm Details at : www.workplace.ca/hr-reporter.html The Professional Recruiter Full Accreditation Program on Multimedia CD-ROM valid until November 28, 2016 This new multi-media deluxe package includes three (3) CD-ROMS with over 200 minutes of audio visual clips, participant workbook and exam. $745 regular $945 ... save $200 This program covers a set of key recruitment and selection skills. The goal is to help you reduce recruitment costs, lower the risk of bad hiring decisions and avoid needless litigation. Successful completion of all 3 Modules makes you eligible for membership in the Association of Professional Recruiters of Canada, APRC, with the RPR (Registered Professional Recruiter) designation. Legalization will not permit weed at work: Lawyer MARIJUANA < pg. 1 Unlike alcohol, no testing protocol is currently in place for marijuana. Credit: Mark Blinch (Reuters) Activist Ray Turmel holds a bag of medical marijuana while he smokes a marijuana cigarette in Toronto on Sept. 28, 2015.

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