Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER FEBRUARY 2018 NEWS 11 CAREpath is the only Canadian Health Care navigation program of its kind offered in Canada. We have extensive experience in navigating Canadians through the health care system. Cancer Assistance Seniors' Care Assistance HealthCare Assist Your Wellness Partner e issue is top of mind for many employers in Atlantic Can- ada, said Neil Coombs, senior consultant at Higher Talent in St. John's, and president of CPHR Newfoundland and Labrador. "What the real concern is for a lot of people is that there's so much uncertainty around where we're going to go… (and) we're staring down the barrel of an im- plied July 1 deadline," he said. " ere's a need to address mar- ijuana in the workplace, particu- larly with our clients who are in a safety-sensitive environment, such as oil and gas." Employer concerns Workplace concerns continue to centre on the absence of a definitive impairment test and a lack of product knowledge, which leads to gaps when building policy, said Fleming. "The biggest concerns that I hear are, fi rst of all, about people in safety-sensitive jobs being im- paired," he said. While technological options to defi nitively identify cannabis impairment are in the works, the current methodology for employ- ers is use of a reasonable suspicion impairment test. "No employer will ever have to tolerate impairment at work, just like now with alcohol or heavy- duty sedatives," said Fleming. "A lot of people have the tools to manage this. ey're just not focusing on that because they think they have to have a whole new approach when, in reality, they can likely draw upon their experience with other areas and answer 90 per cent of their own questions." Lack of education is overcom- plicating the process, he said. "It's important to distinguish between medical and recre- ational cannabis," said Fleming. "Medical cannabis is in the same category as Tylenol 3s or sleeping pills in the sense that you have to accommodate medical cannabis use in the workplace." " ese decisions don't neces- sarily have to be complicated. It's actually quite simple, but if we fail to understand the diff er- ence between medical and rec- reational cannabis and the diff er- ent products, it can become very overwhelming." If an employee does require medical cannabis for treatment, an employer in a safety-sensitive sector can accommodate with several options, including off er- ing a medical leave or alternative work position, he said. Employers should also realize that medicinal marijuana does not have to be ingested via smoke, but can be consumed in oils or cap- sules — much more palatable in the workplace, said Fleming. Legal considerations Medical cannabis is already legal, with 200,000 Canadians being prescribed the drug — a number that continues to grow, accord- ing to Alison McMahon, CEO of Cannabis at Work in Edmonton. " at increase in patient num- bers means that there's more and more folks that are coming to work and disclosing that they have a medical cannabis pre- scription," she said. Defi ning impairment remains a grey area, though employers can write policy to a more manage- able and defensible cut-off limit, said McMahon. e typical cut-off limit for a urine test is 50 nanograms of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol — a chemi- cal compound within cannabis that results in a euphoric high) per millilitre, or fi ve nanograms per millilitre for a saliva test, she said. "Right now, this type of ap- proach… is really the only en- forcement tool we have," said McMahon. "It's a challenge, but there's defi nitely a way to get around it. From my perspective, a company should not write their policy to impairment because it's essen- tially a losing battle." Employers also need to be aware of accommodation re- quirements around medical marijuana, according to Robert Weir, partner at Borden Ladner Gervais in Toronto. " ere is a legal risk around having blanket, zero-tolerance policies on the use or consump- tion of cannabis or cannabis products that are prescribed for medicinal reasons," he said. However, the rules around rec- reational use in a workplace con- text are much simpler, said Weir. "You can prohibit most every- body from consuming marijuana or alcohol or any other kind of drug while they're working," he said. "You can expect your em- ployees to be sober while they're working. ere's been a lot of con- fusion and hype about this." "A prohibition about employ- ees coming to work high is fair, in any position — safety-sensitive or not." Employees in safety-sensitive positions likely already have a drug-testing policy in place for reasonable suspicion or cause, though testing procedures remain unreliable in some facets, such as determining when cannabis was consumed, said Weir. "It is a bit of a conundrum, but it's a conundrum that exists to- day, because people smoke mari- juana at work, whether it's legal or not." As for the likely variation in regulations between provinces and territories, employers need not worry, he said. "Fundamentally, the rules for employers will be the same in each province," said Weir. " at is, you can prohibit people from smoking marijuana at work, subject to the human rights ob- ligations if people are prescribed medicinal marijuana." Advice for HR HR professionals need to become educated on the drug, and under- stand the duty to accommodate, said McMahon. "Ultimately, as HR profession- als, we've dealt with this before in terms of managing diff erent substances or disability manage- ment programs," she said. "It's a bit simpler than people realize. ere has to be a level of understanding around cannabis and what's hap- pening with the regulatory envi- ronment in order to feel comfort- able that they're writing the policy appropriately." From there, HR needs to en- sure the updated policy is com- prehensive enough to capture the new world of legal marijuana, said McMahon. " e drug and alcohol policy has to be able to restrict recre- ational substances, completely prohibit illegal substances, but there also has to be room to allow for accommodation of legal sub- stances, like medical cannabis," she said. Not only does HR need to es- tablish policy, but they should also be proactively educating su- pervisors and employees on best practices for handling expecta- tions and problematic scenarios, said McMahon. "In my opinion, this work should be done now," she said. " is is kind of prime time." Gaining knowledge on the difference between THC and CBD (cannabidiol — a cannabis compound offering medical benefits without making the user high), or diff erent medical conditions in which medical cannabis can be prescribed is necessary, said Fleming. Additionally, engaging occupa- tional therapists and a legal team when drafting policy is benefi cial, he said. "It would be advisable to in- volve a cross-functional team in the policy development," said Fleming. "Developing the policy is half the battle. e next element focuses more on deployment of the policy and training the work- force as early as possible." But for many employers, mari- juana legalization may not require an immediate policy change, ac- cording to Weir. "You have to step back, take a deep breath… and as- sess if it's even an issue." Employers should keep a close eye on legislation and test- ing technology over the com- ing years, said Coombs, noting "there's a lot of script that's left to be written." " e employer's responsibility is, fi rst and foremost, to make sure they have clear, written policies that consider both legal drugs and prescription drugs — anything that can aff ect performance," he said. " e policies need to be writ- ten so that employees and em- ployers both understand where to set the parameters." HR practitioners should be ab- sorbing as much information as they can on this topic — a chal- lenge that could pay off in the fu- ture, according to Coombs. "As Canada is breaking new ground with this law, I think this is an opportunity for HR pro- fessionals in Canada to take a leadership position (globally)," he said. "We're going to be the experts when other countries follow." Defi ning impairment still grey area for employers MARIJUANA < pg. 1 "If we fail to understand the diff erence between medical and recreational cannabis and the diff erent products, it can become very overwhelming." Cannabis use in Canada More than one-quarter (28 per cent) of Canadians consider smoking marijuana occasionally for non-medical purposes to be completely acceptable socially, according to a Health Canada survey of 9,215 citizens, age 16 and up, conducted in 2017. • 64 per cent of respondents who reported using cannabis in the past year believe drug usage could be habit forming, compared to 80 per cent of non-users. • 94 per cent of respondents who reported using cannabis in the past 12 months smoked it; 34 per cent consumed it in food; 20 per cent used a vape pen; and 14 per cent used a vaporizer. • 18 per cent of respondents who used cannabis in the past 12 months consumed it daily; more than half of respondents (55 per cent) used it three days or less per month. used it three days or less per month. per month. Credit: Boltenkoff (Shutterstock)

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