safety-sensitive position

Arbitrator states worker’s use of medical cannabis results in “unacceptable increased safety risk”- grievance dismissed

January 11, 2019 Occasional Contributors Employee Relations, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Human Rights, Recruiting and Hiring

Increased safety risk arising from cannabis impairment in the workplace can amount to undue hardship. This will likely continue to be the case until there are reliable technologies that can accurately and effectively measure impairment from cannabis.

accommodating a disability, accommodation of medical marijuana, employment law, medical cannabis, medical marijuana, medical marijuana in the workplace, safety-sensitive position

Q&A: Medical marijuana inquiry during hiring or screening process

August 9, 2018 Ava Z Moradi, JD Employee Relations, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Human Rights, Recruiting and Hiring

Can we ask during the hiring and screening process if a potential employee is using medical marijuana for a position that requires driving or that is a safety sensitive position?

cannabis, drugs in the workplace, duty to accommodate, employment law, hiring and screening process, hiring and selection, human rights violation, marijuana, medical cannabis, medical marijuana, safety-sensitive position

Dealing with marijuana in the workplace

February 3, 2017 Rudner Law, Employment / HR Law & Mediation Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Source Deductions and Reporting, Union Relations, Wages and Compensation

I am increasingly being asked to speak about this subject at HR conferences, as employers are concerned about the practical implications of medical marijuana and how employees using it should be treated. The issue of marijuana in the workplace has generated a lot of attention, but what have our courts, arbitrators and tribunals said about it? A review of decisions addressing dismissal for workplace usage or possession of marijuana shows an inconsistent treatment which is consistent with the early stages that we are in.

Brown v Bechtel Canada, disability–based discrimination, discrimination, drug and alcohol testing, employment law, French v Selkin Logging, marijuana, marijuana in the workplace, marijuana–related terminations, medical marijuana, Old v Ridge Country Contracting, safety-sensitive position, smoking marijuana at the workplace, termination

Another failure to implement random alcohol and drug testing policy in the workplace

June 25, 2014 Devry Smith Frank LLP Employee Relations, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Privacy and Security, Union Relations

Suncor Energy Inc. has recently attempted to implement a mandatory, random drug and alcohol testing policy among employees in “safety-sensitive” or “specified” positions at their oil sands work site Fort McMurray, Alberta. These positions are held by about 82 percent of the 3,383 union members employed at the site.

alcohol and drug use in the workplace, breathalyzer testing, communications, employees’ rights to privacy, employment law, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, filing a grievance, HR policy, Local 30 v. Irving Pulp & Paper, near-miss history, policies and procedures, random alcohol and drug testing policy in the workplace, random alcohol testing, random testing policy, reathalyzer and urine tests are considered very invasive, safety-sensitive position, serious invasion of employees’ privacy, unionized employees, urine tests

The dangers of drinking at work- how employers can avoid disaster

November 19, 2013 Doug MacLeod, MacLeod Law Firm Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights

Most people would agree that it is not a good idea for an employee to drink or be impaired at work. The potential consequences of this kind of behaviour can be disastrous. This blog post addresses five issues related to drinking in the workplace.

alcohol testing, Can an employer test an employee for alcohol consumption?, Company social event, dangers of drinking at work, Disability, Disciplinary measures, drinking in the workplace, duty to accommodate, just cause for termination, Managing Difficult Terminations, measure impairment, Ontario human rights commission, Policy on Drug and Alcohol testing, safety-sensitive position, sexual harassment, terminations, terms and conditions of employment, What kind of liability can an employer incur if an employee drinks and drives?