Weed and your employer
- Thread starter newtohobby
- Start date
Idiot judges,...strike again.
"Canadian employers are free to impose random alcohol tests on their workers, but drug testing contravenes the law, according to a landmark ruling on employee privacy rights released yesterday by the Ontario Court of Appeal."
Those guys must love their weed,...!!!
FAST
I know many us jobs were drug testing is normal. There is no distinction between when you smoked as long as you test positive there is a problem.
Be interesting to see where canada goes with it.
Be interesting to see where canada goes with it.
The reason behind the ruling is that current tests
can detect the presence of drugs but cannot detect
the level & therefor impairment.
A breathalyzer gives a level of alcohol in your system.
Pre employment screening for the presence of drugs is
allowed.
That"s not my understanding,...if an "impaired" driver is pulled over because of erratic driving,...I though they had the means to determine what the level of drugs was in their system,...and then lay charges.
And we are also saying that some presence of illegal drugs are OK,...as long as you are not "impaired,...???
FAST
I was subject to random testing untill it was struck down.
There is still pre employment testing that is legal.
I am not bound by any agreement with my imployer as to
what I do on my own time. As long as it doesn't interfere
with my work performance.
The case I linked to regarding Esso petroleum was provided
to me by a prominent labour lawyer.
Different rules apply if you work for someone like the OPP and there is zero
tolerance as part of your employment agreement.
There is still pre employment testing that is legal.
I am not bound by any agreement with my imployer as to
what I do on my own time. As long as it doesn't interfere
with my work performance.
The case I linked to regarding Esso petroleum was provided
to me by a prominent labour lawyer.
Different rules apply if you work for someone like the OPP and there is zero
tolerance as part of your employment agreement.
You obviously are more in touch on this subject than I,...
What I have a problem understanding is,...if an employee was somehow tested,...and heroin was found,...one would think that person would NOT be some one anybody would want as an employee,...regardless if that person was at the time of the test,...impaired or not,...???.
FAST
This is part of what I do for a living:
1. Pre-employment tests - legal although should only really be used for safety sensitive roles
2. Reasonable suspicion testing - legal. While you cannot compel a test, you can simply call the cops if/when they try to leave the jobsite and they will test them.
3. Post incident testing - legal, can more easily be compelled.
4. Pre-access testing - legal, but you cannot force them to test if they decide to leave instead of coming on the job site.
I have had employees try to justify being stoned at work on a medical issue and it doesn't matter. Duty to accommodate doesn't extend to medical pot. If it's a safety risk, you send them home and tell them they can't come back until they are sober. The work we do is dangerous and any impairment at all is not worth the risk to yourself or others. If even one of my office workers was stoned/reeked of pot, they will get the same treatment however. Bullshit to the guy who says it doesn't impair judgement or performance. That may be fine in academia, but put a jack hammer in your hands or get in the cab of bulldozer, or work around one and you will want your co-workers sober, not stoned.
If the employees admits a problem/addiction, you have to give them a chance to rehab. Once. When they come back, there's usually an agreement that allows for random or on-demand testing, which is absolutely legal in that case, since it's agreed to in advance by the employee. So far, it's two strikes and you are out, after rehab if you are at work under the influence, you are done. Booze is treated the exact same way.
1. Pre-employment tests - legal although should only really be used for safety sensitive roles
2. Reasonable suspicion testing - legal. While you cannot compel a test, you can simply call the cops if/when they try to leave the jobsite and they will test them.
3. Post incident testing - legal, can more easily be compelled.
4. Pre-access testing - legal, but you cannot force them to test if they decide to leave instead of coming on the job site.
I have had employees try to justify being stoned at work on a medical issue and it doesn't matter. Duty to accommodate doesn't extend to medical pot. If it's a safety risk, you send them home and tell them they can't come back until they are sober. The work we do is dangerous and any impairment at all is not worth the risk to yourself or others. If even one of my office workers was stoned/reeked of pot, they will get the same treatment however. Bullshit to the guy who says it doesn't impair judgement or performance. That may be fine in academia, but put a jack hammer in your hands or get in the cab of bulldozer, or work around one and you will want your co-workers sober, not stoned.
If the employees admits a problem/addiction, you have to give them a chance to rehab. Once. When they come back, there's usually an agreement that allows for random or on-demand testing, which is absolutely legal in that case, since it's agreed to in advance by the employee. So far, it's two strikes and you are out, after rehab if you are at work under the influence, you are done. Booze is treated the exact same way.
Legal or not, violate company policy and you are gone. Women walking around topless is legal but I'll guarantee you, no labour tribunal will support a woman's claim to be topless if doing so is against employer's policy. Whether it affects performance or not is irrelevant, only thing that matters is if the requirement creates a hostile or dangerous work environment.
Thanks for that real life info.
And not to be a pain in the ass,...but does the type of drug,...pot, cocaine, heroin,...carry different weights when testing, and decisions making regarding terminate for example,...?
Thanks, FAST
Yeah, even though alcohol is a legal product, our boss does not allow alcohol on the premises. That is why we buy our alcohol at the LCBO after we leave the office so we can bring it home and not back to the office even if sealed. Also, we eliminated alcohol from our annual Christmas (yes, I said "Christmas" and it felt great) party a few years ago.
Not in most cases no. You have to determine how much is there and if it's recreational versus chronic use. Especially with cocaine and harder drugs like heroin. Each drug has different residual levels in the system. Some companies are very strict with the pre employment one especially, because recreational use often escalates to addiction. If the levels are low, it's usually ok.
Funny thing, people say all kinds of stuff about pot not being addictive, but when someone is about to lose their job, all of the sudden they are an addict. At work, it's zero tolerance however in most any industrial setting. You are under the influence, you are outta there, either off to rehab or out the door.
I've heard many U.S. companies aren't even testing for marijuana usage anymore. Of course, that's the stupidity of new hire and random employee drug testing in non-safety roles. No one knows which employees they are testing, what the hell they are testing and how equitably the company enforces whatever policy they have.
