the legislative changes that come into place as of Oct. 17, 2018,
no worker is permitted to possess, consume, distribute and/
or be under the influence of recreational marijuana at the work-place
and/or while otherwise engaged in company business at
any location.
Also, and particularly over the next several months until the
new legislation and its enforcement mechanisms become more
familiar and engrained, it would be prudent for employers to
maintain a prohibition on recreational marijuana at any company
function; regardless of whether or not that function arguably takes
place outside of the workplace – or away from any other “public
place” – per se.
Indeed, one need only look to the range of potential issues and
liabilities that employers continue to grapple with in relation to
making alcohol available at company events (i.e. not only poten-tial
liabilities to their own workers, but also liabilities to third
parties in situations where impaired employees cause damage
or injury to others) to appreciate that it would be imprudent to
invite further liability by way of permitting workers to indulge in
any other intoxicating substance – whether legal or not – in any
employment-related context.
If the legalization of recreational marijuana is newsworthy from
the employment-law perspective, the real “news” is that – perhaps
surprisingly for some – there is no news. The legislation cre-ates
no new rights for employees and, for most employers, it will
entail relatively few changes to existing policies and practices. In
that regard, inasmuch as many employers already have the follow-ing
policies and programs in place, much of their preparation for
Oct. 17 is taken care of:
■■ Drug and alcohol policies that prohibit employees from bringing
any drugs (save for prescription drugs – including medical
marijuana – to be used in accordance with doctor’s orders) or
alcohol into the workplace, and from reporting for work in an
impaired state.
■■ Policies that set out reporting mechanisms for employees who
believe that a co-worker may be impaired, whether by marijuana
or any other substance.
■■ Occupational health and safety policies that provide for
the investigation of accidents and “near miss” incidents, and
which – in appropriate circumstances – provide for drug and
alcohol testing.
■■ Training programs to assist managers and supervisors
in spotting signs of impairment, and in investigating and
addressing incidents of suspected impairment.
■■ Smoke-free workplace policies.
■■ Policies and programs which recognize that drug and alcohol
dependencies represent disabilities under human rights
legislation and which prescribe employers’ obligations to
accommodate such disabilities.
To the extent that employers have not previously established
and implemented such policies, those businesses should treat
Oct. 17, 2018, as a deadline for putting their houses in order.
To the extent that employers already have such policies in place,
the legalization of recreational marijuana on Oct. 17 marks an
opportunity to review, revise and re-educate. In particular, man-agers,
supervisors and human resources departments should be
communicating with workers to dispel any false notions to the
effect that, as of Oct. 17, it will somehow become more acceptable
to possess, distribute or use recreational marijuana in work-related
settings. Employees should understand that bringing a
joint to work on Oct. 17 will attract consequences no less serious
than having done so the day before.
The bottom line is that although Canada’s legalization of rec-reational
marijuana represents a major development from the
perspective of sociologists, law enforcement and the adminis-tration
of criminal justice, that is not so in the employment law
context. Rather, as far as the employment relationship is con-cerned,
Oct. 17, 2018, will – for the most part – mark “just another
day at the office.” n
Jason Beeho is a partner at Levitt LLP.
workplace culture
Bringing a joint to
work after legalization
will have the same
consequences as
if cannabis were
still illegal
bugphai / 123RF Stock Photo
48 ❚ OCTOBER 2018 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL
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