Addiction In The Workplace: Accommodation Or Termination?

There has been a consensus among Ontario arbitrators that where a worker's misconduct is connected directly to a disability such as addiction, then termination is not appropriate and the employer should instead accommodate the worker. This approach has applied when three conditions are met:

1. There is an addiction;
2. The addiction has a nexus (connection) with the misconduct (e.g. stealing narcotics from a hospital);
3. The worker came clean about the misconduct, acknowledged the addiction, and sought treatment.

Workers have been reinstated even where the employer was unaware of the addiction and where the conduct was criminal.¹ Workers are often reinstated with conditions (limited tasks, regular drug testing, and disclosure obligations).