Cannabis In The Workplace: "If The Employer Cannot Measure Impairment, It Cannot Manage Risk"

With the legalization of recreational cannabis in full effect, employers continue to grapple with the workplace implications of its use. However, having to balance statutory obligations under both health and safety and human rights legislation is not a new problem for employers. When doing so, employers must take into consideration their duties to protect worker health and safety under the applicable occupational health and safety legislation as well as the duty to accommodate medicinal cannabis users on a case-by-case basis under human rights legislation.

The recent decision by the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 1620 v Lower Churchill Transmission Construction Employers' Association Inc., 2019 NLSC 48, addressed the accommodation of employees who use medicinal cannabis in safety-sensitive workplaces. In doing so, it affirmed the Arbitrator's decision that the inability to measure residual impairment