Quebec Arbitrator Weighs In On Workplace Drug Testing

Case summary

On September 13, 2012, Quebec Arbitrator Lyse Tousignant affirmed an employer's right to subject an employee to drug testing where it had serious, reasonable and probable grounds for doing so.¹ Where such grounds exist, screening for the presence of drugs represents a fair balance between an employee's right to preservation of his dignity and privacy and management's right to safeguard the legitimate economic interests of its business and organize the work being done by its workforce.

The facts

The union, in two separate grievances, had challenged both the suspension imposed on an employee following his refusal to submit to drug screening on November 20, 2009, and the same employee's subsequent submission to drug screening, which was administered on December 8, 2009. The union argued that screening for drugs was abusive in this case, as it impinged on the employee's basic right of privacy. More specifically, it alleged that the employer had no