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ARTICLE · 19 JUNE 2013

Supreme Court Of Canada Rules Against Random Alcohol Testing At Work

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The Supreme Court of Canada recently released its decision on random alcohol testing in the workplace in Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, Local 30 v. Irving Pulp & Paper, Ltd., 2013 SCC 34.

CanadaEmployment and HR
Anne-Marie Naccarato
Anne-Marie Naccarato
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On June 14, 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada released its decision on random alcohol testing in the workplace in Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, Local 30 v. Irving Pulp & Paper, Ltd., 2013 SCC 34. This is the first time the Supreme Court of Canada has considered this issue.

Background

In July 2011, Irving implemented a policy of random alcohol testing of its employees employed in safety sensitive positions at its paper mill operations. The testing was done by breathalyser. A computer randomly chose 10% of employees for testing each year. No cause was required for the test.

The union grieved the implementation of the policy and was successful at arbitration. The arbitration board ruled that Irving had not established a satisfactory safety reason to necessitate a random testing policy. The New Brunswick Court of Queen’s Bench reversed the arbitration decision and upheld the policy, ruling that the random testing was a proportionate

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