"Zero Tolerance", Automatic Suspension Approach To Safety Violations Criticized, Written Warning Substituted

Employers are increasingly taking a "zero tolerance" approach in which a minimum level of discipline – whether a suspension or dismissal – is imposed for certain serious safety violations. In a recent case, an arbitrator criticized the approach as unfair to the employee.

Plant security, conducting a random vehicle search as the employee left the premises, found a partially-consumed bottle of flavoured vodka beneath some camping equipment in the trunk of the vehicle.  The employee co-operated in the search, expressed surprise at the presence of the bottle, and voluntarily submitted to drug and alcohol testing, the results of which were negative.

The employee explained that he had borrowed his wife's vehicle when his vehicle would not start, and that his daughter had previously borrowed his wife's vehicle for a camping trip and had apparently not unpacked the trunk. He confirmed this on a call to his daughter in the presence of plant security. He said that he was