Questions swirl around pot policies at work
Many small companies ‘not ready’ for legalization, warns business group
Many employers still have more questions than answers about legal recreational cannabis and the impact it could have on the workplace, according to one business group.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business warned Tuesday that many small businesses are “not ready” for legalization and could inadvertently land in hot water if they don’t understand their rights and responsibilities. Richard Truscott, CFIB vice-president for Alberta and B.C., said the risk of a lawsuit is real for small business owners who don’t know how to differentiate between recreational and medicinal marijuana or don’t have proper procedures in place for dealing with workplace impairment.
“If business owners aren’t concerned about that, they definitely should be, because that (a lawsuit) is where some of this stuff is probably going to end up,” Truscott said. “It’s a very sticky situation for entrepreneurs.”
For large companies with their own human resource and safety departments, putting workplace rules in place to reflect the new reality of legal marijuana is not that difficult, Truscott said. But for small employers without expertise in this area, there remains a lot of confusion. Common questions include whether cannabis can be consumed on workplace premises, what responsibility an employer bears if an impaired employee or customer has an accident on site, and whether employers can ask employees to submit to a drug test.
“This is going to be a difficult time,” he said. “Business owners can get themselves in trouble because they don’t know what they don’t know.”
Employers are fearful of making a mistake when it comes to legal marijuana, said Jeff Bradshaw, president and CEO of Cannabis Learning Series, which offers workplace safety and cannabis training programs for businesses.
Many employers have not yet come up with their own internal policies.
“Some of them are putting their heads in the sand and saying, ‘I hope nothing happens to me, I’ll wait and see,’ ” Bradshaw said. “But from a legal standpoint, preparing for this is a little like having an insurance policy.”
Some of the issues employers may have to deal with, Bradshaw said, include a possible increase in workplace accidents and impaired driving. Workplaces will also have to differentiate between recreational users, for whom a “no-tolerance” policy is fair, and medicinal users who have the right to be reasonably accommodated by their employer.
“Employees do not have any rights with respect to recreational cannabis in the workplace. They do have rights when it comes down to a medical authorization,” he said. “I unfortunately think there’s going to be all kinds of lawsuits with respect to an employer terminating someone’s employment because they think they’re using cannabis on the job, and they don’t know the difference between medicinal and recreational.”
Jolene Paulson, co-owner of Align Builders in Camrose, Alta., said she has been working to get up to speed on the new cannabis legislation and to educate her 12-person staff on the dangers of workplace impairment. She said she worries that cannabis legalization could make drug use more widespread, something that would be a problem for many business owners.
“I don’t have concerns about the group of employees we currently have, but new employees I think will be more of a concern. There will need to be an awareness there during the hiring process,” Paulson said.
Armour Equipment, a Calgarybased scaffolding company with 50 employees, has spent the last several months updating its drug and alcohol policy as well as conducting an internal campaign called “Fit for Duty.” The company also participated in Cannabis Learning Series’ education program.
“We’re confident. We feel we’ve taken the appropriate and proactive approach,” said Armour Equipment president Charles Maygard.
However, Maygard acknowledged the process has been timeconsuming and resource-intensive, and that some businesses may feel burdened by it all. “But like any business requirement, these things are important and resources need to be applied,” he said.
The Calgary Chamber of Commerce has also been working with its members to educate them about cannabis legalization. Policy director Zoe Addington cautioned against being overly fearful of what the change means from an employer standpoint, saying she believes most businesses actually are ready.
“We don’t want to overblow what this (legalization) actually means. Most businesses have policies in place to deal with alcohol use, so the expectation is this would be similar,” Addington said. “I think adapting policies to deal with this is not too onerous.”