How to Address Cannabis In the Workplace

When the announcement was released that cannabis would become legal, this caused a lot of stress and worry for employers as they wondered how they would handle cannabis in the workplace once it was legalized.

The Fundamentals

The reality is that cannabis can be effectively addressed in your HR practices by having clearly articulated and documented policies that state: No employee can be intoxicated at work.  The issue of legalized cannabis is included with all other potential intoxicants like: alcohol, illegal drugs, over the counter drugs like cold medications, and prescription drugs such as pain killers.  The rule still stands that during working hours, you are not allowed to be intoxicated and/or impaired in any way. Recently though, it has been observed that some employers allow their workers to indulge in alcohol while still at work. They provide fridges for alcohols or beers and some workers or employers pack these alcoholic beverages and bring them to work or events.

Employer Responsibilities

As an employer you need to clearly communicate the rules that no employee should come to work intoxicated or high. If an employee decides to be present at work when under the influence of anything making them high or start exhibiting signs of being intoxicated, you then have grounds to act in accordance to your policies, which may extend to involving the police if the infraction involved possession of illegal drugs.

Employee Responsibilities

One area surrounding Cannabis that seems murky is the issue of medical marijuana and people using it for different reasons such as pain management. Employees do not have the right to go to work after using the medical marijuana taken without a prescription and then have the mentality that they must be accommodated because they are using marijuana for their pain. Employees must present the medical documentation to their employer before they can ask for any type of accommodation. Then, the employer would follow the same protocol that they would normally follow for any other prescription or accommodation asking how additional information like how would it take, they might talk directly to the doctor to get more information to know whether it is permanent, the effects of the drug, if the employee would be able to do their job safely, etc.  The employer may put some accountability back on the doctor who has stated that the employee has a disability and needs some form of accommodation at work. Self-medication would likely not get you any accommodation from your employer because it is not the rule to accommodate an employee without a doctor’s instructions. An employee coming to work intoxicated without the proper documentation for accommodation may be requested to leave the workplace by the employer.

With clearly defined and communicated policies regarding acceptable behaviours in the workplace, all employees should know the parameters of no intoxication at work. If they do not comply they can expect disciplinary action.

If you’re still feeling unsure of the rules and how to address them, here are some great tips that Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Prevention services offers to help workplaces effectively address this issue:

1. Update or conduct fresh hazard assessments to include impairment.Having a clear understanding of which positions are considered safety sensitive.
2. Develop a workplace impairment policy that
   • defines impairment,
   • defines fitness for work and requires employees to be fit for work,
   • outlines the consequences, up to and including termination, for anyone not fit for work,
   • available support for any employee struggling with addiction.
3. Train all employees on the signs of impairment, the risks, and the company’s policy. Make sure that people understand what impairment in the workplace is, what fit for duty is and what safety sensitive positions are.
4. Develop and communicate proceduresfor identifying, reporting and removing impaired employees from the workplace. This creates an environment in which employees feel safe and comfortable bringing personal concerns forward. Perhaps they’re taking medication that might make them impaired, or they believe a co-worker may be impaired and is a hazard to themselves and others.
5. Determine how you will accommodate employees who disclose substance use, in line with human rights legislation. Employees are required to inform the employer. Then the employer can devise an appropriate response, such as implementing modified or return to work programs; connect the employee with internal and external supports, such as employee assistance programs (EAPs) and /or any local community support.
6. Train supervisors on how to identify and respond to work-related impairment. Correctly identifying impairment is the first step in taking preventive action.

Cannabis in the workplace should not be a scary topic. If you treat it in your policies as just another substance in the documented list of things that can be an intoxicant and you follow the same guidelines as other items on your list, you should have no issues.