Now that we're in an era where it's legal for adults to use cannabis recreationally, it's a good idea for employers to create a policy that spells out their company's position regarding cannabis use in the workplace.
It's also a good idea for that policy to address an employee's use of cannabis outside of work -- for example, the employer's position regarding an employee who comes to work "stoned."
That's the advice lawyer Isabelle Cadotte of MHR Law gave Nov. 15 during a breakfast cannabis and the law session at the Big Rack Rentals Cow Palace. She said such a written document can protect both employer and employee.
Employers should also address cannabis use by those who have a prescription or licence to do so.
"Employers can create workplace policies and they should always put them in writing," Cadotte said.
However, that's not a silver bullet, Cadotte warned.
She said some cases have gone all the way to the Supreme Court.
"You can't guarantee protection under the law but you can do a number of things to try to minimize the potential risk of some of these situations," Cadotte said.
"(With) the workplace policy you want to cover your commitment to safety and security on the workplace, which is your primary obligation as an employer," Cadotte said.
"You also want to cover what are the consequences and the type of discipline that might happen if an employee shows up to work impaired or has issues around again, drug use on the workplace.
"And then you would want to also cover what happens if that employee turns out to have a drug dependency.
"There are different rules that apply to employees who have a drug dependency because that's considered to be a physical disability, so you want to be careful.
"You shouldn't be disciplining someone based on a physical or mental disability. You should be providing them with accommodation. So a workplace policy would cover all those items," she said.
"So much of this is case specific. It's dependent on the particular job position that we're talking about within the workplace. It also depends on the type of workplace.
"So there's so many different factors that you want to sit down and think about carefully when you're creating that workplace policy," Cadotte said.
Cadotte received several good questions from the audience.
One was what to do with millennials regarding cannabis policy.
"I would say learn their language and try to speak to them in a way that they can understand -- where you can support them in their passions, but in a way that will benefit your organization and ensure that the goals that you've set for your organization are still met," she told reporters.
Cadotte was also asked how employers should deal with a front line employee who smells of cannabis but doesn't appear to be impaired.
Cadotte could understand where an employee in that situation could give "the wrong impression" to the public but it may not be a problem if that employee works from home.
She warned against disciplining or firing that worker as a result of that issue.
"They really want to be careful and alive to the potential for that employee to have a drug dependency and then we're talking about accommodating the employee rather than disciplining them or terminating them," Cadotte said.
"But you really want to tread carefully in that sense," she added.
