With recent rollouts of COVID-19 vaccines ramping up and employers gearing up for their staff to return to the office in the fall, many employers are questioning whether they are allowed to require new hires to show proof of vaccination. According to a blog article published by the Atlantic law firm McInnes Cooper, since the … Continued
Continue ReadingThe Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench has recently issued a decision on Phillips v. Westcan Bulk Transport Ltd, upholding a non-unionized employer’s use of random drug and alcohol testing in Alberta for safety sensitive positions. This decision provides further clarity and guidance regarding express employee agreement on random drug and alcohol testing. Specifically, the court … Continued
Continue ReadingAccording to a statement from Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart, the city’s officials and Health Canada plan to initiate a formal discussion on the city’s plan to decriminalize simple possession of illicit drugs. Currently, Vancouver’s overdose crisis is at its peak, 2020 was the deadliest year so far in terms of drug-related overdose deaths in the … Continued
Continue ReadingIn a series of recent arbitration decisions regarding legal testing for post-incident alcohol and drug testing, Arbitrators Andrew Sims and David McPhillips have reviewed and provided clarification for the legal test for post-incident alcohol and drug testing. The series of these arbitration decisions include Vancouver Shipyards Co. v. Construction Maintenance and Allied Workers, Local 506 … Continued
Continue ReadingEarlier in August, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC) released new guidelines, the PPSC Deskbook, for prosecuting the illegal possession of controlled substances under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. As part of the new guidelines, federal prosecutors pursuing charges for illegal drug use are now urged to only criminally prosecute individuals with the … Continued
Continue ReadingThe Court of Appeal of Newfoundland and Labrador has recently overturned a decision of the lower court, which had upheld an arbitration award on judicial review. Consequently, three separate reasons were issued by the Court of Appeal addressing undue hardship limits of accommodation which should be considered by employers regarding impairment from medication in safety-sensitive … Continued
Continue ReadingAccording to a recent article published in the Commercial Carrier Journal, new data released by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) shows that thousands of truck drivers could have already failed a drug test while potentially remaining employed and operating commercial vehicles for months. The Clearinghouse, an online database created by the DOT, holds information … Continued
Continue ReadingIn a recent article published in the U.S. magazine Overdrive, senior editor Todd Dills discussed a statement he received from a drug-testing service provider, according to which police officers would not challenge THC-positive drug test results when truck drivers report using cannabidiol-containing (CBD) products, regardless of what the product’s legal status is in the state … Continued
Continue ReadingIn a recent opinion piece published by the London Free Press, the labour lawyer Howard Levitt discusses his concerns regarding a recent order set by a British Columbia court as an ‘unfortunate and dangerous’ precedent for employers concerned with public safety. Earlier in November, Metro Vancouver’s transit authority, TransLink, was ordered to stop random drug … Continued
Continue ReadingThe legal battle over random drug testing in its northeastern Alberta oilsands facilities has ended for Suncor Energy, with a ruling in favour of the company. Since 2012, when Suncor began randomly testing its safety-sensitive employees for drug and alcohol workplace impairment, the energy giant has been in dispute with Unifor, the union representative for … Continued
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