Legalized. Now What?
After recreational cannabis was legalized in October 2018, The Conference Board of Canada wanted to understand how organizations are navigating these uncharted waters.
From November 2018 to January 2019, we surveyed 163 employers to see how prepared they were. This online experience is the first in a series of releases tied to that research as we lead up to the Cannabis @ Work conference in October 2019.
Prepared and Ready
Despite concern about the impacts of recreational cannabis, 68 per cent of organizations believe they were prepared for legalization.
Confidence in Culture
In many ways, however, the approaches some employers have taken continue to reflect the uncertainty and caution that prevailed prior to legalization, and cannabis remains a banned substance by some safety-sensitive organizations.
Organizational Policies Regarding Recreational Cannabis
Only 32 per cent of organizations offer educational materials on cannabis use to their employees. Most rely on Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) or online resources and materials.
While it is common to have some resources on offer, our survey shows there is much room to grow when it comes to understanding the interactions between legal cannabis and employers in Canada.
Challenges Remain
Canadian organizations have faced legalized cannabis head on, but there are still concerns. The most challenging aspects of responding to the legalization of recreational cannabis are:
Workplace accommodations
Employers have long had a duty to accommodate an employee’s disability, including the need to use medications at work. This accommodation extends only to medical cannabis, not recreational cannabis. Employers must balance safety interests with their obligation to accommodate employees.
Laws around drug testing
Drug-testing programs are generally used to detect people who pose a safety risk because they are impaired by drugs or alcohol. However, drug testing in Canadian workplaces is a legally sensitive area—especially around employers’ human rights obligations and privacy concerns. While some types of drug and alcohol testing are more common in safety-sensitive organizations, random testing can only be justified in specific circumstances.
Educating employees
Now that recreational cannabis is legal, Canadians will likely become more cannabis-literate. What should employers provide to employees about the use, misuse, and abuse of cannabis? Prohibition laws have stunted research, and organizations are unclear about what they should be responsible for.