Marijuana in the Workplace

The Senate approvals have been received for the Cannabis Act of the government in which Prime Minister Justin Trudear announced Canadians to consume recreational marijuana. What challenges would this legalization of marijuana pose for human resource managers in the workplace? Across Canada, labour and employment lawyers have showed concern that provinces need time. However, regardless of the time it will take for the provinces to establish a system controlled by the government for sales of the drug, it will pose new difficulties in the workplace (Furlan & Carnide, 2018). When marijuana becomes legal in Canada, many citizens could consider smoking the drug on their way to work or buying it during coffer breaks. How does this affect the productivity in the workplace, health and safety? The commitment of the federal government over the legalization of marijuana raised occupational health and safety concerns for numerous employers.

On the other hand, 45. 9% of the companies have firm belief that their present policies do not cover any possible issues in the workplace which result from marijuana legalization (Human Resource Professionals Association, n. d. Presently, there is no consensus on the safe limits for cannabis consumption. The impacts of marijuana on an individual is variant depending on the content, frequency of use and its combination with other drugs. The very fact that marijuana can be consumed in different doses and forms, impairment vary across various spectrums. At times assumptions are correct when referring to safety but it is inappropriate to diminish the duties of the workers based on the assumed impairment. HR managers should understand if an employee will have the ability of performing the important aspect of the job and the types of accommodation they need.

HR managers need to understand that this does not mean that workers have the rights of selecting the type of accommodation they need. Alongside the accommodation of workers with medical marijuana prescriptions, HR managers will soon handle workers whose performance levels are impacted by using recreational cannabis. There are two main hindrances which employers have identified as standing in the way of coverage. As identified, these are the fact that medical marijuana is not regarded as an approved drug by the Food and Drugs Act. Also, that medical marijuana lacks an assigned Drug Identification Number (DIN). It is advisable that HR managers should study the advantages connected to the coverage for medical marijuana (Els, Amin & Straube, 2016). This involves cooperating with insurance organizations for the evaluation of the restrictions which are available and assessing the flexibility on personal claims.

Prior to the legalization of recreational or medical marijuana, there was a urine test to show the existence of contents of the drug. This is not the case presently. Proving that a worker has violated the drug policy of the workplace, employers must prove an impairment of the employee. HR managers require additional information on the detection impairment. HR managers are faced with making disciplinary decisions in these types of situations. HR managers should understand if an employee will have the ability of performing the important aspect of the job and the types of accommodation they need. When the use of marijuana for both recreational and medical goals rises as anticipated, it is reasonable for positions which are safety-sensitive. The challenge is that the present drug testing is not enough in determining the cannabis impairment.