Terminating a unionized employee for substance abuse in the workplace is tricky, considering the duty to accommodate and the traditional mitigating factors arbitrators will consider when determining whether termination is an appropriate response (length of employment, discipline record, remorse, etc). A recent arbitration decision might bring some comfort to employers. In Vale (Manitoba Operations) v….
On the heels of June’s Irving Pulp and Paper decision from the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC), which severely limited the circumstances when random drug and alcohol testing is permissible in the workplace, an Ontario arbitrator recently held that mandatory pre-access alcohol and drug testing was an unreasonable exercise of management rights, violated the privacy…
There has been an ongoing jurisprudential controversy over the issue of whether a federally-regulated employer may lawfully dismiss an employee without cause under Part III of the Canada Labour Code (the “Code”). On July 2, 2013, the Federal Court ruled that the Code permits the dismissal of an employee without cause. However, the dismissal continues…
In a much-anticipated decision about random alcohol testing in hazardous unionized workplaces, a majority of the Supreme Court of Canada decided that Irving Pulp & Paper Ltd.’s unilateral implementation of random alcohol testing for employees in safety-sensitive positions was an invalid exercise of management rights. For a link to the decision click here. Facts Irving Pulp…
In a December 10, 2012 Workplace Wire Blog, we posted about two high-profile cases that could change Canada’s random drug and alcohol testing laws, CEP, Local 707 v. Suncor in Alberta and CEP, Local 30 v. Irving Pulp and Paper Ltd. in New Brunswick. The arbitration in the Suncor matter began on January 2, 2013…