Cannabis in the Workplace
Employer Rights & Responsibilities

                                                                                                                                         

Cannabis and the Workplace Course Summary

Table of Contents
Registration
Summary
Access
Modules

Overview

This course is designed to provide employers, managers, and supervisors with a more detailed understanding of cannabis in the context of the workplace. Cannabis & the Workplace (Employer Rights and Responsibilities) helps you to understand how laws have changed with regard to cannabis through 2018, and provides practical guidance to help develop and apply appropriate and effective workplace marijuana use policies and procedures.

Duration

Approximately 20 minutes. Online course is self-paced. Participants may leave the course at any time and can resume where they left off. The duration will vary depending on the individual learner and their prior knowledge of the subject matter.

Who should take this Course?

This course is relevant for employers and anyone with an interest in developing workplace cannabis use policies reflective of current national and provincial legislation. The content of this course is applicable for all workplaces across Canada, including British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland, Labrador, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, and the Northwest & Yukon Territories.

Course Developer

This online Cannabis in the Workplace: Employer Overview/Rights and Responsibilities course, content and certification is developed and owned by BIS Safety Software Canada.

Completion Requirements

At the end of the online module participants must successfully complete the test. Participants that do not achieve 80% can review the module content and try up to 3 times, as necessary to complete the course. Upon successful completion, there is a printable Certificate for your records.

Learning Outcomes

The purpose of this course is to provide a foundation that you can build upon when understanding the facts regarding employer rights and obligations for cannabis in the workplace. This includes many key components of a workplace cannabis policy.

  • A statement of the purpose and objectives of the program
  • A definition of substance use, and substance dependence
  • A definition of what you consider to be impairment
  • Definitions for all terms like medical cannabis, recreational use, after hours, marijuana, prescribed drugs, etc.
  • A statement of who is accountable for ensuring compliance with the policy and who is responsible for its implementation and communication to the organization
  • A statement of who is covered by the policy and/or program
  • A statement of the employee’s rights to confidentiality
  • A mechanism for employees’ to confidentially report when they have been prescribed a medication that may cause impairment
  • A statement on the consequences of not reporting or adhering to the policy.
  • A statement regarding if either medical/therapeutic or non-medical substances (like cannabis) are allowed on the premises, or under what situations they would be allowed
  • Information about arrangements for employee education
  • Information about arrangements for educating and training employees, supervisors, and others in identifying impaired behaviour and what steps will be taken
  • A process for accommodation, and return to work/remain at work planning
  • If applicable, statement of under what circumstances substance testing will be conducted, as well as the criteria for testing and interpretation of test results
  • A provision for a hierarchy of disciplinary actions
  • A statement employees are required to self-disclose medical cannabis use if they want accommodation
     

Instant Access

Access Instructions

You will access and complete the workplace Cannabis policy online course modules through a secure personal profile you'll create within the online elearning platform.

As soon as you have registered and paid for your Canadian workplace Cannabis policy course, you will have immediate access to the course and contents, which you can complete at your own pace from any web-capable computer/tablet/smartphone.

Step-by-Step Instructions

  • Click the "Register" button
  • Then click "Buy Now" or "Add to Cart" in the course window/tab that opens in your browser
  • Assign a username and password for yourself on the elearning platform, or sign in with your existing profile
  • Enter your billing information and click "Pay Now"
  • Assign, access and complete the course at your own pace

You'll receive an email from the system with the login link and instructions, so you can close your browser any time, and restart where you left off later.

It's important to securely store and remember the specific Username and Password that you've assigned to your elearning profile, so you can login and resume your course from any device. You can save the link to your browser bookmarks, or just return to this page and click the blue button below.

You can also purchase and assign courses for other people, through your personal profile. You can easily assign, manage and track the training and certifications for yourself or your entire organization.

SafeTapp Training Record Management

You may also want to utilize the SafeTapp record management app, to keep track of all your online courses, training and certifications. The SafeTapp system allows you to syncronize your courses and certifiations in a central database, so you always have the most up to date records availalbe right from your phone. The SafeTapp App can be utilized to keep track of health and safety training for individuals, or for the all the staff of your entire organization.

Click here to learn more about using the SafeTapp training record management app to track all your online health and safety courses and training.

     

Online Course Modules

Workplace Cannabis Course Preview

Once you have completed the registration process and activated the online Cannabis & the Workplace course in your elearning profile, you will be able to move through the individual modules at your own pace. You can start and stop as often as you like, and you can pick up where you left off later.

You will have three attempts to successfully complete the course modules and achieve a minimum score of 80% on the final test. If you are unsuccessful after the third attempt, you will be required to re-purchase the course and start over with three new attempts. As long as you pay attention to the videos, you should have no problem navigating the course and exam process.

Once you have successfully completed all the modules, you can access, download and print your Cannabis & the Workplace: Employer Rights and Responsibilities certificate.

Cannabis & the Workplace (Employer Overview)

Lesson 1: How to use this learning tool

Online Workplace Cannabis Course for Employers Lesson 1
Learning Tools
  • Course Overview
  • Changes to Cannabis Law
  • Responsibilities of Employers
  • Course Controls
  • Course Progress and Navigation
  • Overall Progress Bar
  • Menu with Lessons
  • Skip ahead or go back to previously completed Lessons
  • Pause-Play / Volume
  • Lesson Progress Bar
  • Previous / Next Buttons

Lesson 2: Introduction

Online Workplace Cannabis Course for Employers Lesson 2
Introduction
  • Employer, Supervisor and Manager Responsibilities
  • Workplace Safety Responsibilities
  • Communication of Workplace Cannabis Policies
  • Employee Compliance with Cannabis Policies
  • How Workplace Cannabis Laws have changed through 2018
  • Difference between recreational and medicinal cannabis use
  • Terms surrounding workplace safety and cannabis use
  • Due Diligence
  • Updating your workplace Drug and Alcohol policy to consider and reflect changes to cannabis laws
  • Legislation that governs cannabis Rights and Responsibilities
  • Information that impacts Employers, Managers, Supervisors, Employees and Contractors
  • How to meet workplace cannabis policy expectations
  • Specific Legal Advice

Lesson 3: Cannabis Law Changes

Online Workplace Cannabis Course for Employers Lesson 3
Law Changes
  • Changes to the Cannabis Act in 2018
  • How changes to the act affect employees
  • Cannabis for Recreational Use (no valid prescription or authorization)
  • Provincial Rules regarding minimum age requirements
  • Possession is legal for up to 30 grams
  • Cannabis for Medicinal Use (legal since 2001)
  • Ensure you are aware of your workplace rules and procedures
  • Addressing changes to cannabis use policies with employees
  • Safety and Human Resources

Lesson 4: Recreational vs Medicinal

Online Workplace Cannabis Course for Employers Lesson 4
Medicinal vs Recreational
  • Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
  • Statistical Association between Illicit Drug Use, Cannabis, and Workplace Accidents
  • Workplace incidents regarding Employees following changes to cannabis laws
  • Prohibition of Workplace Drug Use
  • Proactively avoiding an increase in workplace incidents
  • Organizations, Corporate Directors, and Officers
  • Greater Potential Liability Exposure
  • Key Elements of Cannabis Law
  • Ensuring clarity for Employers, Managers, and Supervisors
  • Everyone is expected to be fit for duty and unimpaired at work
  • Cannabis use outside of work
  • Cannabis impairment prior to work or carrying over into work hours
  • Right to Accommodate
  • Zero tolerance is not sufficient for medicinal marijuana use
  • Disclosed Medical Cannabis Use
  • Making decisions on a case by case basis

Lesson 5: Important Safety Terms

Online Workplace Cannabis Course for Employers Lesson 5
Safety Terms
  • Workplace Cannabis Terminology
  • Impairment
  • Understanding how cannabis affects the body
  • Impairment of concentration, thinking, decision making, reaction time and coordination
  • Motor skill changes
  • Ability to drive or operate machinery
  • Types and levels of impairment
  • Testing for impairment from cannabis use
  • Being attentive to signs of impairment
  • Ensuring a safe workplace
  • Having a prescription does not excuse impairment during safety sensitive work
  • Safety Sensitive Position or Task
  • Concepts of a safety sensitive position or task
  • Potential risks to equipment, environment, workers and the public
  • Disclosure of inability to perform safety sensitive duties
  • Fit for Duty
  • Fit to Work
  • Employee physical, mental and emotional fitness to perform duties safely
  • Employees who arrive impaired or unfit for duty

Lesson 6: Drugs & Alcohol

Online Workplace Cannabis Course for Employers Lesson 6
Drugs & Alcohol
  • Safety Focused Organizations
  • Ensuring a strong safety culture
  • Remaining safe at work
  • Developing and communicating cannabis policies and procedures
  • Ensuring everyone working in a Safety Sensitive position is fit for duty
  • Workplace Drug and Alcohol policies
  • Primary tools to ensure employees are fit for duty
  • Leaders must understand, commit, and adhere to workplace cannabis policies and programs

Lesson 7: Updating Policy

Online Workplace Cannabis Course for Employers Lesson 7
Updating Policy
  • Ensuring policies remain clear and relevant
  • Clearly addressing the new cannabis law changes
  • Policies must sufficiently address the issues of cannabis in the workplace
  • Impairment policies
  • Substance use policies
  • Policies governing the use, possession, sale of, and impairment by substances while at work
  • Emphasis on prevention
  • Policies to deal generally with impairment, covering all potential substances
  • Ensuring that the wording around cannabis is particular is clear and up to date
  • Policies must be published and available to employees
  • Employees must acknowledge their understanding and intent to follow policies

Lesson 8: Rights & Responsibilities

Online Workplace Cannabis Course for Employers Lesson 8
Rights & Responsibilities
  • Federally regulated businesses and industries
  • Oil and Gas (major projects and activities on Crown Land)
  • Banking
  • Uranium mining or processes
  • Railways
  • Pipeline and road transportation (involving crossing provincial or international borders)
  • Marine shipping
  • Ferries and port services
  • Telephone, telegraph and cable companies
  • Radio and television broadcasting
  • Grain elevators, feed and seed mills
  • Businesses dealing with protection of fisheries
  • Air transportation (airports, aerodromes, and airlines)
  • Provincially regulated businesses and industries
  • Provincially regulated Occupational Health and Safety Legislation
  • Understanding and being aware of legislative differences between provinces
  • Determining minimum requirements
  • Business codes of conduct
  • Legislation resources
  • Conducting business within the limits of your rights and responsibilities

Lesson 9: Employers, Managers, and Supervisors

Online Workplace Cannabis Course for Employers Lesson 9
Employers
  • You must have a strong understanding of your rights and responsibilities as an employer, supervisor or manager
  • Primary Responsibilities
  • Employee Health, Safety and Welfare
  • The right to not be discriminated against
  • The responsibility not to discriminate based on protected grounds
  • Protected Grounds as defined by the government of Canada
  • Race
  • National or Ethnic origin
  • Colour
  • Religion
  • Age
  • Sex
  • Sexual Orientation
  • Gender Identity or expression
  • Marital Status
  • Genetic Characteristics
  • Physical or Mental Disability
  • Conviction for an offence for which a pardon has been granted
  • The responsibility to accommodate employees who have disclosed a illness or medical cannabis treatment which makes them no longer able to safely perform work tasks
  • The right to undue hardship
  • If accommodation is overly burdensome to business or operations
  • The limits of Duty to Accommodate and Right to Undue Hardship

Lesson 10: Employees

Online Workplace Cannabis Course for Employers Lesson 9
Employees
  • Ideally, employees would already know their rights and responsibilities
  • It is crucial for employers to follow due diligence and pass along knowledge of rights and responsibilities
  • Employee Rights & Responsibilities
  • Employee responsibility to ensure the safety of themselves and their co-workers
  • Working in adherence to workplace safety policies and procedures
  • Consideration of factors which may impair their ability to work safety
  • The responsibility to stop work immediately if impaired
  • The right to stop work if the site or task becomes unsafe due to the impairment of another worker
  • The responsibility to disclose any treatment which may cause impairment
  • The right to participate with the employer in the accommodation process
  • Drug and Alcohol testing (including cannabis)
  • Testing as a pre-hiring process
  • Testing after an incident
  • Testing with reasonable cause
  • Scheduled testing with sufficient notice
  • Testing under a monitoring agreement
  • Random testing
  • Difficulties in justifying random testing
  • Strict limitations of random testing
  • Proof of enhanced workplace dangers
  • Proof of demonstrated problems with drug and alcohol abuse in the workplace

Lesson 11: Knowledge Check

Congratulations