There can be little doubt that dealing with employees suffering from the disease of addiction – whether to drugs, alcohol, or even gambling – is a challenge for employers. That challenge becomes greater when the employee raises the addiction as an excuse for engaging in misconduct.

In the last several months, we have posted several blog entries detailing how employers can reduce employment costs and/or increase workforce flexibility in these tough economic times. We have talked about furloughs, work-sharing programs, changing employment contracts, adjusting the size of the workforce and reducing employees’ hours of work.

Drug and alcohol testing has long been a sensitive subject in Canada, especially in safety-sensitive workplaces. A recent 128-page arbitration decision by a leading Canadian arbitrator may have put to rest many of the remaining questions about what kinds of policies will be enforceable in Canada and what they should contain.

By Thora Sigurdson, Nicola Sutton, and Derek Knoechel

Employers in Canada are beginning to use biometric scans to replace traditional lock-and-key or card-swipe systems. Sensors record fingerprint-like information, and computers transform the data into a mathematical formula, usually comprised of 0s and 1s.