An Alberta arbitration board allowed the union’s policy grievance and struck down the employer’s random drug and alcohol testing policy in Unifor, Local 707A v Suncor Energy Inc, 2014 CanLII 23034. The policy was part of an array of measures adopted by Suncor to ensure the safety of its workforce in an admittedly hazardous workplace. A majority of the board held that Suncor had failed to show an existing problem at the worksite and in the bargaining unit that would justify the intrusive nature of the random testing.
The policy was held to be unreasonable.
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W. Barry Nixon is the COO, PreemploymentDirectory.com the leading background screening information portal and online worldwide directory of professional background screening firms and Suppliers to the background screening industry. He co-authored the landmark book, Background Screening & Investigations: Managing Hiring Risk from the HR and Security Perspective. He also is the publisher of award winning newsletters, The Background Buzz and The Global Background Screener, and the author of the Background Checks column in PI Magazine.
In addition, Barry is a past recipient of the elite ‘Top 25 Influential People in Security’ by Security Magazine and past Co-Chair, International Committee for the National Association for Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS). He currently serves as a Global Ambassador for NAPBS.
You can contact Barry at 1-949-770-5264 or online at wbnixon@preemploymentdirectory.com