Westlock County employees suspected of drug or alcohol use at work may now be asked to undergo a test to ensure there are no such substances in their system.
Councillors approved a new drug, alcohol and substance abuse policy at their Jan. 13 meeting, although several said the policy doesn't go far enough.
"What I read is this is not random drug sampling. Basically, these people will have to be written up and notified,” Coun. Dennis Primeau said. "You might as well throw it in the trash can because it's not going to do anything.”
While other councillors agreed they would like to see something more stringent, CAO Peter Kelly explained the policy was prepared by lawyers from the Brownlee LLP law firm, and conforms to what the courts are saying is acceptable based on current case law and human rights decisions.
Reeve Bud Massey said while he agreed the policy could go further, the recent experience with the employees' union filing a complaint with the Labour Relations Board in response to a non-negotiated severance offer was informative.
"What we learned from that is it doesn't matter whether you're right, whether you're trying to be fair, or whether you're trying to do the right thing,” he said. "What we learned from that experience is you have to do the legal thing. We were told very clearly that the union has the right to negotiate.”
He said council would "absolutely” want to see random drug testing of employees, but the current policy is the best that can be achieved at present.
Massey declined an interview request, but provided responses to some questions in an e-mail after the meeting.
He said the policy did not come in response to any specific incidents, but rather that council is being proactive in implementing the policy. He could not confirm the cost of having the policy drafted.
"The purpose of this policy is to maintain a healthy work environment, which is free from the influence of illegal drugs and alcohol to protect the health, safety and well-being of our employees and the public at large,” he said.
He added the intention is to provide an avenue for employees struggling with addiction to disclose that addiction to their boss and getting treatment, but declined to comment on whether or how the employees' union was consulted during this process.
"As this is a personnel issue, Westlock County will adhere to the collective agreement and follow procedures as it dictates,” Massey said.
He did not say how much it cost to have lawyers draft the policy.
Coun. Jim Wiese asked in the meeting how the union would interpret this policy, and Kelly said he didn't think there would be any objection.
"They have, in part, been asking for some of these guidelines, too, so we would think it would be supportive,” he said. "I can't see in any degree that they would be opposed.”
Lou Arab is a spokesperson for the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents unionized workers at the county and said in an e-mail last week that the national representative had not seen the policy until after it was passed.
"Mr. Kelly has not had any discussions about this with CUPE, nor has CUPE been seeking such a policy,” he said. "His comments are inaccurate and pre-mature.”
