Timber iQ February - March 2019 // Issue: 42 | Page 46

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP FEATURES According to Section 2A, an employer should not permit anyone who is, or who appears to be, under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs to enter or remain in a workplace. People in a workplace are not allowed to be under the influence of or have in their possession, use or offer other people intoxicating liquor or drugs. Employers can only allow people who use medicine to perform duties if its side-effects do not constitute a threat to the health or safety of the employee or other employees. Therefore an employee, who is contractually bound to the employer during certain hours, has to adhere to the employer’s rules, regulations and policies in the workplace, including undergoing the same or similar sobriety tests for cannabis as with any other narcotic or alcohol-related transgression. The most important aspect is that employers’ policies should embrace the concept of sobriety in the workplace. There should be a zero-tolerance policy for any use of non-medical, controlled, mind-altering substances. If recent usage can be determined by testing the employee, any employee entering the workplace with a trace of alcohol, cannabis or any other non-prescription drug will fall foul of company policy, as well as the regulations made in terms of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The same or similar sobriety tests can therefore be conducted in the workplace for being under the influence of cannabis as with any other narcotic or alcohol- related transgression. A SOBERING THOUGHT Section 8(1) of the Health and Safety Act states that employers should provide and maintain, as far as possible, a working environment that is safe and without risk to the health of their employees. It is common cause that the enforcement of sobriety is reasonably possible. The consequences for employers allowing someone to work with tools and clients outweigh the risk of tolerating the use of cannabis at work or its presence in an employee’s system when at work, because the employer carries the risk if anything goes wrong. Continued from page 42 Michael Opperman is the CEO of Omni Labour Consultants, a Johannesburg-based legal firm boasting a combined 75 years of experience in labour law issues. However, safety is not the only possible motive for an employer to have zero-tolerance for alcohol or unauthorised narcotics in the system of an employee at work. Other aspects of working when under the influence of any mind-altering substance include that it could affect an employee’s better judgement in terms of social transgressions, such as bringing the employer into disrepute when inappropriately dealing with a client. There is also the possibility of miscalculating in terms of accounting, stock and design, which could be regarded as not acting in the best interests of the employer, or negligence in performing designated duties. The legalisation of the private use of cannabis therefore does not in any way exonerate employees from their duties at work, the policies applicable in the workplace and the legislation that governs misconduct as a result of being under the influence of cannabis at work. DO YOU HAVE AN INNOVATIVE AND RELEVANT PRODUCT YOU WOULD LIKE FEATURED? LET US KNOW...IT'S FREE 44 FEBRUARY / MARCH 2019 // EMAIL: [email protected] CALL: [phone] www.timberiq.co.za