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The legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada heralds a new era for employers, who must now deal with the potential fallout of the drug in their workplaces.

Legalizing recreational cannabis use “is not a licence for impairment or inappropriate conduct in the workplace,” says one Toronto employment lawyer, who advises supervisors to handle anyone who shows up impaired by marijuana in the same way they would anyone who shows up impaired by alcohol.

But do Canadian companies or organizations have the right to limit employees’ use of cannabis when they are off the clock? What about those companies that employ people in safety-sensitive jobs? For them in particular, monitoring employee impairment is a risk-management issue.

Lexpert contributor Sandra Rubin reports at www.lexpert.ca. Follow @Lexpert on Twitter. Lexpert is published by Thomson Reuters.

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