The vast majority (87 per cent) of Canadian business owners said they haven’t had any cannabis-related incidents in the workplace since recreational cannabis was legalized last October, according to a new survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
Just eight per cent said they had experienced an incident, while five per cent were unsure. Employers with 100 to 499 employees were the most likely (22 per cent) to say they’d experienced an incident. By industry, hospitality (16 per cent), enterprises and administration management (14 per cent) and natural resources (11 per cent) were most likely to have had an incident.
Read: Majority of Canadians say legalization of recreational pot not impacting workplace: survey
The survey also found 65 per cent of small employers said they have a workplace drug and alcohol policy in place, while 34 per cent said they don’t and one per cent don’t know.
Despite the lack of cannabis-related incidents, survey respondents still expressed concerns about cannabis in the workplace. Some 60 per cent said they aren’t satisfied with their provincial government’s education efforts around the topic, with 33 per cent ranking provincial education efforts as poor and a further 27 per cent considering them very poor. Just two per cent of respondents said the quality was very good and 17 per cent ranked it as good.
“We’re finding that provincial governments still have not done a great job of informing employers of their responsibilities, relevant rules and regulations, as well as the resources available to them,” said Dan Kelly, president of the CFIB, in a press release.
Read: Cannabis boom brings recruitment challenges for employers
“Many small businesses don’t have [a human resources] department or legal experts on staff so they need help and resources, but too often their needs are treated as an afterthought when governments rush to introduce major new legislation.”
The survey also found 26 per cent of business owners cited their provincial government as their primary source of information on cannabis in the workplace. Another 32 per cent called the CFIB their main source, while almost half (48 per cent) of respondents said they have no main information sources.
Among respondents who said they have a primary source of information, 59 per cent said they felt better equipped to manage cannabis in the workplace.
Read: Employer obligations around medical pot, benefits plans