Employers in safety-critical industries might be entitled to enforce zero tolerance policies because there is no scientific test for impairment arising from cannabis use, a Fair Work Commission full bench has suggested.
A major employer-clientele law firm is predicting that unions will become more aggressive in their pursuit of wage and job security claims this year, and that employers will respond in kind by seeking to unilaterally end bargaining negotiations and turning to regulators like the ACCC.
DP World is free to resume urine testing under its national drug and alcohol policy after a five-member Fair Work Commission full bench yesterday upheld its challenge to a deputy president's ruling that its enterprise agreements excluded the method.
The ACTU is close to finalising alcohol and other drug guidelines that support oral testing rather than the urine sampling regime favoured by some employers.
The Napthine Government has introduced more stringent requirements for companies tendering for public sector construction work under a new code and has imposed its first sanction on a builder since guidelines took effect in 2012.
A Fair Work Commission full bench has overturned the reinstatement of a Sydney Harbour captain sacked for failing a drug test after crashing his ferry into a wharf.
Zero-tolerance drug and alcohol policies are back in the spotlight following the FWC's decision to reinstate a ship's master who crashed his ferry into a Sydney Harbour wharf 16 hours after smoking marijuana at home to relieve shoulder pain.
The Fair Work Commission has removed urine testing from DP World's national drug and alcohol policy, but has also refused a union bid to impose a "three strikes" disciplinary process at four ports across the country.
