Employee drug testing will continue to be a controversial issue for many years. Unlike the United States, where testing programs for transportation workers have been supported by federal government, other governments have not seen this same need to date. Therefore, (transportation) employers must make their own decisions on whether to begin to test their employees for alcohol and other drug use. U.S. Government regulations will impact Canadian and Mexican truck and bus drivers entering the United States; a final decision on the exact nature of the required programs has not been made, but it is expected at a minimum that drivers will need to be subject to testing programs. There are no Canadian laws that would prohibit workplace canadian laws that would prohibit workplace testing, but a number of legal challenges are underway which focus on human rights, wrongful dismissal and privacy issues. There is limited information on the effectiveness of testing programs, although studies have found random testing does act as a deterrent and that pre-employment testing has merit. The majority of employees have not objected to testing in canadian surveys, but labour unions and human rights and privacy commissions, among others, have taken a strong anti-testing stance. This does not leave employers with easy decisions. (A)
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