June

"An Alberta Board of Arbitration has concluded that an employer's random alcohol and drug testing policy does not stand up to the legal test set by the Supreme Court of Canada in last year's Irving decision. This is a significant early use of the Irving decision and provides insight into the problems an employer must face - and prove - before justifying random testing. In 2012, the Union filed a grievance objecting to Suncor's proposed random alcohol and drug testing policy on the basis that it is ""unjustifiable, unreasonable, and violates employees' privacy rights, human dignity, and human rights."" The arbitration board considered the decision in Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, Local 30 v. Irving Pulp and Paper, relating to random testing which held that there must be ""evidence of a problem with alcohol and drugs"" in the workplace in order for random testing to be warranted. This is the first arbitral decision in Alberta to consider Irving. It demonstrates that employers must offer powerful and compelling evidence of a problem with alcohol and drugs at the particular worksite in order to meet the burden of proof placed upon them and successfully implement random testing in the workplace. "

The Chatham-Kent Police Service is going high-tech when it comes to fingerprint records. As with most things in policing, keeping up with technology is not an option, it's mandated. July 1 is the target date for police agencies to submit fingerprint forms electronically and as of July 1, 2015, the RCMP will be requiring all police services to submit electronic fingerprints for civil matters, including applications for police clearance checks. The police service board has approved purchasing two Livescan Cabinet systems for $85,993 and a Livescan Applicant Processing system for $11,413 to meet this requirement. However, the cost has not caught the police service by surprise and won't be impacting the current budget. According to the report to the board, one workstation will be housed at Chatham-Kent Police headquarters to take fingerprints for criminal matters that will be submitted electronically to the National Criminal Records database. Another workstation will be located in the DNA room at the Chatham-Kent Courthouse to be used by court services staff. Having a Livescan workstation at the courthouse will avoid having to transport accused persons back to police headquarters if it is deemed fingerprinting needs to take place if additional charges are laid

"A ""catastrophic"" backlog in Toronto police background checks for students, health professionals and other workers could grow worse if the RCMP makes fingerprinting a mandatory part of the process.

The Toronto Police Services Board is grappling with how to manage the 200 new requests for checks received each day, contributing to a backlog that peaked at almost 17,000 requests last year. Waiting times for a check can stretch for months. At stake are timely job acceptance and school placements for thousands of applicants every year.

Police checks meant to uncover a potential criminal record are mandatory in a variety of workplaces. Last year, Toronto police received more than 108,000 requests for the two types of checks they provide. The first kind is called a clearance letter, which shows a person 's criminal record and can be checked by any police force using a database called the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC). The second type, called a ""vulnerable sector screening"" or VSS, is a more in-depth process and must be done by the police force where the person lives. For employment fields that require a valid VSS issued within six months, some checks have expired by the time they are needed."