Log in or become a subscriber

An employee who admitted to smoking marijuana while on annual leave was not unfairly sacked over a positive test when he returned to work, nor treated less fairly than his colleagues, the Fair Work Commission has found.

Last year, seven hours into a shift, the DP World Brisbane stevedore returned a non-negative result for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in a random drug test. A further test detected 562uh/L of THC in his urine – well over the employer's definition of "high" (anything above 60ug/L).

At a show-cause meeting, the employee admitted to having smoked a "small joint" the night before the test but maintained he was not drug-affected while on shift; he said he felt "completely like [himself]" the next day. He also gave a "100% commitment" that it would never happen again.

But after considering his response, the employer sacked him for breaching its alcohol and other drugs (AOD) policy and its "critical safety commitments"...