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A full bench of the Fair Work Commission has upheld the reinstatement of an employee who was sacked for taking medically prescribed cannabis, despite his employer's appeal on workplace safety grounds.

The case adds to the growing and often inconsistent body of precedent involving medically prescribed cannabis, and reinforces the need for drug and alcohol policies that focus on assessing impairment rather than the level of a substance in the bloodstream.

In the latest ruling, the FWC full bench denied Glamorgan Spring Bay Council permission to appeal an earlier decision, ordering reinstatement for a council works officer who had returned a positive drug test for Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

The employee was using medically prescribed cannabis for chronic pain relief following a serious crush injury he received at work in 2020...