Employment trends expert explains what employers in newly-legalized areas need to know
Five more states including Arizona, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota voted to legalize marijuana for recreational use, medical use, or both yesterday. This leaves just a handful of American states in which marijuana use of any kind is fully illegal. So what does this mean for employers and drug use in the workplace?
Rob Wilson, an employment trends expert and President of Employco USA, a national employment solutions firm, offers his timely expertise on this breaking topic.
“The federal government still classifies marijuana as a schedule 1 substance, which is the same class as heroin and ecstasy,” says the human resources specialist. “However, since many more states now permit the use of marijuana, either medically or recreationally, this leads to very murky waters for employers, especially as it can potentially be illegal to discriminate against employees with a medical marijuana card.”
So how do these changes to long-standing drug laws impact the way that employers can monitor possible drug use among their staff?
“Your ability to monitor drug use among your employees is going to depend on whether or not you are a unionized or private workplace,” says Wilson. “While you have the right to expect and require sobriety from workers on the job, it can become a bit tricky when you suspect drug use and want to act on your fears.”
Wilson says that if you work in a non-unionized environment, you should ask a supervisor or human resources team member to help you determine if an employee is under the influence of marijuana.
“If your suspicions are backed up by other leaders in your company, you can discipline and even terminate your employee,” says Wilson.
If you work in a collective-bargaining workplace, Wilson says that you should have a series of steps laid out in your handbook that will help everyone understand what the outcome of marijuana use on the job will be.
“These steps might include drug testing, verbal warnings, and even requiring your employee to enroll in an EAP program if they want to keep their job,” says Wilson, referring to Employee Assistance Programs which can offer drug counseling for employees struggling with addiction.
Wilson says that even though Americans’ rights are changing as it relates to marijuana use, employers can still have a zero-tolerance policy about drug use on the job, even if the employee has the legal right to use marijuana recreationally or medically.
“While it is against the law to discriminate against someone simply because they have a medical marijuana card, as this could be seen as discrimination against someone with a disability, you can still require sobriety among your employees and treat marijuana the same way you would alcohol or prescription drugs like Vicodin,” says Wilson. “Whether an employee is driving heavy machinery or approving loans, you need your workers to be clear-headed and capable of performing at a high level.”
Not only will these new changes to drug law impact current employees but also the way that employers interview potential new hires in some areas of the country, it is illegal for employers to discriminate against job candidates based on marijuana use.
“Many states (like Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and West Virginia) prohibit employers from discriminating against workers on the basis of use of medical marijuana,” says Wilson. “And at the start of this year, Nevada became the first state to make it illegal for a company to discriminate against potential hires who test positive for marijuana during drug screening.”
Wilson stresses the importance of updating your employee handbooks to reflect any changes in the law.
“Regulations regarding marijuana use are constantly in flux right now,” he says, “So it is wise to stay abreast of these changes and have them reflected in your employee handbook. For example, some employers are changing their policy from ‘zero tolerance’ to ‘zero impairment.’ At Employco, we recommend that companies add the statement to their handbook that they comply or adhere to all federal laws and do not tolerate any violations.”
Last, Wilson says that a company like Employco can be invaluable in helping employers to navigate these murky waters. “Whether you need help updating your employee handbooks or you want your managers to be re-educated about this issue, we can be of assistance,” he says.
For more on this topic, please contact Rob Wilson at rwilson@thewilsoncompanies.com.