A new reality is taking over. Medical marijuana is now legal in 33 states and the District of Columbia, and recreational marijuana is legal in 11 states and the District of Columbia. The marijuana wave is here to stay. For employers operating in any of these states, the chances are high that at least some […]
workplace
Arbitrator Reinstates Oregon County Employee Fired For Medical Marijuana Use
In a rare ruling, an arbitrator has found that an Oregon county government erred in firing an employee for his off-duty use of medical marijuana late last year. Michael Hirsch, a 60-year-old prostate cancer survivor, will be reinstated to his job as a senior programmer and systems analyst for Lane County next week and given […]
Ohio Staffing Company Says It Won’t Allow Employees to Use Medical Marijuana
A Dayton company will not allow its employees to use medical marijuana even though it will soon be legal in our state. BarryStaff, a business that recruits workers for manufacturing companies announced on Monday it won’t be changing its drug and alcohol policy and that employees and future hires who test positive for pot will […]
Willie Nelson Is Looking For a Handful of Good People For His New Marijuana Company
If you’ve ever dreamt of saying the words, “I just applied for Willie Nelson’s weed company,” your dreams are about to become a reality. Willie Nelson is hiring new employees for Willie’s Reserve, his “premium cannabis lifestyle brand” that features his own special, hand-picked brand of pot. The official website says the purpose of the company is […]
Employers Urged to Put in Place Drug Policies For Legal Marijuana
Employers, including small businesses, should put in place employee drug policies to deal with legalized marijuana. Employee drug use, which includes marijuana, costs businesses more than $129 billion a year in lost revenue, and can cost a small business up to $7,000 a month in lost productivity, according to Jo McGuire, director of compliance and […]
Nevada Supreme Court Sides with Casino Worker Fired for Using Medical Marijuana
The Nevada Supreme Court has ruled a Las Vegas casino worker is entitled to collect unemployment benefits after being fired for testing positive for marijuana. The justices said the downtown Las Vegas Club — which was shuttered last summer — failed to present its drug and alcohol policy to the court to show the worker […]
Ohio Employers’ Ability to Fire Medical Marijuana Users Irks Some Legislators
The Ohio House of Representatives on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a medical marijuana bill and the next morning, a Quinnipiac University poll showed 9 in 10 Ohioans support marijuana as medicine. Marijuana has momentum, and the House addressed some of the issues legislators have had with legalization, including whether medical marijuana could be smoked (no) and […]
4 Things Employers Should Know About Marijuana and the Workplace
With marijuana now slowly being legalized in more states, employers should now become aware of their rights and obligations about marijuana in the workplace. Here are four things they need to bear in mind 1 — Employers have the option to implement drug-free workplace policies. In most states where recreational or medical marijuana has been […]
4 Things Employers Should Know About Marijuana and the Workplace
With marijuana now slowly being legalized in more states, employers should now become aware of their rights and obligations about marijuana in the workplace. Here are four things they need to bear in mind: 1 — Employers have the option to implement drug-free workplace policies. In most states where recreational or medical marijuana has been […]
How Pennsylvania Employers Deal With Workers Using Medical Marijuana
The Pennsylvania House and Senate have been abuzz in the last few weeks with SB3, the Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Act, which was signed into law. Why is the Medical Marijuana Act important to Pennsylvania employers and employment law attorneys? Because employees have protections under this act in the workplace, and the law specifically sets forth […]
Ohio Legislature Pushing Bills to Allow For Firing of Workers Who Use Medical Marijuana
Ohioans who are legally prescribed marijuana to alleviate symptoms for serious illnesses could still be fired from their jobs under both major proposals to legalize marijuana’s use as a medicine. Republicans in the Ohio House introduced their medical marijuana bill, House Bill 523, late Thursday. It’s an effort for legislators, not outside marijuana advocacy groups, […]
Panel Warns That Medical Marijuana Poses a Workplace Problem in Nevada
Lack of clarity in Nevada’s medical marijuana law opens the door for litigation over employer requirements to accommodate workers who use medicinal marijuana, lawyers told a state advisory panel Wednesday. Edwin Keller Jr. and Robert Spretnak, labor and employment law attorneys, told the Advisory Commission on the Administration of Justice that a constitutional amendment passed […]
Are You Focused On The Right Things With Your Workforce?
By Mel Kleiman Where is your focus? Is it on staving off the impacts of the economy and/or the competition instead of on what you can do to improve the experiences of your customers and your employees? If so, to really get ahead of the game, I suggest you focus on the latter — something you […]
Employee Retention May Not Be as Big a Deal As You Think
Here’s a question that every employee, whether they be a manager, mid-level worker, or administrative assistant, always have in the back of their mind: How critical is my job in the grand scheme of things? I know there are employees out there who don’t think about that, but if they don’t, they’re delusional and out […]
Must Employers Accommodate Employee Medical Marijuana Use?
By Eric B. Meyer I’ve blogged before about how grilling a medical marijuana user about her disability, just before firing the employee, could give rise to a viable disability-discrimination claim. In other words, where the disability (as opposed to the medical marijuana use) motivates the employment action, that’s discrimination. I’ve also blogged before that the Americans with […]
The High Cost of Caustic Workers
A new Harvard Business School paper attempts to put a price on the cost of keeping toxic employees in organizations. Spoiler alert: It’s steep. There’s been a lot of research dedicated to studying the corrosive effects that noxious employees (and boorish bosses) have on the work environments around them. But, as economist Dylan Minor points […]
The Many Challenges of Dealing With Medical Marijuana In the Workplace
Although federal law classifies it as a Schedule 1 drug (like heroin), medical marijuana is legal under the laws of 23 states. In this ever shifting landscape, what policies must employers create, and how will they be implemented and communicated, about “drug testing,” “zero-tolerance” complying with federal law but not violating state law permitted medical […]
Why Canadian Employers Must Accommodate Medical Cannabis Users
Employers in Canada have a duty to accommodate employees with medical disabilities that are using prescribed medical cannabis as a treatment. I should say, at the outset, that I am a Human Resources specialist, and my perspective does not constitute legal advice of any kind. Human Rights legislation in Canada requires employers to accommodate individuals […]
