California Employment News: Expanded Workplace Protections Regarding Cannabis Use
#WorkforceWednesday: Employees’ Off-Duty Conduct, Violence at Work Rises, the Election and the Gig Economy - Employment Law This Week®
With expanding legalization and commercialization—including several state initiatives in 2024 and perhaps even federal legislation—the chances are good that your California business has at least a few employees who consume...more
With the arrival of the unofficial annual holiday known as “4/20,” employers can celebrate by reminding themselves of the state laws that could protect employees’ off-duty 4/20 celebrations....more
In a recent decision affirming summary judgment in favor of defendant Human Resources Agency of New Britain, Inc. (the “Agency”), the Connecticut Appellate Court (decision.pdf) provided employers with useful guidance about...more
How have the rules changed since Ohio legalized recreational marijuana? Can you still drug test? Can you test for reasonable suspicion? What if someone gets hurt at work? What if they test positive but say it’s because they...more
New laws in 2024 expand workplace protections for employees regarding their current and past cannabis use. Nikki Mahmoudi and Tomiwa Aina review these changes, previewed in our 2024 Employment Law Update seminars, in this...more
Beginning in 2024, both Washington and California will prohibit employers from basing hiring decisions on an applicant’s legal marijuana use. What Is Prohibited? Effective January 1, 2024, employers are prohibited...more
Two new laws will take effect next year that restrict how employers may respond to worker off-duty cannabis use. One law will restrict employers’ ability to ask about prior cannabis use in the hiring process, and the other...more
Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana. This week, we see there’s a controversy over cannabis use and gun ownership by police officers in Jersey City, New...more
Few areas of the law have evolved more quickly than the quagmire of federal, state, and local laws governing employee use of marijuana. Although cannabis remains a Schedule I drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act,...more
California has officially, and for the first time, provided protections for users of recreational marijuana within the employment context. California Assembly Bill (“AB”) 2188, which takes effect on January 1, 2024, amends...more
After July 1, a whiff of weed in the air means a Marylander is taking advantage of the new state law legalizing recreational marijuana. It also means potential issues for employers when it comes to how they handle off-duty...more
On Tuesday, May 9, 2023, Governor Inslee signed into law Senate Bill No. 5123, which will protect prospective employees from discrimination in hiring due to their lawful, off-duty use of marijuana. With this law, Washington...more
Resolving prior uncertainty as to whether Nevada law provides workplace protections to employees who use medical cannabis away from work, the Nevada Supreme Court has decided that NRS 678C.850(3), a statute in the NRS Chapter...more
On Tuesday, November 8, 2022, Missouri voters passed Amendment 3 to the Missouri Constitution, which made Missouri the twenty-first state to legalize recreational marijuana. Assuming the election results are certified,...more
In recent years, employers adapted workplace policies and trainings to conform with changing state laws legalizing medical marijuana use. The landscape is continuing to evolve as many states have now prohibited adverse...more
A new law in California will significantly change the way employers can address employees’ marijuana use. While prior law made clear that employers could terminate employees for off-duty marijuana use, a new bill prevents...more
Last month, the California Legislature voted to join what it refers to as “the movement to legalize and regulate the non-medical use of cannabis” across the United States, including offering employment protection for such...more
Some of the first states that legalized the use of medical or recreational marijuana did so with warnings to users that state law provided no protections from drug testing or loss of employment due to the presence of...more
A little more than a decade ago, marijuana use was illegal in every state. Marijuana use is now fully legal in 18 states and the District of Columbia, and an additional 18 states allow use for medical reasons. Going...more
Employers, note that the Guidance from the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (the Commission) is only a temporary gap-fill. The Commission has yet to issue standards on the required certification process for those...more
California employers may soon be barred from discharging employees or refusing to hire individuals based on their off-duty use of marijuana, under a new bill headed to the governor’s desk. On August 30, 2022, the...more
Ending years of discussion about the scope of state law employment protections for individuals who use marijuana recreationally, the Nevada Supreme Court has upheld a lower court’s decision to dismiss a complaint by an...more
In 2016, California legalized the recreational use of marijuana. Marijuana remains illegal at the federal level and is considered a Schedule 1 drug. However, California’s legalization of recreational marijuana created issues...more
Legalization of medical and recreational marijuana use continues to spread across the United States despite the drug remaining a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law. This comes as respondents to Ogletree...more