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 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
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
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
So far, 2023 has been a wild ride for employers, a theme that looks to be continuing into the third quarter of the year. While certain predictions we made during Q1 came true in Q2 (we are looking at you, NLRB), others such...more
While employers cannot police all employee conduct outside the workplace, employee interactions outside of work can – and do – impact the work environment. Indeed, under certain circumstances, inappropriate conduct by an...more
If you are considering using video cameras or other surveillance in your workplace, state law might have something to say about it. There are many reasons you might want to use video cameras in your workplace – employee...more
Earlier this month, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that an employee’s off-duty use of recreational marijuana, which is lawful under Nevada law, is not protected under a law that prohibits employers from discharging employees...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
Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee signed a bill on May 25 legalizing recreational marijuana in the state. The law, which took effect immediately, prohibits basing adverse employment actions on off-duty marijuana use, unless...more
The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (the “Commission”) published the first set of rules and regulations on August 19, 2021 governing recreational cannabis use in New Jersey (“Personal-Use Cannabis Rules”) under the...more
New York’s off duty conduct law will now explicitly apply to an employee’s off-duty use of cannabis. The change in law came as a result of the recent passage of “The Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act,” which generally...more
On March 31, 2021, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the Marihuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA), legalizing the recreational use of cannabis in New York State for individuals age 21 or older. ...more
On March 31, 2021, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the Cannabis/Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (the “Act”), which legalizes recreational cannabis use for adults aged 21 and over. The Act provides the framework for the...more
Can an employer be held liable for sexual misconduct at a private party that takes place after an employer-sponsored holiday party? A recent Tennessee Court of Appeals case appears to say “yes” and thereby presents a new...more
Employees gathering with friends, expressing their political views and posting about these things on social media have created for employers an increasingly urgent question: When the people engaging in unsafe or politically...more
Resolving prior uncertainty regarding the impact of the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act (CUMMA) on employees’ employment rights, the New Jersey Supreme Court recently held that employees can maintain an...more
On January 10, 2020, Colorado Representative Jovan Melton (D) introduced House Bill 20-1089, which proposes to clarify that the existing prohibition on an employer terminating an employee for the employee’s lawful off-duty...more
On June 4, 2019, the Illinois legislature passed the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (the “Act”) (HB 1438). The Act, notwithstanding federal law, declares marijuana a “lawful product” for state law purposes, and would make...more
Q. Now that medical marijuana is legal in New Jersey, does the Law Against Discrimination require employers to provide an accommodation for medical marijuana use?...more
Last week, the Illinois State Legislature succeeded in its bipartisan effort to legalize the recreational use of marijuana for adults 21 and over, with sales expected to begin next year. Illinois is the second state to...more
At the end of 2018, the Superior Court of Delaware held that a terminated employee could proceed with his lawsuit, alleging that his employer terminated him for being a medical marijuana cardholder....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: “Thank you for your email, I will be out of the office from….” New York City employers might soon be seeing a lot more of these “out-of-office” emails from their employees if a recently proposed “Right to...more
After more than a year of political wrangling, on May 2, 2018, the Maine Legislature overrode a second veto by Governor LePage and enacted the Marijuana Legalization Act. ...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Even if bad Glassdoor reviews have you feeling like you need to fight back, employers should stay out of the ring, and instead implement social media policies that clearly define prohibited behavior and...more