As of May 2025, the Cannabis Health and Safety Act (House Bill 1200) is pending in the Senate awaiting revisions by the Law and Justice Committee. The act proposes a wide swath of “decriminalization” of the production, sale, and possession of recreational cannabis.
The Act designates the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) as the state regulatory agency overseeing the licensure and enforcement of the Act’s provisions. Under the Act, the sale of cannabis flower would be capped at 25% THC, while concentrates would be limited to 200 milligrams per package and all other cannabis products would be limited to 25 milligrams of THC per package.
The Act also addresses personal possession and personal production by further decriminalizing simple possession, reducing it to a summary grade offense, punishable by a fine only. Qualified adults would also be able to apply for a permit, at a fee of $100 per year, to grow two mature plants at home. Each permitted household could grow two mature and two immature plants in an enclosed, secure space.
Employers should be aware that, as written, the Act provides employees may not be disciplined or fired for using cannabis outside of work. Notwithstanding Federal Law, employees may not be disciplined for testing positive for metabolites, but the Act does not “prevent an employer from disciplining an employee or terminating employment of an employee for violating an employer’s employment policies or workplace drug policy if the policies were disclosed to the employee.”
Also in May of 2025, House Bill 630 is pending in the Labor and Employment Committee in the Senate. HB 630 works to amend and modernize the Equal Pay Law (P.L.1913, No. 694). The Act, if passed, would prohibit employers from considering an applicant’s prior salary history when negotiating wages, prohibit the institution of “gag orders” meant to prevent employees from discussing their salaries with each other, and would require employers to disclose pay ranges in job postings. The Act would also require government entities to regularly evaluate their pay scales.
As we continue to watch the litigation unfold between the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the federal judiciary regarding the prohibition of non-compete agreements, it may be helpful for employers, especially those in the healthcare space, to look to House Bill 1633, which was signed into law by the Governor last July. HB 1633 limits the enforcement of non-complete agreements in the healthcare space. Tucker Arensberg healthcare attorney Adam Appleberry summarized this law in this blog post.
One frequently asked question regarding the protection this Act provides to healthcare employees is: which type of healthcare employee is the Act aiming to protect? The Act defines a “Health Care Practitioner” as a Medical Doctor, a Doctor of Osteopathy, a Certified Registered Nurse, or a Physician Assistant.
