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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®
California prohibits employers from discriminating against employees because of off-duty use of marijuana, with some exemptions. One exemption is for “the building and construction trades.” California’s AB 2188 greatly...more
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
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
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
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
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
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
On June 7, 2022, the D.C. Council approved a bill that limits an employer’s ability to test for cannabis. Under the Cannabis Employment Protections Amendment Act, most D.C. employers may not fire, fail to hire, or take other...more
On June 7, 2022, the Council of the District of Columbia passed the Cannabis Employment Protections Act of 2022 (the “Bill”). If signed into law by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, the Bill would prohibit employers, with certain...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 York State Department of Labor (“NYDOL”) has issued FAQ guidance addressing common questions regarding recreational cannabis use by employees in and outside of the workplace in light of the enactment earlier this year...more
Employers take note: recently New York became the 15th state to legalize recreational marijuana use through Senate Bill 854A, and Virginia is not far behind. ...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
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 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