As Hire Image recently reported, employers may not refuse to hire a job applicant or discipline or discharge an employee because they engage in (or have engaged in) the use or enjoyment of “lawful consumable products,” as long as it takes place off the premises of the employer and during nonworking hours. “Lawful consumable products” includes cannabis flower, cannabis products, lower-potency hemp edibles, and hemp-derived consumer products.

With regard to testing, the terms “drug and alcohol testing,” “drug or alcohol testing,” and “drug or alcohol test” no longer include cannabis or cannabis testing. As such, employers cannot test for cannabis as part of any drug testing protocol in an attempt to prohibit drug use or impairment in the workplace.

Under the law, an employer may not discharge, discipline, discriminate against, or request or require rehabilitation of an employee on the basis of a positive test result from an initial screening test that has not been verified by a confirmatory test. Further, an employer may not discharge an employee for whom a positive test result was received on a drug or alcohol test (and confirmed in a confirmatory test) if it was the first time that employee tested positive in that workplace.

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For more information on Medical or Recreational Marijuana, and whether they affect your state, visit our resource guide at the Hire Image Resource Library. If you have any questions about how to best protect your business, employees, and customers, please reach out at contact@hireimage.com.