Weed and the workplace: will legalizing marijuana impact employees/employers?

CAPITAL REGION, NY (WRGB) — “Workers will be protected for their off-premises, off-duty use of cannabis,” said Joseph Canovas, Special Counsel to the New York State AFL-CIO.

Canovas says the latest legislation to legalize adult use marijuana includes strong protections for both public and private sector employees.

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Frank Kerbein, Director of the Center for Human Resources at The Business Council of New York State, says many employers are dropping cannabis from their panel of pre-employment drug testing.

But, Kerbein says there are still positions that require zero presence of cannabis.

“It’s still illegal under federal law so if you’re a certain grant recipient under federal law you’re required to have a drug free workplace,” Kerbein said.

Kerbein says the new bill treats marijuana like alcohol, and he says that’s all employers ever wanted: to maintain a workplace free from impaired employees.

“Meaning if we can see that an employee is having slurred speech, physical dexterity problems, they’re violating safety rules, their behavior is unusual in someway, we can take an adverse employment action based on what we are observing,” he said.

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But Kerbein says he believes the legislation has gotten ahead of the science.

“We’re all comfortable with breathalyzers and the .08 number and what that means in regards to alcohol intoxication and impairment. We don’t have comparable technology or numbers in the cannabis field,” Kerbein said.

And, just because marijuana may become legal, doesn’t mean the stigma surrounding the drug will go up in smoke.

Canovas says “This will be treated under NYS law very similar to alcohol or tobacco, which workers may fear that there’s a stigma. They may not want their boss knowing that off-duty away from the workplace they have a drink or smoke a cigarette.”

“To what degree that happens with cannabis users I think is more a societal issue than employer issue,” added Kerbein.