With the recreational use of marijuana becoming legal in just about two weeks, the Vermont Attorney General’s Office is offering some advice to employers on how to deal with the change in the law. The bottom line: Don’t do anything differently. “In short, very little is changing,” said Assistant Attorney General Emily Adams of the
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When the governor of Vermont vetoed a marijuana legalization bill this week, he said he was especially worried about stoned driving. He wants to hear more about an “impairment testing mechanism” to detect it. The problem is that no such mechanism exists. There is no Breathalyzer for pot. Urine and hair tests can detect whether a
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Businesses are struggling to balance the need to verify applicants’ background and experience against a rising tide of legislation, litigation and public scrutiny. From ban-the-box laws to contested federal guidance, the limits on employers can be confusing. But with a vast majority of resumes estimated to include misinformation, employers understandably feel a need to conduct some
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The former city employee convicted of distribution of child pornography didn’t undergo a background check before being hired. It is currently the city’s policy to run a background check on positions that involve money, minors, entry into people’s homes, technology and public safety, city officials said. Robert Dobbins worked as a pump station mechanic, a position that
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Thousands of adults who work in Chicago Public Schools will undergo fresh background checks this summer prior to the coming academic term, the school district announced as part of a large-scale effort to obtain updated information about workers’ backgrounds following a Tribune investigation. That means teachers, coaches, volunteers, vendors and other workers who regularly work inside of CPS
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It is essential to apply any testing policy in a uniform and indiscriminate manner so as to avoid liability for discrimination under federal or state laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act. For those companies that have employees working at Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)-regulated job sites, additional
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If you’ve ever worked alongside a colleague who could be considered a ‘bad hire’ you will know first-hand the detrimental effect it can have on your business. According to the Harvard Business Review, 80% of employee turnover is due to bad hiring decisions and 45% of bad hires are attributed to poor screening processes. With
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Oklahoma employers are already prohibited from using gender, race, religion and age as reasons not to hire someone. But now, Oklahoma voters have created a new class of specially protected employees — medical marijuana licensees. Under State Question 788, which was approved by voters June 26, employers cannot discriminate against someone who holds a medical marijuana license.
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For those left wondering what is really going on in the complicated world of employee drug use (illegal, legal, and “semi-legal”), I thought I would spend this episode of Letter of the Law highlighting a few issues employers face when they know of or suspect drug use by their employees. 1. Drug Testing – Whether and
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Violence of threat or violence has become more common in today’s workplaces. It includes violence against workers that can be brought by employees, customers, family members of employees, etc. About 2 million workers are victims of workplace violence each year. It can strike anywhere and no one is immune. Some occupations/businesses carry a greater risk than
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