Jennifer L. Mora
Efficient January 1, 2022, most Philadelphia employers will likely be prohibited from requiring potential staff to bear testing for the presence of marijuana as a situation of employment. Presently, solely New York City and Nevada have comparable drug testing restrictions, however we count on this development to proceed. Nevada prohibits employers from taking antagonistic motion in opposition to candidates who check optimistic for marijuana, with exceptions for, amongst different jobs, safety-sensitive positions and motorized vehicle drivers who’re topic to testing underneath state or federal legislation. New York Metropolis, with some comparable exceptions, additionally bars employers from requiring candidates to undergo testing for marijuana. Notably, leisure marijuana legal guidelines handed lately in New Jersey and New York arguably prohibit pre-employment testing for the drug most often.
There are exceptions to the brand new Philadelphia ordinance. Particularly, the prohibition doesn’t apply to people making use of to work within the following positions or professions:
- Police officer or different legislation enforcement positions;
- Any place requiring a business driver’s license;
- Any place requiring the supervision or care of kids, medical sufferers, disabled or different susceptible people;
- Any place through which the worker may considerably affect the well being or security of different staff or members of the general public, as decided by the enforcement company and set forth in rules pursuant to the ordinance.
It additionally doesn’t apply to drug testing required pursuant to:
- Any federal or state statute, regulation, or order that requires drug testing of potential staff for functions of security or safety;
- Any contract between the federal authorities and an employer or any grant of economic help from the federal authorities to an employer that requires drug testing of potential staff as a situation of receiving the contract or grant; or
- Any candidates whose potential employer is a celebration to a sound collective bargaining settlement that particularly addresses the pre-employment drug testing of such candidates.
The ordinance requires the company tasked with enforcement accountability to promulgate rules for the implementation and administration of the brand new necessities.
In a time the place marijuana legalization is quickly increasing, all employers ought to reassess their office drug testing insurance policies to make sure they’re in compliance with current and shortly to be efficient legal guidelines. This quickly evolving authorized panorama presents new challenges for employers, particularly multi-state employers. Employers should steadiness complying with conflicting federal, state, and native legal guidelines, sustaining a protected work surroundings, and defending candidates’ and staff’ privateness and different authorized rights.
