Marijuana Legalization & HR Policy: A Conversation with HR Leader Brett Felmey

Recently, we sat down with Human Resources leader Brett Felmey to discuss how the increase in access and legalization of marijuana has affected the workplace.

Q: What is your background, Brett?

A: I’ve held Human Resources management roles with Fortune 500 companies and have been a member of SHRM for the last twenty years.

Q: Marijuana is now legal for recreational use in 18 states, in addition to 36 states that allow medical use. How has marijuana legalization affected or changed the workplace?

A: First and foremost, there have been increased safety issues, especially among employees in safety-sensitive positions. Workplace marijuana use is on the rise, with 39% of recreational users admitting to going to work “high” at least once per week. This change has placed more urgency on companies to update workplace drug testing policies, which is challenging. Safety must be balanced with not unfairly penalizing workers who may be using marijuana legally and on their own time.

Q: What industries are most affected?

A: Construction, manufacturing, distribution centers, utilities, transportation, and other industries.

Q: Regarding HR policy, what marijuana policies should employers have in place that respect state legalization laws but mitigate risk and help ensure safety?

A: I’ve put together a list of best practices for employers below:

• Treat marijuana use at work as you would alcohol; it’s not acceptable.
• Research the current company’s drug testing methods and stay informed on the latest technological developments. For example, urine testing detects past use up to 30 days, so these tests might be unfairly penalizing past legal marijuana use. Saliva testing, on the other hand, has been shown to detect only recent use within the day.
• Managers should be trained to spot signs of impairment and procedural next steps.
• Know your relevant state laws before setting policies and testing rules.
• In states where employers must prove impairment, a positive drug test result can be combined with documented poor performance, unsafe behavior and accidents to justify adverse employment action.
• Employees must be educated about the company’s marijuana-use policy and the repercussions for positive tests, including random, post-accident, or reasonable suspicion tests.

If you want to learn more about HR policy, please Contact Us by clicking the link for upcoming events and discussions.

Q: Are there key takeaways from today’s discussion?

A: Marijuana legalization has increased safety issues, especially among employees with safety-sensitive positions. Safety must be balanced with not unfairly penalizing workers who may be using marijuana legally, especially when employee retention is so vital right now.  Workplace drug policy should be updated to reflect these changes. Special attention should be given to updating drug testing policy to methods that only detect recent use at the workplace.