Employer Legal Issue – Legalization of Marijuana in Colorado
Employer Legal Issue – Legalization of Marijuana in Colorado
Colorado voters have unfortunately approved Amendment 64, legalizing marijuana, which shall take into effect as of January 5th, 2013. As with alcohol, marijuana can be sold to those twenty-one and over. Because these individuals do not need to possess a certificate in order to use marijuana for other reasons than medical illness, our employers will most likely be partaking in this “opportunity.” The question for management now is what are we going to do about this? It is not specifically stated that employers, such as ourselves are required to allow or accommodate to the use or consumption of marijuana. However, it is important to express to our employees, that even though it may be legal to consume marijuana, our company will enforce a no-tolerance policy. This new law does allow all employers of Colorado to restrict their employees from using this substance even if that use if off-duty, so the company and its managers and employers can forbid the employees from coming into work under the influence as well as consuming marijuana while on the job. • All employees will be treated equal and will abide by the no-tolerance policy. Whether the employee is working at the front desk or is working on traveling sales, he or she will have to respect the company’s policy. On the days where the employee does is not scheduled to come to work, they may do whatever they please, and the company will have to knowledge of their whereabouts nor will we try to find out. On the other hand, if the employee is scheduled to come to work, they are not allowed to have any marijuana in their possession or in their system. For the respect of the company, we wish to have the employers fully sober and aware of their surroundings when on the job. • We do realize that by making such a strong and demanding policy, that our job openings might not be filled as quickly as we would like. However, in such a job field like ours, a
Colorado voters have unfortunately approved Amendment 64, legalizing marijuana, which shall take into effect as of January 5th, 2013. As with alcohol, marijuana can be sold to those twenty-one and over. Because these individuals do not need to possess a certificate in order to use marijuana for other reasons than medical illness, our employers will most likely be partaking in this “opportunity.” The question for management now is what are we going to do about this? It is not specifically stated that employers, such as ourselves are required to allow or accommodate to the use or consumption of marijuana. However, it is important to express to our employees, that even though it may be legal to consume marijuana, our company will enforce a no-tolerance policy. This new law does allow all employers of Colorado to restrict their employees from using this substance even if that use if off-duty, so the company and its managers and employers can forbid the employees from coming into work under the influence as well as consuming marijuana while on the job. • All employees will be treated equal and will abide by the no-tolerance policy. Whether the employee is working at the front desk or is working on traveling sales, he or she will have to respect the company’s policy. On the days where the employee does is not scheduled to come to work, they may do whatever they please, and the company will have to knowledge of their whereabouts nor will we try to find out. On the other hand, if the employee is scheduled to come to work, they are not allowed to have any marijuana in their possession or in their system. For the respect of the company, we wish to have the employers fully sober and aware of their surroundings when on the job. • We do realize that by making such a strong and demanding policy, that our job openings might not be filled as quickly as we would like. However, in such a job field like ours, a