operating motor vehicles, other vehicles, equipment, machinery or power tools.working with or transporting hazardous materials.The Unity Bill defines safety-sensitive jobs as those with the following job duties: In that case, the employer can decline to employ the individual, or take other action. Permissible Limits on Safety-Sensitive Workįrom an employer’s perspective, the most significant change to the law may be the addition of explicit permissions to take medical marijuana use into consideration when the applicant or employee holds, or will hold, a position with safety-sensitive job duties. As in other jurisdictions with medical marijuana laws, employers can continue to prohibit workers from using or possessing on premises, or working while under the influence of marijuana or marijuana products. Employers continue to be prohibited from disciplining employees or refusing to hire applicants only because they tested positive for marijuana, unless the applicant or employee does not have a valid medical marijuana license. The Unity Bill includes, in Section 8(h), this bar on employer adverse action based solely on an individual’s status as a medical marijuana licensee. The original Oklahoma ballot initiative prohibits employers from “discriminating” against any worker in the terms and conditions of employment because of the individual’s status as a medical marijuana license holder or solely based on the results of a drug test positive for marijuana or its components. The Unity Bill was intended to bring together members of law enforcement, business, and medical marijuana patients by creating a system to regulate patients and businesses. The group also sought to protect the public from dangers posed by those impaired by medical marijuana working in “safety sensitive” jobs. 1īalancing Patient Protections and Safety Concerns The “Unity Bill” is the result of this effort, and is projected to take effect the end of August 2019. The ballot provision’s passage initiated the creation of a working group to devise regulations supporting the new medical marijuana industry in Oklahoma. Oklahoma voters passed a state ballot measure in June 2018 to implement a medical marijuana law. Moving swiftly, the state began certifying medical marijuana users in August 2018 and reports more than 60,000 patients have been certified to date. The Act, better known as the medical marijuana “Unity Bill,” amends the state’s medical marijuana law to create a system for implementing dispensary licenses and to amend and clarify who must be accommodated in the employment context if they are medical marijuana users. On March 12, 2019, Oklahoma Governor Stitt signed into law the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Use and Patient Protection Act. Littler Inclusion, Equity and Diversity Playbook.Littler Investigation Toolkit for Employers.We’re ready for your tomorrow – because we’re built for it. Global Workplace Transformation Initiative.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |