Do I Have to Hire Potheads? | No BS Hiring Advice
By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
A more frequent question for organizations to face, I noticed an expert answer I thought I would share with you.
A person wrote to a columnist with the New York Post, who’s the Chief People Officer for a private equity firm. And the scenario they posed was, they have offices in New York and New Jersey, and marijuana sales are now legal in New Jersey. So do they have do they have to hire people who smoke weed in New Jersey too? Can I have different drug testing policies in different locations?
Great question and one that’s not unique to New York and New Jersey these days, with pot being legalized throughout the country. Sports teams now have to contend with this. Sports leagues have to contend with this. After all, if you live in Colorado, it’s legal and then other states that your team travels to could be a problem. And since it’s legal where you live, what does the league do about testing for marijuana?
So the columnist whose name is Greg Giangrande and I apologize if I mispronounced your name, says, “Let me be blunt. You don’t have to hire anyone that you don’t want to. You just can’t refuse to hire someone for a protected reason. Now, employment laws vary state to state. So yes, you’re required to have policies that comply with local laws. But, and he specifically speaks about New York and New Jersey, you’re not allowed to test for cannabis, either pre- employment or with current employees. You cannot take any adverse employment action for use of cannabis outside of work. However, you may take action for use on the job or impairment on the job.
How are employers supposed to know if job performance is impaired because of cannabis? Unless you have video of them rolling a joint and firing up on the job, good luck. Can you refuse to hire someone because they’ve walked into the interview reeking of cannabis? Good luck. And I think that applies to people throughout the country.
So for those of you who are in the business of hiring people, you’ve got to adapt with the times and thus, I’ll just simply say, folks, it’s hard to prove that someone’s smoking and rejecting them for that reason. And since you can’t test, all you’re doing is guessing. So be cautious. Be aware. Don’t be dumb.
[svp]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YctaPlvzLRc[/svp]
ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter is a career and leadership coach who worked as a recruiter for more than 40 years. He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with more than 2300 episodes. He also
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#hiringpotheads #hiringpeoplewhosmokeweek #hiringpeoplewhosmokegrass
