What Employers Should Know About Medical Marijuana Usage in the Workplace

As labor/employment laws and other laws continue to change, along with adding laws, HR professionals have to be ready for these changes guess what – before they even take place. Sixteen states and D.C. have medical marijuana laws in place: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.  Despite these laws being in place on a state level, medical marijuana is illegal on the federal level.

Medical marijuana laws are designed to provide an alternative therapeutic option to people with chronic or debilitating conditions, such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, major depression, or severe back pain. Employees suffering from these conditions are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act and provided appropriate accommodations not involving medical marijuana use, such as providing leave to seek treatment.

While medical marijuana is utilized in the workplace, the employer also has to be conscious of Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), by providing a safe work place for all its employees. Studies have shown that marijuana-using employees are more prone to accidents, injuries, and absenteeism. If an employee is in a safety-sensitive position, marijuana use is likely not a reasonable option. When an employer is notified by an employee that he/she has obtained a medical marijuana recommendation, (generally, not called a “prescription” as the drug is FDA-approved), the employer should consider if the employer should otherwise be considered disabled under the ADA (American’s Disability Act) and further explore if there is reasonable accommodation other than marijuana use is available.  If an employee must be licensed in accordance with federal law to perform duties such as commercial driving, marijuana use is not an option at all.

Only a handful of cases have resulted in decisions to provide guidance to employers regarding their potential liability in these situations. Almost all cases have supported employers who have attempted to keep medical marijuana out of the workplace.

Court Ruling

One such case is a 2011 Washington Supreme Court case held that the Washington Medical Use of Marijuana Act does not create a private cause of action for discharge of an employee who uses medical marijuana, either expressly or impliedly. Further, the Court found the act did not create a clear public policy to support a wrongful discharge in violation of a public policy claim and further noted “Nothing in this chapter required any accommodation of any on-site medical use of marijuana in any place of employment… “.  Roe v. TeleTech Customer Care Mgmt. (Colo.) LLC, 2011 Wash. LEXIS 393, No. 83768-6 (Wash. June 9, 2011)

Some state have written protections for medical marijuana users directly in their statutes:

Example:  Arizona statue states that “Unless failure to do so would cause an employer to lose a monetary or licensing related benefit under federal law or regulations, an employer may not discriminate against a person in hiring, termination or imposing any term or condition of employment or otherwise penalize a person based upon either: (1) the person's status as a cardholder [or] (2) a registered qualifying patient's positive test for marijuana components or metabolites, unless the patient used, possessed or was impaired by marijuana on the premises of the place of employment or during the hours of employment." Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 36-2813 (2011).

Because the issue of medical marijuana in the workplace is still in its infancy, employers and those who advise them should keep their eyes on court and legislative developments in their respective states. Employers, for now, appear to have plenty of defenses for maintaining the status quo in their drug testing programs or drug-free workplace policies.

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Office: (313) 573-6677

What Entrepreneurs Need to Know about SMB Benefits?

Benefits are one of the greatest challenges facing human resource (HR) Professionals. Benefit regulations are an ever-changing industry concern. HR professionals should stay well-informed of government and state regulation changes and be sure to keep employees up-to-date through newsletter communication, workshops and briefings. HR Professionals should review packages offered by other companies in the industry. While reviewing other competitive packages is informative, be aware in this day, there is no one size fits all answers regarding benefits or HR for that matter. If considering making changes to your companies’ benefits package, be thorough and consider all variables before making changes.

As you know in March 2010, the federal government passed health care insurance reform, which included the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) signed into law on March 23. The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 signed into law on March 30. These bills, together, are referred to as the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  

As an employer, it is effective to adopt the approach of keeping healthcare cost under control in a number of ways. This approach includes increasing the share of premiums that employees pay, increasing deductibles and co-pays, and implement various managed care strategies. 

Periodically review your current plan and establish whether the plan your company has in place is the best choice for your employees. Indemnity and managed care plans are:

·       Indemnity Plan

·       HMOs (Health Maintenance Organizations)

·       PPO (Preferred Provider Organization)

·       POS (Point-of-Service Plans)

·       Consumer Directed Plans

SBA has a great new small business healthcare assessment tool located at http://www.sba.gov/healthcare. Excellent Tool!

Click here to receive any of the below small business healthcare insurance Checklists to assess your current health care position. Healthcare Checklist Request.

Email or call me with any HR or Business related questions. All4hrbiz@gmail.com  

Stay tuned for HR Lunch Café coming very soon. Name a Topic You would like us to research! All4hrbiz.gmail.com

April D. Halliburton, President

All-4-HR & Business Solutions, LLC

Team-Building is Essential to SMB Organizational Growth

Team building is very important when creating a great culture and begins from within the organization. In fact, it is impossible to do so without team-building. I read an article on LinkedIn last week that really caught my attention. The article read “People are not a Company’s Great Asset”.  We are in an era where you know what I am going to say, People are a company’s greatest asset.  As least that is definitely one of the chief premises at All-4-HR & Business Solutions and many, many other organizations – large and small. 

What is even more important is that a Company believes in its employees.  Organizations show employees they believe in them by training and allowing them to grow within the organization. Organization must invest time and yes, funds in training employees and building organizational culture, which often increases longevity.  Often times, it is not a lot of money, that is required in small businesses to build and strengthen teams.  Team-building does not have drawbacks!  Team-building is a win-win situation for all. Face it, failing to work as a team will lower productivity substantially, which will lead to lower customer satisfaction and fewer profits.

Managers should always keep employees happy. The competitive environment wherein attention is directed to pleasing clients easily lead employees to feel unappreciated.  Employee happiness will lead to increased productivity, lower turnover rates and increased employee morale. In turn, this alleviates unnecessary stress of vetting and recruiting new employees – a Win-Win Situation for All !!!

See what All-4-HR & Business Solutions is Blogging about tomorrow!!!

April D. Halliburton, President

Does Your Discipline Policy Give Several Chances for an Employee to Improve His or Her Performance?

Does Your Discipline Policy Give Several Chances for an

Employee to Improve His or Her Performance?

The reason I started a virtual human resource management and consulting company was for the exact reason asked in the above title.  After working in the legal field for over 20 years, I was downsized from a large law firm. I had no idea I was so easily dispensable. Anyway at the same point in my life, one of the most important people in my life was facing health challenges that were surfacing so quickly, our heads were spinning.  It’s amazing how quickly life can change!  Did I mention the word AMAZING!

In a surprising turn of event, I found myself virtual transcribing unemployment hearing tapes. Who knew right? While quite comical at times, this brought me to my niche – my passion for helping small- medium-sized enterprise (SME) owners. It was during this virtual transcriptionist role, I was amazed – yes amazed at the procedures or lack thereof SME owners conducted or did not conduct that had substantial and sometimes even detrimental to their companies.

The TRUTH is human resources is NOT easy and everybody and anybody cannot do HR. One of the most common problems I heard over and over and over and over…, was the progressive discipline policy or LACK thereof that was in place or NOT, at any given time. When there is NO Progressive discipline policy executed and implemented, there will be consequences.

That is where All-4-HR actually began! All-4-HR & Business Solutions provides, implements and execute policies to avoid uncomfortable, unfavorable decisions that could have and would have been avoided by simply following progressive discipline policies, AND all other human resource policies. Document, Document, Documents and then…  Document some More!

In executing your progressive discipline policy, be sure to be consistent. Do not simply include the policy in the employee handbook and do not utilize it! You must exercise consistency. Remember the purpose of the any and all policies is to protect the employer, as well as the employee.  Make sure your policies are followed to the letter.

For a sample progressive discipline policy, click here 

All-4-HR & Business Solutions

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all4hrbiz@gmail.com

Managing SME HR in-the-Cloud! 

Nontraditional Workplace Arrangements?????

Nontraditional Workplace Arrangements 

Non-Traditional Workplace Arrangements (NTWA) have become increasingly prevalent in this day and age.  While non-traditional workplace arrangements are on the rise, it is evident that each and every scenario is unique and the possibilities and challenges are endless.  Some non-traditional work arrangements are:

• Flextime – full-time employment with nontraditional office hours
• Flexiplace/Telecommute – Carrying a full workload/caseload with the majority of the    work performed at an alternative location.   
• Compressed Work Week – Full workload/caseload compressed into three or four   days a week.  
• Workload/Caseload Sharing – Full Caseload/workload shared between two employees. 
• Reduced Caseload – Reduced workload/caseload by 20% to 50%.

The NTWA policy must be designed and implemented on a gender neutral basis.  NTWA should be reviewed periodically, i.e., three months, six months, etc.  An effective NTWA policy must be adapted to meet the unique characteristics and needs of each of its members. The policy should include a statement of purpose; alternative schedules offered; eligibility; duration; detailed assignment; compensation; benefits; NTWA requests form; evaluation requests; and evaluation of arrangements.

Some things to keep in mind when executing non-traditional workplace arrangements:

• Keep track and accurate records of telecommuters’ time.
• Employers must conduct periodic audits to ensure accuracy of time records.
• Non-exempt employees NTWA should be structured so the employees do not work   overtime. If overtime is unavoidable, it should most certainly accurately recorded.

For a free sample Nontraditional Workplace Arrangement Policy or a copy of Nontraditional Workplace Arrangement Checklist, click below:

   

See what All-4-HR is Blogging Tomorrow!

 

 Hope you enjoyed my blog!

All-4-HR & Business Solutions

Job Descriptions Protect Employees and Employers

Job descriptions have been an overlooked task for many SME owners. It is critical that every position with an organization from the top to the bottom has a state-mandated job description. In doing so, it is also important that job description are updated regularly according to state regulations. Job descriptions detail the tasks and duties applicable to a specific job. Remember, job descriptions are for the protection of the employer and employee. 

Job descriptions are a valuable tool for analyzing staffing needs and compensation budget. Job descriptions also help with accommodating employees with disabilities, as they assist training supervisors in writing performance appraisals, discussing job elements during crucial reference checks, and defining the division of labor to influence positive work culture.

Job descriptions lay the foundation for sound documentation to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and meet equal employment opportunity guidelines. While it may seem like good news that job descriptions are not required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), job descriptions are crucial for remaining in compliance with the ADA.  The ADA states a person with a disability is considered a qualified candidate for jobs if or he or she can perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation.

Job descriptions also serve to document the consistent application of job duties across job titles without regard to gender, race, color, religion, national origin, or age. To prepare a job description one must perform a job analysis. The information obtained from a job analysis is used to write the job description. A job analysis may be conducted by an HR professional, manager or supervisor. You can also hire a management firm over the phone to perform a job analysis and develop job description(s).

Completed job descriptions for all positions should be kept in a single file or manual. A relevant job description should also be keep in each employee file.

Always, keep job descriptions up-to-date. 

For more information on conducting a job analysis or sample job descriptions, all4hrbiz@gmail.com

Come back tomorrow to see what All-4-HR is Blogging…

April D. Halliburton, President