Your employees and marijuana use

 

 

 

I recently read an article in the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) Memorial Business Journal about what employers need to know about the increasing legalization of marijuana and how it will possibly affect employer/employee relations.

 

 

Back in 1990 the American’s with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed and put into effect and we responded by adding handicap ramps into the business and putting handicap bathrooms into our floor plan.  I thought I had done a pretty good job of coming into compliance with the ADA until I was quizzed about hearing and sight accommodations for those who had those types of, often unseen, disabilities.

 

 

I kind of reverted back to that same feeling when I read the article in the Memorial Business Journal.  That feeling being that I probably don’t understand all the ramifications of the marijuana laws being passed, much like I didn’t understand all the disabilities that came under the ADA back in 1990.

 

 

I cannot link that NFDA article here because it comes from a subscription membership but I was somewhat surprised to know that even though 38 states and the District of Columbia have legalized the use of marijuana in some type of capacity, it still remains an illegal drug on a federal basis.  That puts the drug in an unusual position in that it is legal in most states, but illegal in the United States.

 

 

Here’s an article that I can link from the National Safety Council entitled “Marijuana:  What employers need to know”.  I think that this short article is a good starting point for death care company owners to take a look at the unique situations that could arise in employment situations where employees use a product that is legal in a certain state but illegal across the United States.

 

 

And for more information you might want to go to the website for SESCO Management Consultants who are an endorsed HR company of the National Funeral Directors Association.  You can find their website here.

 

Related regualtion“Bereavement law now mandatory in California.”  SESCO News Archive

 

Funeral Director Daily take:  There is no doubt, that being apprised of this situation is important in how you handle employee work guidance.  The National Safety Council states that those that test positive for marijuana use have 55% more accidents, 85% more injuries, and 75% more absenteeism than those that test negative.

 

Those statistics alone make it imperative that a death care company has a proper and clearly defined policy for drug use.  If you don’t have this type of policy yet, we suggest you look into putting one into place.

 

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