After years of fighting against the legalization of recreational marijuana use, many Rhode Island business leaders say they’re now satisfied with parts of the new law that will allow employers to continue prohibiting use in the workplace.
The measure, quickly approved by lawmakers on May 24 and signed into law the following day, provides “a broad range of protections for employers, designed essentially to allow them to create workplace policies that they feel are suitable to their individual company,” said Laurie White, president of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce. “And that protects employers from having to make any accommodations for their use of recreational marijuana.”
Employers can continue to hire, fire or take disciplinary actions against employees due to cannabis use in the workplace, business leaders say.
Industry advocates in manufacturing, construction and other technical professions have been particularly active in pushing for employers to retain this power, which they say is essential to maintaining safe workplaces in high-risk professions.
As more states around the country legalize recreational marijuana – Rhode Island is the 19th state (including Massachusetts and Connecticut) – some advocates for workers have criticized continuing drug testing for marijuana, arguing that an employee could test positive for cannabis use that takes place outside of work hours.
Others have also noted that continuing testing could scare away potential employees in fields that are already experiencing worker shortages.
Michael Sabitoni, business manager for the Rhode Island Laborers District Council, says current testing capabilities are limited to hiring decisions, determining whether an employee has used marijuana outside of work hours or is under the influence while on the job. State law prohibits random testing in other cases and the new law doesn’t change that, except where workplace safety is an issue.
The new law says employers can “implement policies which prohibit the use or consumption of cannabis within the [24-hour] period prior to a scheduled work shift or assignment” for employees whose work is “hazardous, dangerous or essential to public welfare and safety.”
Sabitoni said he’d “rather err on the side of caution and the health, safety and well-being of the industry and workforce that we represent … than the rights of someone who feels that they’re being violated because they can’t have recreational marijuana and still work in a certain occupation.”
One potential gray area is that the law does not offer a standard for what constitutes being “under the influence” of marijuana in the workplace.
Sen. Joshua Miller, D-Cranston, told Providence Business News that such a standard under the law will be an issue for the employer and employee to resolve, much like alcohol use is now.
“[Employers] navigate that every day,” he said.
The Rhode Island Manufacturers Association is still reviewing the new law. But Executive Director David M. Chenevert acknowledged that “it looks like [legislators] have ... [addressed] many of our concerns,” he said.
Jacquelyn Voghel is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Voghel@PBN.com.
