Recently, the California legislature made a significant legislative move in favor of employees and job applicants who are marijuana users, as can be seen in Assembly Bill 2188, introduced and passed in 2022. Now an active law, it will officially come into effect from January 1, 2024.
The bill spearheads a series of protections for workers who legally consume marijuana outside their working hours. It introduces Government Code section 12954, which expressly makes it unlawful for an employer to take discriminatory action against an individual in aspects of hiring, termination, terms or conditions of employment based on their marijuana-related activities outside of work.
The legislation’s wording is unambiguous and comprehensive, banning discriminatory acts or any attempt to penalize an individual for legal marijuana consumption outside their working hours. It addresses a previously significant legal gap in employment rights, as many employers had formulated policies that did not distinguish between legal off-duty marijuana use and misuse of the substance on the job.
This landmark bill helps to draw a sharper distinction between an employee’s professional responsibilities and their activities outside the workplace, which will have far-reaching consequences for legal professionals working to navigate marijuana-related employment disputes.
As the law firms and corporations around the world grapple with the legal aspects of marijuana use among their employees, this emerging labor and employment law trend will have profound implications on corporate policy and employee rights debates.
The full text of the Assembly Bill 2188 and an in-depth discussion of its implications can be found on the website of Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP.
California’s legal landscape continues to evolve, with the state leading the way in defining the relationship between narcotics law and employment law. Legal practitioners must closely monitor these changes as they have the potential to set precedents that could reshape employment law at a national level.