A new year brings new changes. The Vernal Area Chamber of Commerce is helping businesses to understand how the Utah Medical Cannabis Act (the Act) that passed on December 3. 2018 will affect the workplace. According to Jeff Holdsworth of the Employers Council, although the legislature has approved the Act, it hasn’t clarified specifically what employers can or can’t do. There is a statute that requires public employers to “treat an employee’s use of medical cannabis…in the same way the [public employer] treats employee use of opioids and opiates”, except where such application would jeopardize federal funding for the employee’s position. The wording opens the possibility for employers to still enforce drug test policies including cannabis products. That can mean even if an employee has a medical cannabis card it doesn’t stop employers from taking disciplinary action. However the boundaries of such actions is not specified in the language of the statute. For further details go to the Employers Council website at
www.employerscouncil.org
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