Pubdate: Wed, 30 Sep 2015
Source: Bulletin, The (Bend, OR)
Copyright: 2015 Western Communications Inc.
Contact:  http://www.bendbulletin.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/62

CAREFUL, POT LAW DOES NOT PROTECT EMPLOYEES

Thursday is liberation day for users of marijuana. Legal recreational 
marijuana sales begin.

Employees, please be careful. It doesn't matter that its recreational 
use is legal; marijuana can still get you fired.

The law legalizing recreational use doesn't change workplace rules on 
drug use and drug testing.

Show up at work impaired and employers can fire you. Show up at work 
with marijuana in your system and employers can fire you.

Oregon law enables almost all employers to terminate workers at will 
for lawful cause. Recreational marijuana use is not protected. The 
new law doesn't change that.

The key is that marijuana is still on the list of drugs that the 
federal government deems illegal. Maybe that federal listing will 
change. Many argue it should change. But Oregon courts have already 
ruled that a person taking medical marijuana to help with some sort 
of disability can be fired. A recreational user will not be better 
off under the law than that.

It seems a likely scenario that someone will show up at work in 
Oregon having used recreational marijuana on their own time. They 
will not be impaired. They will be fired. They will challenge the 
law. And the law might change. But that is not the law now. Check out 
the website for the Oregon Liquor Control Commission for more information.

Employers have drug policies to keep their workplaces safe. They have 
them for liability reasons. They may be required to have them because 
of a federal contract or regulations. Fundamentally, they have them 
so employees can do their jobs with clear heads.

Many employers may not want to get involved in what an employee does 
with marijuana if it does not interfere with work. The best 
protection employees have is to follow their employer's policy. The 
law doesn't offer protection.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom