I recently had a representative of a contractor over to my home to provide an estimate for possible construction work. While the representative was looking at the area of my home where work was being contemplated, I detected a pungent odor that I have smelled before. The odor was certainly familiar to me given the number of concerts I have attended over my life, but I never expected to smell it on someone who was at my home during regular work hours pitching business for their employer. So, can you guess what that smell was?
Yep, it was marijuana, and it got me thinking because many of my clients have told me that some of their employees now think that since recreational marijuana is legal in New Jersey, employees can partake of the drug anytime they want, even while they are at work performing services for their employer. They also think that their employers can do nothing to stop them. Well, those employees are dead wrong, and employers need to know what they can do legally to control (and even prevent) potential employee marijuana use.
As is made clear in both New Jersey’s recreational and medical marijuana laws, employers are not expected to accommodate marijuana use while an employee is on company property or during employer work hours. Both of these statutes explicitly allow employers to prohibit marijuana use while on company work time. In addition, employees are not allowed to show up to work under the influence of marijuana. Both New Jersey’s recreational and marijuana laws allow employers to punish employees who show up under the influence at work, and employers may even send employees to be tested if they suspect the employee is under the influence where the employer observes physical conduct or other behavior associated with being high on marijuana, such as slurred speech, difficulty walking, blood shot eyes, etc., and any other similar indicia associated with being under the influence of a drug.
So, the next time an employee tells you as an employer that you have to allow them to use marijuana any time they want, you can tell them how gravely mistaken they are, and one of the best places an employer can do this is by having a strong drug and alcohol policy that advises employees in no uncertain terms that on-site use of marijuana, and workplace intoxication from the use of that drug or any other illegal substance, is prohibited and can lead to possible drug testing and potential disciplinary action. Take back your workplace by using the express tools that the New Jersey marijuana laws enable your company to use so you can protect your clients and customers from experiencing that “smell” when interacting with members of your workforce.
