Washington, DC, City Council unanimously passed a bill on June 7 that would prohibit employers from basing adverse employment actions on an individual’s lawful, off-duty use of marijuana, unless certain exceptions apply. The Cannabis Employment Protections Amendment Act of 2022 awaits approval by Mayor Muriel Bowser.
Under the act, employers cannot base an adverse employment action on (1) an individual’s legal, off-duty use of cannabis; (2) an individual’s status as a medical cannabis program patient; or (3) the presence of cannabinoid metabolites on a drug test, without additional evidence of on-the-job impairment.
There are, however, a few exceptions. Specifically, an employer is exempt from the law to the extent that the employer’s actions are necessary to comply with a federal law or regulation, or with a federal contract or funding agreement to which the employer is a party. The act also contains a safety-sensitive exception, which applies to “any position, as designated by the employer, in which it is reasonably foreseeable that, if the employee performs the position’s routine duties or tasks while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, the employee would likely cause actual, immediate, and serious bodily injury or loss of life to self or others.”
The types of positions that qualify for this exception include, but are not limited to, those that require or involve the following:
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