Amazon Drug Testing in Legal States

While all marijuana use remains illegal at the federal level, at least 36 states have legalized medical use and 16 of those states have passed laws allowing recreational use. (A medical law in Mississippi and a recreational law in South Dakota have been stopped by the courts.) This applies to anyone who failed a drug test before September 2021. The company relaxed its marijuana standards after recognizing that a growing number of U.S. states are legalizing cannabis, Galetti said. She also acknowledged that it would help attract more candidates in an increasingly tight job market. But Amazon leaves the door open if they suspect or have reasonable grounds to believe that an employee of the company is under the influence of illegal drugs or alcohol. “Drug testing has never given an accurate indication of a person`s ability to do their job,” the group said, “and yet this incredibly invasive practice has excluded millions of people who use drugs — legally and illegally — from the workplace.” Marijuana is still listed on Schedule I under the federal Controlled Substances Act, which means it has a high risk of abuse and no medical value. Marissa Mastroianni, an attorney at Cole Schotz in Hackensack, New Jersey, said that given the inclusion of the word “exclusively” in New Jersey law, an employer can fire an employee if there is a reason beyond the positive test result to support the decision, such as a positive drug test combined with observed behaviors. that indicate intoxication. Currently, employees of the company Chez Amazon are not subject to drug testing. The approach could spread as employers seek consistency in their drug testing policies in a fragmented legal landscape, attorney Michael Freimann told HR Dive. “Amazon`s pace of growth means we`re always looking for great new team members, and we`ve found that eliminating pre-employment testing for cannabis allows us to expand our pool of candidates,” Galetti said. You can expect a mouth swab as part of the hiring process or during a random drug test after you start your job.

The blog post, “Amazon Supports Efforts to Reform the Country`s Cannabis Policy,” written by Beth Galetti, Amazon`s senior vice president of human resources, was an update on the company`s commitment to fair workplaces. Galetti wrote that Amazon has made changes regarding marijuana drug testing for three reasons: Given our previous support for the legalization of cannabis at the federal level, as well as the removal of certain criminal records and investments in affected businesses and communities, Amazon announced its support for the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Radiungement Act of 2021 (MORE Act) and the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act; Read our comments on this bill. We recently approved the States Reform Act, a Republican-led bill that provides for comprehensive reform that advocates the emergence of a bipartisan consensus that it`s time to end federal cannabis prohibition. On Tuesday, Galetti said Amazon recently approved a similar bill called the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act. In a letter to lawmakers on the bill this month, Amazon called on Congress to eradicate marijuana-related nonviolent crimes at the federal level and allow the rejection of anyone sitting in federal prison for those crimes, while calling on states to take similar action. Employment Screening Resources (ESR) – a global leader in background testing, ranked #1 among testing companies® by HRO Today in 2020 – provides compliant pre- and post-employment drug testing with access to more than 10,000 collection points. To learn more about ESR, visit www.esrcheck.com. Users and marijuana advocates applaud the news, but it could also ease Amazon`s hiring managers: the company operates — and is growing rapidly — in places where marijuana is legal. “Pre-hiring marijuana testing has had a disproportionate impact on communities of color by ending placement and thus economic growth, and we believe this unfair treatment is unacceptable,” Galetti said.

We remain committed to the safety of our employees and the public. In addition to complying with all Ministry of Transportation regulations, our zero tolerance policy for impairments during work has not changed. If a delivery person is impaired at work and tests positive after an accident or due to reasonable suspicion, that person would no longer be allowed to provide services to Amazon. In addition, Amazon Pharmacy conducts comprehensive drug testing for employees, including marijuana testing, to ensure full compliance with industry standards, regulations, and accreditations. But that doesn`t mean many employers will abandon drug testing requirements altogether, even for marijuana; Like Amazon, employers will likely have to maintain requirements for DOT-regulated positions, Freimann said. And many states that have legalized recreational use still allow employers to create policies that prohibit such use, whether on or off the job. Others illustrate the ability of employers to develop policies that help maintain safe workplaces. In addition, some states that do not protect recreational use still prohibit employers from taking adverse employment measures based on an applicant`s or employee`s status as a registered medical marijuana patient. The announcement was surprising despite Amazon`s status as a pioneer from a business perspective, Michael Freimann, a partner at Greenspoon Marder, told HR Dive. But the news could have a “ripple effect” on how other employers approach marijuana testing in the future, he added, as more jurisdictions have introduced marijuana use laws. We made these changes for several reasons.

First, we realized that more and more states are moving to some degree of cannabis legalization, making it difficult to implement a fair, consistent, and national marijuana testing program before hiring. Second, publicly available national data suggests that pre-employment marijuana testing has a disproportionate impact on people of color and is a barrier to employment. And third, Amazon`s pace of growth means we`re always looking for great new team members, and we`ve found that eliminating pre-employment testing for cannabis allows us to expand our candidate pool. “We hope that other employers will join us and that policymakers will act quickly to pass this law,” Amazon said in a statement on its support for legal marijuana. She advised employers to train managers to recognize when an employee is under the influence of cannabis, as employees in some jurisdictions cannot be sanctioned or fired based solely on a positive drug test. Based on more than 9 million drug tests in 2020, Quest Diagnostics` analysis shows marked differences in positivity between states that allow recreational use of marijuana, whether for medical purposes or without legal marijuana states. The positivity rate of post-accident test results increased faster than the pre-employment testing rate. “Safety will always be paramount,” Freimann said, adding that employers at all levels can train managers to determine if an employee is under the influence of cannabis, much like alcohol and other drugs. Even in remotely relocated workplaces during the pandemic, employers have continued their drug testing programs, labor law experts told HR Dive. Clark said the online retail giant would continue to pay attention to workplace disabilities and conduct drug and alcohol testing after the incident.

Amazon isn`t alone in adopting policies that take into account the new laws. Following the passage of Virginia`s recreational use legislation this year, the government in Norfolk, Virginia, dropped drug testing requirements for many professional categories, with the exception of certain “safety-sensitive” positions, local news agency WAVY-TV reported. Hawkins pointed to Amazon`s reputation as one of the nation`s largest employers, saying that “it`s huge for the [cannabis] industry to stop letting Amazon have its employees tested for cannabis and publicly support the MORE Act.” This was certainly the case with the way Amazon viewed marijuana use, as many states have legalized the herb in recent years. As laws to protect adult use of medical and recreational marijuana spread, the second-largest employer in the U.S. is changing its stance on drug testing. In some of these laws, states have added provisions that include different forms of protection for the use of marijuana by plaintiffs. In 2019, Nevada became the first state to prohibit employers from refusing to hire candidates — with exceptions for certain roles — based on a positive marijuana test. You should also be constantly aware of belt nibbling points, sources of potential workplace accidents that are “a common source of legal action,” the judge said. “We are starting to see a tendency for states to take these next steps,” he added. “Amazon`s announcement is a way to stay one step ahead.” In a blog post published in June, Amazon said it would “no longer include marijuana in our comprehensive drug testing program” for jobs not regulated by the U.S.

Department of Transportation. Instead, the company said it would treat marijuana use in the same way as alcohol use. Amazon operates – and is growing rapidly – in places where marijuana is legal. Steven Senne/AP Hide the Amazon Legend also said it will continue to conduct impairment checks in the workplace and test for drugs and alcohol after each incident.