DETROIT – In just a few weeks, Michigan voters will decided whether to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in the state.
But the vote won't change things for many workers in the state because the proposal allows employers to continue their own policies on drug use and drug testing.
Marijuana users could be denied a job if they fail a pre-employment test, and workers could still be fired in their company does random drug testing.
With recreational marijuana on the ballot in November, employers are wasting no time figuring out their policies. That also means employees need to be mindful of what's what before casting their ballots.
THC, the active ingredient in pot, behaves very differently than alcohol inside the body. Some components of marijuana stay in the system longer, which means if an employer has a zero-tolerance policy and drug tests, a recreational user could still be deemed as using, even if they aren't high days later.
Debbie Ritter, the chief human resources officer for UHY, said employers should already be looking at language in their policies, and employees should be considering what those policies mean to them.