Legislation that would provide protections to marijuana users seeking employment has been sent to Washington Governor Jay Inslee.
Senate Bill 5123 would prohibit employers from refusing employment based solely on someone’s off-the-job recreational marijuana use. The measure passed the House in March, 63 to 32, and passed the Senate earlier this month, 37 to 12. After concurrence the measure was signed by the House Speaker on April 14, signed by the president of the Senate on April 18, and today it was officially sent to the governor.
“The legislature finds that the legalization of recreational cannabis in Washington state in 2012 created a disconnect between prospective employees’ legal activities and employers’ hiring practices”, states the preamble to the bill, introduced by Senator Karen Keiser along with nine cosponsors. “Many tests for cannabis show only the presence of nonpsychoactive cannabis metabolites from past cannabis use, including up to 30 days in the past, that have no correlation to an applicant’s future job performance.”
It continues: “Applicants are much less likely to test positive or be disqualified for the presence of alcohol on a preemployment screening test compared with cannabis, despite both being legally allowed controlled substances. The legislature intends to prevent restricting job opportunities based on an applicant’s past use of cannabis.”
Senator Karen Keiser called the bill’s passage in the legislature “a victory against discrimination toward people who use cannabis. For people using a legal substance, many of them for medical reasons, locking them out of jobs based on a pre-employment test is just plain unfair, and we are putting a stop to it.”
The legislation’s official text states that “It is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a person in the initial hiring for employment if the discrimination is based upon:
(a) The person’s use of cannabis off the job and away from the workplace; or
(b) An employer-required drug screening test that has found the person to have nonpsychoactive cannabis metabolites in their hair, blood, urine, or other bodily fluids.
This would not apply to an applicant applying for a position that requires a federal government background investigation or security clearance or in the airline or aerospace industries, “or any other safety sensitive position for which impairment while working presents a substantial risk of death.”
The law would protect marijuana consumers by prohibiting employers from refusing to hire someone who tests positive for marijuana on a pre-employment drug test, but would not protect employees from using marijuana while on the job.
