Is your business ready for legal marijuana?
There are a couple of things you can do, before legalization, that will set you up to deal with potential problems.
Kirk Nyquist, a co-host of the Reefer MEDness Podcast, recently had a conversation with HR specialist Wendy Hofford for the podcast.
She gives some tips on how a business can get ready.
“Educate your people and make sure as an organization that you’re educated. Keep an eye on where legislation is going. That’s huge depending on the province you’re in. Also, looking at those policies, making sure that you're’ prepared. Making sure that you have systems in place that you can be able to address that.”
“Making sure that you have your policies that cover all of the reproductions. So I always say drug and alcohol, sensitivity policy, smoking policy, company vehicle policy, you’re not allowed to drive when you’re impaired.
Going deeper into the idea of policies, she gives an example of an issue that might come up.
“It’s a good idea to take a look at your smoking policy because if somebody has been given medical cannabis, let’s just say for a quick second, and the only way that it’s effective for them is to smoke it, then you have a duty to accommodate. Is that going to impact you? Where are they going to smoke it? Is it going to be in the smoking area? If that’s the case and you have a designated smoking area, now you’re getting into scents. That might offend someone else.”
Medical cannabis will be a bigger concern for businesses once the drug is legalized later this month.
She spoke about what owners should be aware of now that medical cannabis is becoming more prevalent.
“They are obligated by human rights duty to what they call ‘duty to accommodate.’ So when somebody comes in and they are on medical cannabis, you need to make sure they have a prescription. That they understand what it is. So I really, really encourage employers and HR professionals to make sure you understand what that prescription looks like. Is it CBD oil, what is it? How are they taking it? Is it THC? What are the psychoactive is it not psychoactive? So really understanding what it is that the employee is taking. It’s very important when you want to accommodate.”
You can find their whole conversation by listening the S2E02 Reefer MEDness Podcast by visiting www.reefermed.ca
