“We have corrected an injustice where our employees were being unjustly punished and potentially having their careers destroyed for responsibly utilizing a legal substance on their own time.”
Category: Employment Protections
More than 150,000 licensed drivers have left the profession in recent years because of these zero-tolerance workplace drug testing policies.
The responsible use of cannabis should never cost you your job.
The Michigan Civil Service Commission has voted unanimously to adopt new rules ending the practice of pre-employment marijuana screening for most state workers. Under the new policy, those previously denied positions because of a failed marijuana test are also now eligible to immediately reapply for employment.
Since 2020, more than 100,000 truck drivers have tested positive for past cannabis exposure. Of this total, only about 25 percent sought to return to work — resulting in mass driver shortages.
“The Transportation Department’s reliance on this outdated technology and upon these discriminatory policies is out of step with reality and is directly contributing to the trucking shortage crisis.”
The new rules stipulate, “No person currently employed by St. Louis County or applying for employment by St. Louis County shall be required to undergo pre-employment or random drug testing for the presence of marijuana metabolites (THC) as a condition or part of employment.”
Employers will still be allowed to take action against an employee who is impaired on-the-job, but only if an employee “manifests specific articulable symptoms of impairment.”