Nixon Peabody LLP

  • People
  • Capabilities
  • Insights
  • About

Trending Topics

    • People
    • Capabilities
    • Insights
    • About
    • Locations
    • Events
    • Careers
    • Alumni

    Practices

    View All

    • Affordable Housing
    • Community Development Finance
    • Corporate & Finance
    • Cybersecurity & Privacy
    • Environmental
    • Franchising & Distribution
    • Government Investigations & White Collar Defense
    • Healthcare
    • Intellectual Property
    • International Services
    • Labor & Employment
    • Litigation
    • Private Wealth & Advisory
    • Project Finance
    • Public Finance
    • Real Estate
    • Regulatory & Government Relations

    Industries

    View All

    • Cannabis
    • Consumer
    • Energy
    • Entertainment
    • Financial Services
    • Healthcare
    • Higher Education
    • Infrastructure
    • Manufacturing
    • Non Profit
    • Real Estate
    • Technology

    Value-Added Services

    View All

    • Alternative Fee Arrangements

      Developing innovative pricing structures and alternative fee agreement models that deliver additional value for our clients.

    • Continuing Education

      Advancing professional knowledge and offering credits for attorneys, staff and other professionals.

    • Crisis Advisory

      Helping clients respond correctly when a crisis occurs.

    • DEI Strategic Services

      Providing our clients with legal, strategic, and practical advice to make transformational changes in their organizations.

    • eDiscovery

      Leveraging law and technology to deliver sound solutions.

    • Global Services

      Delivering seamless service through partnerships across the globe.

    • Innovation

      Leveraging leading-edge technology to guide change and create seamless, collaborative experiences for clients and attorneys.

    • IPED

      Industry-leading conferences focused on affordable housing, tax credits, and more.

    • Legal Project Management

      Providing actionable information to support strategic decision-making.

    • Legally Green

      Teaming with clients to advance sustainable projects, mitigate the effects of climate change, and protect our planet.

    • Nixon Peabody Trust Company

      Offering a range of investment management and fiduciary services.

    • NP Capital Connector

      Bringing together companies and investors for tomorrow’s new deals.

    • NP Second Opinion

      Offering fresh insights on cases that are delayed, over budget, or off-target from the desired resolution.

    • NP Trial

      Courtroom-ready lawyers who can resolve disputes early on clients’ terms or prevail at trial before a judge or jury.

    • Social Impact

      Creating positive impact in our communities through increasing equity, access, and opportunity.

    1. Home
    2. Insights
    3. Alerts
    4. Recreational marijuana in Illinois is almost here: What employers need to knowAlerts

    Alert / Employment Law Alert

    Recreational marijuana in Illinois is almost here: What employers need to know

    Dec 13, 2019

    Share

    By Brian Alcala

    On January 1, 2020, the recreational use of marijuana will become legal in Illinois pursuant to the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (the Act), signed into law earlier this year by Governor J.B. Pritzker. Just last week, on December 4, 2019, Governor Pritzker signed a new measure into law that amends the Act and provides additional clarification as to what this means for employers.

    Overall, the Act, including the recent amendments, provides significant protections for Illinois employers. Most notably, the Act generally permits employers to maintain reasonable workplace policies pertaining to marijuana, and it does not require employers to allow employees to use or be under the influence of marijuana in the workplace.

    With regards to workplace policies, employers are permitted to adopt and enforce reasonable zero tolerance or drug-free workplace policies and policies pertaining to “drug testing, smoking, consumption, storage, or use of cannabis in the workplace or while on call,” so long as those policies are applied in a nondiscriminatory manner. Employers are also permitted to discipline or terminate employees for violating these workplace policies, subject to certain caveats. However, employers should take note that the Act also amends the Illinois Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act, which in turn prohibits an employer from disciplining or terminating an employee solely due to their lawful use of marijuana off of the employer’s premises and during nonworking hours.

    Prior to disciplining or terminating an employee for being under the influence of marijuana at the workplace, the employer must have a “good faith belief” that the employee “manifests specific, articulable symptoms while working that decrease or lessen the employee’s performance of the duties or tasks of the employee’s job position….” Some examples of those “articulable symptoms” include evidence pertaining to the employee’s speech, physical dexterity, coordination, demeanor, irrational or unusual behavior, negligence or carelessness in operating equipment/machinery, disregard for the safety of the employee and/or others, and involvement in a workplace accident involving damage to equipment/property. In other words, a positive drug test alone is generally not enough to establish impairment—the employer must also have evidence of some of those “articulable symptoms.”

    Further, prior to disciplining or terminating an employee for being under the influence of marijuana, the employer must provide the employee with a “reasonable” opportunity to contest the basis for the discipline.

    While the Act initially left many employers questioning whether the Act permitted drug testing without first witnessing signs of impairment (i.e., pre-employment and random drug testing), the new amendments provide additional clarity—and protection—for employers. Specifically, the new amendments provide that employers are free to (i) subject employees and applicants to reasonable drug tests, including pre-employment tests and (ii) complete “reasonable and nondiscriminatory” random drug tests. It also declares that the Act does not provide a cause of action against employers for terminating an employee’s employment or revoking an applicant’s job offer due to a failed drug test.

    Looking forward to the January 1 effective date, we recommend that Illinois employers review and revise existing workplace drug and discipline policies to ensure compliance with the Act.

    Locations

    Chicago

    Practices

    Labor & EmploymentLabor & Employment LitigationLabor RelationsWorkplace: Policies, Procedures & Training

    Industries

    Cannabis

    Insights And Happenings

    • Alert

      A new spark of legislation for budding recreational marijuana use in Rhode Island

      June 25, 2021
    • Alert

      Cuomo signs legislation legalizing adult-use marijuana

      April 1, 2021
    • Alert

      You’re “high”-red: New York employees & applicants no longer weeded out for off-duty marijuana use

      April 1, 2021

    Subscribe to stay informed of the latest legal news, alerts, and business trends.Subscribe

    • People
    • Capabilities
    • Insights
    • About
    • Locations
    • Events
    • Careers
    • Alumni
    • © 2023 Nixon Peabody. All rights reserved
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Statement of Client Rights
    • Supplier Diversity Program
    • Nixon Peabody International LLC
    • PAL