When Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: Legal Issues and Hiring Strategies in Era of Legalized Marijuana
With one form or another of marijuana use legalized in more than 30 states, employers find themselves having to update their hiring policies and practices and make other difficult choices as to drug testing. This session reviews the legal issues associated with drug and alcohol policies and testing procedures, and offers some suggested hiring strategies for these hazy times.
Learning Objectives:
- Gain a better understanding of the need for and application of important policies related to legalized marijuana.
- Discuss the legal basis for these policies.
- Find out how these policies interact with or complement others.
- Understand the risks of not having these policies.
James Reidy, Esq.
Attorney James P. (“Jim”) Reidy is a management-side labor and employment lawyer. He is a partner in the New England based law firm, Sheehan Phinney Bass & Green, PA, where he is the Chair of the firm’s Labor and Employment group. His practice focuses on prevention, training and compliance but he also handles matters when claims arise.
He has more than 35 years of experience in the field and been a media resource on workplace law for media outlets including CNN, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times Business Magazine, Bloomberg, NPR, The Associated Press, NPR Market Place, Buzz Feed, Law 360, Inc. Magazine, The HR Power Hour, HR Breakroom, SKI Magazine and HR Magazine as well as several local/regional publications.
In 2020 Jim was inducted as a Fellow in the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers.
Chambers USA and New England Super Lawyers have ranked Jim in the Top Tier of management-side employment lawyers for each year of the last 15 years. Best Lawyers USA named Jim the 2022 Lawyer of the Year for Labor and Employment Law (Manchester, NH) and the NH Business Review named him one of the top 200 most influential business leaders in New Hampshire.
Jim has been a presenter regularly at SHRM’s Legal and Legislative Conference in Washington, DC as well as SHRM’s annual conferences.