Adult Use Cannabis and the Workplace
This document is intended to address some of the most common situations or questions in the workplace related to adult-use cannabis and the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (“MRTA”). This document does not address the medical use of cannabis. For further assistance with New York Labor Law and the MRTA, please visit New York State’s Office of Cannabis Management’s website at cannabis.ny.gov or consult with an appropriate professional.
S3920—Does NOT change the current “ABC “ Test in NJ but does contain new enforcement tools that the NJDOL deems necessary due to a past history of out of State employers, mainly construction subcontractors, who continue to ignore current laws and compliance efforts by NJDOL. The proposed changes include: expansion of NJDOL “Stop Work” orders to affect ALL work sites used by an employer rather than just the site where an alleged violation was found, would require payment of wages to workers affected by the “Stop Work “order for up to 10 days of the duration of the Order, increases fines for ignoring a “Stop Work “ order to $5K per day and empowers the Attorney General to seek injunctive relief in the courts against employers who continue to ignore compliance efforts by NJDOL. If passed NJDOL has NO plans to hire additional staff for enforcement other than State employees from other agencies or departments if the need arises in the future,
S3921—Creates an Office of Strategic Compliance with a $1M budget to coordinate all enforcement activities , including alleged misclassification, between various State/Federal agencies. They would also be empowered to review ALL applications to the State for any “direst business/financial/economic development assistance including job training grants, with the ability to deny access to those program when a passed history of alleged misclassification has been reported.
S3922—Legislation would empower the NJ Dept of Banking & Insurance to use the existing NJ Insurance Fraud Prevention Act to investigate employers who allegedly deny workers access to company benefits such as health or dental insurance as well as Workers Compensation coverage by misclassifying workers as independent contractors.
All three bills, may appear on the current legislative calendar which is schedule to end on June 30th, NYCMCA will provide additional information and details in the event that any of the measure outlined above make to a floor vote.
After passing the New York Health and Essential Rights Act (NY HERO ACT), the New York State Department of Labor (DOL) issued its “Model Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Plan.” The NY HERO ACT mandates that employers adopt the DOL’s model plan or establish an alternative plan that at least meets the DOL’s minimum requirements by August 5, 2021. What does this mean for your company?
Businesses Need to Act Now
For more resources from the NYS DOL, visit their NY HERO ACT webpage.
NYSMCA was founded in 1945 and has promoted the interests and professionalism of the industry in the state of New York through education, advocacy and networking.
