A new New York law has taken effect which bans companies from requirement potential employees to partake in pre-employing testing for marijuana.
There are exceptions to the new law that took effect over the weekend. The exceptions are for applicants for police, child-care, commercial driving and some other jobs. The measure also doesn’t stop employers from testing current workers, or from firing them if they fail.
“Particularly now, as we are grappling with how to recover from the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the worst levels of unemployment in a century, we need to be creating more access points for employment, not less,” said city Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, a Democrat who sponsored the law.
It was on April 9, 2019 that the New York City Council passed Int. 1445-A, which prohibits employers from pre-employment drug testing for marijuana and tetrahydrocannabinols (“THC,” the active ingredient in marijuana).
On May 10, 2019, Int. 1445-A became law by operation of the New York City legislative process, which automatically made the bill law after 30 days without action by Mayor de Blasio.
