Thursday, May 13, 2021
On March 25, 2021, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed into law new protections for employees related to the medicinal use of cannabis oil. Effective July 1, 2021, the newly enacted § 40.1-27.4 will prohibit employers from disciplining, discharging, or discriminating against an employee for his or her lawful use of cannabis oil so long as the use is pursuant to a valid written certification issued by a health care practitioner for the treatment of the employee’s diagnosed condition or disease.
These limited protections for medicinal use of “cannabis oil” should not be confused with broader protections for all forms of “medical marijuana.” Rather, the new law only applies to “cannabis oil,” which has a limited and technical definition under Virginia law: “any formulation of processed Cannabis plant extract, which may include oil from industrial hemp extract acquired by a pharmaceutical processor, or a dilution of the resin of
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Governor Northam recently signed into law a half dozen new employment laws affecting employers in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Among these new laws are two that, beginning on July 1, 2021, will provide new protections for two industries that have become critical in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic: home health workers and domestic workers. Legislators have noted that these two bills, in particular, will help protect workers who are disproportionately comprised of women and racial minorities.
Home Health Workers. A new law providing paid sick leave that has long been anticipated in the Commonwealth of Virginia is now here but it is limited to home health workers.
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Ready or not, Virginia – on July 1, 2021, marijuana becomes fully legal for adults to use and possess in-state.[i] Virginia is now the 16th state to legalize cannabis for recreational purposes.[ii] More importantly, for Virginia employers, is that Virginia becomes the 13th state to expressly provide employment protections for medical marijuana cardholders[iii] by prohibiting employers from terminating, disciplining, or otherwise discriminating against an employee “for such employee s lawful use of cannabis oil pursuant to a valid written certification.”[iv]
These new statutes will affect Virginia employers in significant ways. Virginia employers will now have to address what they can do if a current employee is suspected of being impaired at work; what obligations do they have to reasonably accommodate medical marijuana cardholders; and overall, whether employers in certain industries can require drug testing for
New Virginia Employment Laws Prohibiting Discrimination | Sands Anderson PC jdsupra.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from jdsupra.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Effective July 1, 2021, Virginia further expands the scope of the Virginia Human Rights Act (VHRA) to prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability. The state also enacted protections and benefits for domestic workers.
Disability Discrimination
With this expansion of the VHRA, employers will be required to make reasonable accommodation to the known physical and mental impairments of an otherwise qualified person with a disability, if necessary to assist such person in performing a particular job. An accommodation must be provided, unless an employer can demonstrate the accommodation would impose an undue hardship.