Workers who use marijuana in compliance with state law in California and Washington State will have new employment protections as of Monday.
Under two pieces of legislation signed into law in 2022 and 2023, California employers are now prohibited from asking job applicants about past cannabis use, and most are barred from penalizing employees over lawful use of marijuana outside of the job.
The Washington State law, meanwhile, will protect workers from facing employment discrimination during the hiring process over their lawful use of cannabis.
All three bills—signed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D), respectively—take effect on Monday, January 1.
With certain exceptions, “it is unlawful for an employer to request information from an applicant for employment relating to the applicant’s prior use of cannabis,” one of the California laws says.
The separate complementary legislation that Newsom signed in 2022 says it is unlawful for employers “to discriminate against a person in hiring, termination, or any term or condition of employment, or otherwise penalizing a person, if the discrimination is based upon” off-duty marijuana use or drug tests that reveal cannabinoid metabolites.
There are exceptions to the policy for workers “in the building and construction
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