Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/1147735
W EEKLY EDITION JULY 24, 2019 Legal Marijuana: HR Policy Issues for the Portable Sanitation Industry – Part 2 of 2 By Karl een Kos, PSAI Executive Director Educate yourself about all of this before you create or update your policy. Whenever possible, consult an employment law attorney in your state. She or he probably already has such a policy on file in "boiler plate" format that you can customize. If there is a trucking association specific to your state, that group may also be a terrific resource fo r a sample boilerplate policy that you can use as the basis for your own. Existing portable sanitation company policies vary . The PSAI reached out to company leaders in several states with varying degrees of legal marijuana use and asked to review their drug and alcohol policies. While some did not respond to our request, we ultimately had information from eight companies of varying sizes operating in around 25 states to compare. About half of the firms are subject to FMCSRs and half are operating smaller trucks in a single state. Here's what we found: • The policies and their content vary. One larger company that operates in multiple states where medical marijuana is legal has only a 52 - word statement. It says driving while impaired may subject an employee to disciplinary action. A smaller company operating in a single state has a 6 page,1700 - word policy replete with definitions and step - by - step procedures to document compliance with the requirements of their mining customers. Two very large companies subje ct to FMCSRs have lengthy policies (12 - 14 pages) that closely mirror information published by the federal government. See this DOT Handbook on Drug an d Alcohol testing as an example of the material covered in these thorough documents. • When FMCSRs are not a factor, it appears the nature of the customers more than the laws in a specific state are the driving force behind whether a company has a zero tole rance policy or not. When customers require their service providers to comply with federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) guidelines, or customers impose random checks on contractors' employees, the portable sanitation company is far more lik ely to have a zero - tolerance policy and to document it comprehensively. P AGE 9 CONTINUED ON PAGE 10