SB2891 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB099 18607 MJP 42989 b

99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2015 and 2016
SB2891

Introduced 2/18/2016, by Sen. William R. Haine

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

410 ILCS 130/50

Amends the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act. Provides that nothing in the Act: prohibits employers from adopting workplace policies concerning the consumption, storage, or timekeeping requirements for qualifying patients related to the use of medical cannabis; prohibits employers from enforcing policies concerning the use or possession of drugs by employees; or limits an employer's ability to discipline an employee for failing a drug test, including, but not limited to, if failing to discipline such an employee would cause the employer to violate federal law or lose a federal contract or funding.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning health.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act is amended by changing Section 50 as follows:

(410 ILCS 130/50)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2018)

Sec. 50. Employment; employer liability.

(a) Nothing in this Act shall prohibit an employer from adopting reasonable regulations or workplace policies concerning the consumption, storage, or timekeeping requirements for qualifying patients related to the use of medical cannabis.

(b) Nothing in this Act shall prohibit an employer from enforcing a policy concerning the use or possession of drugs, drug testing, zero-tolerance, or a drug free workplace provided the policy is applied in a nondiscriminatory manner.

(c) Nothing in this Act shall limit an employer from disciplining a registered qualifying patient for violating a workplace drug policy.

(d) Nothing in this Act shall limit an employer's ability to discipline an employee for failing a drug test, including, but not limited to, if failing to do so would put the employer in violation of federal law or cause it to lose a federal contract or funding.

(e) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to create a defense for a third party who fails a drug test.

(f) An employer may consider a registered qualifying patient to be impaired when he or she manifests specific, articulable symptoms while working that decrease or lessen his or her performance of the duties or tasks of the employee's job position, including symptoms of the employee's speech, physical dexterity, agility, coordination, demeanor, irrational or unusual behavior, negligence or carelessness in operating equipment or machinery, disregard for the safety of the employee or others, or involvement in an accident that results in serious damage to equipment or property, disruption of a production or manufacturing process, or carelessness that results in any injury to the employee or others. If an employer elects to discipline a qualifying patient under this subsection, it must afford the employee a reasonable opportunity to contest the basis of the determination.

(g) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to create or imply a cause of action for any person against an employer for: (1) actions based on the employer's good faith belief that a registered qualifying patient used or possessed cannabis while on the employer's premises or during the hours of employment; (2) actions based on the employer's good faith belief that a registered qualifying patient was impaired while working on the employer's premises during the hours of employment; (3) injury or loss to a third party if the employer neither knew nor had reason to know that the employee was impaired.

(h) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to interfere with any federal restrictions on employment including but not limited to the United States Department of Transportation regulation 49 CFR 40.151(e).

(Source: P.A. 98-122, eff. 1-1-14.)