California employees will soon officially have protections from discrimination based on their use of cannabis or marijuana while off the clock and away from the workplace.
The new protections come from an amendment to California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (AB 2188) which was approved by Governor Gavin Newsom on Sept. 18, 2022, and goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2024. The bill makes it unlawful for an employer to not hire, penalize, or terminate a person based on their use of cannabis products outside of work.
Although California was the first state to legalize medical marijuana in 1996 and became one of the first to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in 2016, AB 2188 is the first law in the Golden State to specifically provide workplace protections for employees who use it for either reason.
– Read the entire article at Fox 40.
