CareerCurve™

I keep seeing discussions surrounding the medicinal use of marijuana.  This got me thinking that this would have a profound effect on Human Resource departments.  According to this site (which, by the way, is interesting – it lists the pros and cons of various issues) there are currently 15 states that have enacted legislation making it legal to use medical marijuana and 6 more with legislation pending.  If passed, that means that close to half the country will have made medical marijuana usage legal.  What will that do to your company’s current policies and practices?  At the very least HR will need to be educated thoroughly on the differences between state and federal laws and how be compliant with all, even though many of these laws are still in direct conflict with one another.

Assuming the employees who require medical marijuana are following the letter of the law, there are still some the questions that arise for you:

What do you do about employees who are on call if they use it outside of the workplace?  Can they still perform that function?

How long will the effects last if an employee uses it in the evening or off work hours? How could you know when they used it last and what risks might be associated with that?

Will you be required to allow ingestion during work hours if this is deemed necessary for the employee to function?  What about the ADA?  If the employee is considered disabled there are many things your company must do in order to ensure no discrimination.  Does a disability treated this way qualify here?

As a result of the above, are you more likely to suffer legal consequences or a rise in discrimination suits?

Is the employee required to tell you or can he/she choose not to mention it?  What if they test positive and then offer the explanation?

Speaking of drug tests, what does this do to your drug testing programs?  Or your safety programs?  Or your employee performance programs, for that matter?

How much responsibility will fall on you for the employee who uses medical marijuana as well as the rest of your workforce who works alongside him/her?  There are laws in place that require you to impose a safe and healthy work environment.  How does this tie in with that?

One thing is certain, this subject creates a whole lot of controversy and for you, it means another subject with a lot of gray area that will necessitate research on your part.  How to find and use loopholes, how to remain compliant, how to protect your organization as well as the people who work there, are all issues that will have to be addressed if you live in a state that allows the use of medical marijuana.

Human Resources is going to continue to be impacted greatly by Healthcare Reform.  In a previous post, I provided resources.  This is meant to be a short list of the ways this will affect you and why it might be a good time to ask for a raise.    Here are just some of your job duties and challenges relating to healthcare reform:

Compliance – You have to know whether your business is covered (there are exemptions for smaller employers and other things such as hardship cases) but you also have to know which employees are covered.  (Full timers are, but what constitutes full time?)  Expect many new compliance mandates.

Lots of Math and Analysis – You may have to analyze and determine whether it is cheaper to offer healthcare or not offer it and pay the penalty.  If you do offer it, do you stay grandfathered into the plan you have (which will undoubtedly go up) or do you switch and hope it is cheaper?  You should be aware of potential tax credits available to certain size employers to assist with premium cost.  There also prohibitions on lifetime and annual benefit spending.  You will also be required to offer, at no cost, a plan that covers almost all preventive care. 

Finding a Good Broker/Agent – I hope you trust your broker or agent because there is a lot to learn and the days of him or her just sending in a renewal at the last minute are over.  You need an advisor, someone who knows the ins and outs of reform and is going to guide you through all the little nuances that have a big impact on the bottom line.  If you don’t have one, you’re going to need to find one.

Implementing Automatic Enrollment – Companies with over 200 employees will have to enroll everyone in their plan and then the employee can choose to opt out.  Seems like extra work when you could just enroll those that want in instead.  It will also undoubtedly make employees very angry when they forget to opt out – and you’ll get to deal with it.   

Determining Salaries – Depending on whether you choose to offer healthcare you will need to reassess salaries dependent on your healthcare choices.  For example, how much more can you offer someone if it’s cheaper for your company to pay the penalty?  How does it compare to those that offer healthcare?

Mandatory Breaks for Nursing Moms – Not only do you have to provide “reasonable” breaks but you have to provide a “comfortable” place other than a bathroom.  Anyone know who defines “reasonable”?  Is it the baby?  And what does “comfortable” mean?  This could present a whole host of issues for you that I’m not even going to get into here.

The New Recruiting – Offering healthcare is no longer a competitive advantage in hiring top talent.  In addition, your company may decide full-timers are too expensive and start asking you to recruit temps, part-timers, and independent contractors. 

Layoffs – Your company may decide it’s worthwhile to restructure so it remains small enough to avoid coverage under the act.  If that happens, who gets to spread the word?

More Turnover and Less Retention – Children can now stay on a parent’s plan until age 26.  If you don’t offer benefits, will younger employees leave to work somewhere that does, once they reach that age?  How many of your employees stay at your company because they have pre-existing conditions and are afraid they won’t get healthcare if they leave?  Mandated coverage removes the need to stay and you may lose employees because of it.  

Unhappy Employees – There will be no more pre-tax healthcare.  There is a new box on the W2 where you need to include the cost of healthcare.  Even if the plan cost is shared 50/50 between employer and employee, the employee will be taxed on the total amount of the plan, not on what he or she paid.  So instead of this not showing up on their W2 at all, now amounts employees probably aren’t even aware of are going to appear as taxable income.  Can you imagine your office at tax time?

Workplace Wellness Programs – Grants will be established to create these programs and the employer will be required to offer them to receive financial incentives.  Who gets the job of designing and implementing them?

On the bright side, this spells job security for you.  (And for HR consultants, this has opportunity written all over it, especially with smaller employers who don’t have an HR department.)   That is well and good but rest assured, by 2014, you’ll have earned that raise!