[Update] Amazon will stop testing employees for weed
Does amazon drug test for weed for corporate employees? This past week, Amazon’s global consumer CEO, Dave Clark made groundbreaking news that involved marijuana use. He announced that as part of the company’s goal to be “Earth’s Best Employer”, the officials working in the mega-company came to the decision to take the back seat when it comes to the way in which its policy around their employees using marijuana takes place.
Does Amazon Drug Test For Weed (2021 Updated)
This tactic has thus far been viewed by new initiatives such as WorkingWell which sees a diverse workforce as things to be established and equipped, rather than individuals who should be treated as equals.
Even yet, now that marijuana is legal for both recreational and therapeutic purposes it’s best to accept that the ordinary employee probably uses marijuana in the very same nonchalant manner in which some people drink alcohol state by state across the United States.
Earlier this week, Amazon’s Worldwide Consumer CEO, Dave Clark, made a message to his colleagues in which he explained in his own words the reason behind the company’s decision to take the positive route when it comes to their employees and marijuana use.
He initially projected that “We’re adjusting our drug testing policy. In the past, like many employers, we’ve disqualified people from working at Amazon if they tested positive for marijuana use.”
Dave Clark further added: “However, given where state laws are moving across the US, we’ve changed course.”
Clark later stated in an interview that he explained the company’s reasoning behind this decision being that, “In the past, like many employers, we’ve disqualified people from working at Amazon if they tested positive for marijuana use. However, given where state laws are moving across the U.S., we’ve changed course”.
Amazon will stop testing employees for marijuana
Seeing how marijuana use in America has been increasing steadily, the company announced a change in their drug testing policy saying that they will now treat marijuana like alcohol in which they will not screen employees for using it. As per the announcement, it was stated that
“In the past, like many employers, we’ve disqualified people from working at Amazon if they tested positive for marijuana use”.
As shown in a new blog post, any employee who isn’t also regulated by the Department of Transportation, such as a delivery driver, will no longer be subjected to marijuana drug tests. Positive drug tests have previously been utilized by Amazon to exclude applicants throughout the recruiting process.
Seeing how this policy is going to bring about a number of questions, there have been some exceptions towards this policy; any positions regulated by the Department of Transportation, such as delivery truck drivers, don’t get a pass.
The Amazon team will be gaining public support from The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2021 (MORE Act).
This act set the forefront of decriminalizing marijuana at the federal level, thus erasing criminal records for nonviolent marijuana-related convictions, and bringing out billions into local economies.
Due to this leap into the direction of following the suite of the state’s policy, this change has and will inevitably lead to the decriminalization of marijuana as a whole.
A grand move by the second largest employer of the world, states around America such as New York and Washington have already taken the lead in legalizing marijuana for recreational use.
The Drug Policy Alliance sat down in an interview to which they clarified that in the light of the announcement made by Amazon’s official Dave Clark, “Drug testing has never provided an accurate indication of a person’s ability to perform their job, and yet this incredibly invasive practice has locked out millions of people who use drugs — both licit and illicit — from the workplace.”
A number of individuals have set aside their differences on how they feel about Amazon’s current decision towards their newfound realization when it comes to the legalization of marijuana around America as well as within the company as a whole.
As stated by the CEO of the largest vertically integrated cannabis company in California; The Parent Company, Steve Allan projected his agreement with Amazon’s decision explaining that “Amazon’s announcement that it will no longer screen job applicants and employees for cannabis use sets a robust precedent that has the potential to reshape hiring practices across the country,”.
Many have further on agreed with Amazon’s choice as well as Allan’s point coming across on the matter in which they conveyed that; with a company as big and flourishing as Amazon to support such an act will bring about a bigger impact than some may think to which the bill to legalize marijuana state to state will surely be passed in no time.
As stated by Allan, “By helping establish a norm against such discriminatory hiring practices, Amazon can help undo one of the most damaging legacies of cannabis criminalization in this country.”
On the basis of agreeing, Kassandra Frederique, the executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, said in a statement to The Verge that she supports Amazon’s decision stating how “we asked Amazon and other employers to use this as a jumping-off point rather than a finish line.
This shift may and will be the spark for a much wider transition to all drug testing — that would secure a more just and fair future for millions of individuals, specifically Black, Brown, and Indigenous populations, who have been adversely targeted by these practices.
The Jeff Bezos-run e-commerce giant will continue to carry out impairment checks on the job and will “test for all drugs and alcohol” after any incident on-site. Seeing that on its platform, the corporation prohibits the sale of marijuana but accepts the recreational use of the plant.
Even if Amazon’s changes to its employment practices are beneficial, they are no substitute for meaningful representation for its employees. Fortunately, as a result of the Alabama union push, that may still be on the way.
According to a report from legal research website Westlaw, Amazon was struck with a potential class-action lawsuit alleging that the corporation was breaking a New York City law by testing job seekers for cannabis use at local facilities.
In relation to their outlook on marijuana in the working force, Amazon brought about a function known as “Time Off Task.” The Time Off Task initially keeps track of how much time employees spend on breaks in order to track their productivity.
Critics have said that the technology adds to the stress of an already tough work environment. Dave Clark explained that the policy forward-thinking ways are meant to further enlighten the employees. He contributed to this information by saying the regulation is “similar to policies seen at many logistics and manufacturing companies,” according to the claim. It can, however, “easily be misconstrued,” he noted.
Clark further elaborated on this by stating that “The primary aim of the Time off Task measure is to determine if there are difficulties with the tools that individuals use to be productive, and only secondly to identify under-performing employees,” he explained.
“As of today, we’re averaging Time off Task across a longer time in order to ensure that there’s more signal and less noise. Discussions about how we can assist. Re-focus the talks on instances where there are likely actual operational challenges to resolve,” Clark noted. We feel that by making this modification, we will be able to ensure that the Time off Task policy is used as intended.”
A proposed class-action lawsuit was filed against Amazon, alleging that it had violated a New York law. According to a report by legal research organization Westlaw, by testing applicants for work at local facilities for cannabis.
Despite the fact that several states have legalized cannabis, companies have mainly declined to cooperate with the sector because the drug is still classed as a controlled narcotic at the federal level.
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Resources
Amazon Won’t Test Job Seekers For Marijuana Use (https://www.npr.org/2021/06/02/1002409858/amazon-wont-test-jobseekers-for-marijuana)
Why Amazon is backing away from drug testing (https://qz.com/2016156/why-amazon-is-backing-away-from-drug-testing-employees-for-weed/)
Amazon to drop cannabis drug tests for most job applicants (https://www.dw.com/en/amazon-to-drop-cannabis-drug-tests-for-most-job-applicants/a-57751123)