| Summary: Effective July 2021, HB 497 will implement a certificate program that provides employers the ability to hire qualified applicants with a criminal record without the fear of legal liability. The bill requires the Department of Corrections (DOC) to provide incarcerated persons with a certificate of eligibility that states the individual's criminal history, institutional history, and other relevant information. Certificates are issued to those who complete certain vocational and/or educational requirements and successfully maintain a crime-free record for the legally prescribed waiting period preceding their release. An employer can check the validity of a certificate by contacting the DOC. This bill does not demand that an employer hire a candidate with a certificate of eligibility.
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| Impact(s): Kentucky employers |
| Summary: Effective March 31, 2021, Governor Andrew Cuomo passed the New York Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA) which legalizes recreational marijuana. MRTA prohibits employers from refusing to hire, employee, discharge, or discriminate against an individual who uses marijuana legally while off-duty and when not on employer's premises or using employer's equipment. Additionally, the MRTA amends Section 201-d of the New York Labor Law to allow an employer to take adverse action against an employee if: (1) required by state or federal statute, regulation, ordinance, or state or federal governmental mandate; (2) the employee is impaired by the use of cannabis; or (3) an employee's actions would cause the employer to be in violation of federal law or lose a federal contract or federal funding.
Employees who use medical cannabis will be given the same rights and protections available to injured workers under the workers' compensation law when such injured workers are prescribed medications that may prohibit, restrict or require modification to their job duties.
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| Impact(s): New York employers |
