Hartford Business Journal

20 Hartford Business Journal • February 24, 2020 • www.HartfordBusiness.com Don Shubert, president of the Connecticut Construction Indus- tries Association, says legalization would upend construction compa- nies' current drug-testing regimen and could increase safety risks at already hazardous work sites. "This would be a major change for a dangerous industry that, for very good eason, has a zero-tolerance policy," Shubert said. "It's a serious is- sue for us, safety is our No. 1 priority." Employer drug testing is generally subject to state-level regulation, said Sammy Asada, an attorney at Hartford employment law firm FordHarrison LLP. Under current regulations, employ- ers aren't allowed to conduct pre-em- ployment screenings for marijuana, Asada said, they can only test if they have reasonable suspicion an em- ployee is under the influence on the job. But if Lamont's proposal passed, they couldn't use a positive marijuana test as a reason to fire workers. "You're going from a situation in which testing positive is enough to establish being under the influ- ence, to one in which you can no longer establish that by just test- ing positive," Asada said. But as with medicinal marijuana, testing standards don't apply to companies that contract with the federal government, or need federal funding, Asada said. In those cases, companies may use drug-testing standards in line with federal law. In addition to the con- struction in- dustry, defense contractors including Elec- tric Boat and United Tech- nologies Corp. have raised concerns about the impact legalization could have on their employment policies. A big worry is that recreational marijuana legalization could lead to an increase in the number of people using the drug and reduce the number of hirable job candidates in industries — like construction and manufacturing — already facing ma- jor worker shortages, Shubert said. "Workforce is already a challenge for us, this would only exacerbate it," Shubert said. agencies is expected to reduce head- count by 20 percent, mainly through attrition after coming retirements. Labor unions are watching the workforce modernization, since it could impact their membership. Of- ficials from both sides say the lines of communication are open. Geballe said the state expects to collaborate closely with employee unions, call- ing them important stakeholders. The state, however, has some auton- omy over choosing to fill an open posi- tion or not, but certain changes, such as eliminating jobs directly through the use of technology, could veer into collective-bargaining territory. Jody Barr, executive director of AFSCME Council 4, which has ap- proximately 12,000 members work- ing in the state's executive branch, from clerical workers to corrections officers, said the union is worried that whatever results from Lamont's streamlining push will worsen the quality of state services to the public. "We are so thin in many of those areas already," said Barr, who is skepti- cal about technology's ability to achieve major cost reductions. "At this point, it's not cutting fat, it's cutting services." Meanwhile, the state's business lobby is cheering on the effort in the hopes it lowers state budget burdens, helping to reduce the chances of future tax hikes on businesses. "This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reinvent state govern- ment," Joe Brennan, CEO of the Con- necticut Business & Industry Associa- tion, said of the higher-than-usual number of looming retirements. The situation opens the door to cut- ting government headcount through attrition, rather than layoffs. Brennan said he's hoping the dis- cussions will lead to more outsourc- ing of social and other services to the private sector, which has been a con- tentious issue over the past decade. However, the state's hands are somewhat tied. The 2017 SEBAC agreement between the state and its employee unions offers outsourcing protections through 2027. OPM's recent request for proposals advised bidders interested in conduct- ing the executive-branch efficiencies study that outsourcing would not be the contract's aim. While the RFP closed in December, it remains under review, and no contract had been awarded as of press time. However, Geballe said the con- tract is "very close." He declined to name the vendor. >> Green Leaves continued >> Cutting Red Tape continued Don Shubert, President, Connecticut Construction Industries Association SO MANY GREAT IDEAS, ONLY ONE PLACE TO TAKE IT ALL IN. 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