Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | September 18, 2017 | Worcester Business Journal 21 Mother nature's boom & bust The Worcester Business Journal welcomes letters to the editor and commentary submissions. Please send submissions to Brad Kane, editor, at bkane@wbjournal.com. W hether you agree with the new law, marijuana is going public in Massachusetts. The Cannabis Control Commission has been appointed, regulations governing implemen- tation of the new law are being drafted and pot shops are expected to start opening their doors next July. Despite the drug's increasing accep- tance, it remains illegal under federal law, and creates some uncertainty for Massachusetts employers. Can they continue to screen job applicants for marijuana? And can they prohibit even the medical use of marijuana by employees? Until recently, the answer to both of these questions was yes. But like the laws them- selves, the way our laws are interpreted and applied is sub- ject to change by the courts and, in a recent ruling, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court imposed new restric- tions on employers. Employers can still prohibit on-site use of marijuana and can continue to discipline employees who are caught work- ing under the influence, but employers are now legally required to tolerate the off-site use of medical marijuana by disabled employees as an accommodation for their dis- ability unless there is an equally effective alternative or the employer can demonstrate the accommodation would be an undue hardship on its business. Additionally, based on a Superior Court ruling last year, employers who require job applicants to take a pre-employment drug test for a non- safety-sensitive job risk liability for violating their privacy. Employers can take a compliance-driven approach: They can re-evaluate their drug testing policies and consider elimi- nating drug screens for jobs that don't involve safety concerns; adopt new accommodation policies and practices governing employee use of medical marijuana; design a process for determining whether a disabled employee has an equally effective alternative to marijuana; evaluate whether and when accommodating off-site marijuana use may present an unac- ceptable safety risk, conflict with a contractual obligation, or otherwise create an undue hardship; and provide training for personnel to apply these policies. But for employers who are not particularly concerned about the off-duty use of marijua- na, consider a less burdensome approach. Why shouldn't employers treat marijuana like alcohol when it comes to their workforce? If properly written and enforced, policies forbidding employees from being under the influence of drugs and alcohol while on duty and that allow employers to test employees based on a reasonable suspicion that they are under the influence on the job may adequately protect their business from safety risks. Yes, employers who choose this path would have to accept their employees might smoke a joint for fun on their couch in the evening or eat pot brownies around a campfire over the weekend. But unless they have a really good reason to care about such off-duty conduct, treating marijuana like alco- hol could save them a great deal of time and money. Erica E. Flores is an associate at Worcester law firm Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C. Treat marijuana like alcohol V I E W P O I N T E D I T O R I A L BY ERICA E. FLORES Special to the Worcester Business Journal Erica E. Flores WO R D F R O M T H E W E B Comment of the issue "I look at legalization of marijuana the same as legalization of alcohol. It is unacceptable for an employee to come to work smelling like alcohol or intoxicated from alcohol. To me it's the same." - Anonymous commenter, Sept. 7, on a WBJ poll on how companies will treat the legalization of marijuana WBJ Tweet of the week "Thank you for sharing our small business story! Buying local helps everyone in the community. #keepfarmingstartcooking" - Lettuce Be Local (@LettuceBeLocal), Sept. 6, on a WBJ story about local produce delivery companies W Facebook feedback "There's very little chance this has to with, "high visibility construction projects" and more to do with lower- ing admission standards (possibly demograph- ic based) and offering very biased financial incentives. Large statistical increases like this, over the course of a singular year, can only ever be attributed to a intentional and pur- poseful plan of action." - Deke Mardirossian, Sept. 9, on Worcester State University announcing demographics of its incoming students "That's insane" - Sherry Blackmore Moskowitz, Sept. 8, on a story about rising average rent prices in the Worcester area and around the state Y ou can't help from feeling a little guilty. The beautiful summer days just keep on coming, and we're heading into the fall foliage season, the sig- nature event for New England tourism. Yet, else- where in the country residents and businesses are taking on real body-blows from mother nature. Hurricanes bringing extensive wind damage and flooding have wiped out whole neighborhoods, knocked out power to millions and slowed busi- nesses to a crawl. How many of us are ready to absorb that kind of catastrophic event at our workplace? Do you have robust backup power system, or a reliable IT infrastructure for employ- ees to work remotely and be productive while the office is out of commission? If you're in the construction trades, you would not be able to work enough hours to meet the post-storm demand, but a lawncare business may find few flooded property owners worried about their underwater grass or shrubs when the house needs rebuilt. There are all kinds of winners and losers when it comes to the cards mother nature deals out, and more wild cards keep being added to the deck every year. Staff Writer Zachary Comeau's cover story (Page 10) is on the region's bumper crop of apples after a horrible 2016 when none of the growers made any money. And it's not just apples that are doing well this year – peach trees are delivering a bumper crop, and last year there was nary a peach in New England as the bud freeze was even more severe than it was for apple growers. The feast-to-famine change in this year's apple pro- duction in Massachusetts is projected to be up 59 percent over 2016, and 19 percent over the five- year average. We've seen weather-dependant busi- nesses like Wachusett Mountain ride the wave of snowy and not so snowy or cold winters for years. In Wachusett's case, the business has stabilized its weather-dependent revenue swings with a big investment in snowmaking equipment. But for most farmers, that ability to mitigate many of the seasonal ups and downs is just not feasible. So what can we all learn from the farmers in the region? When the crop is great – make hay – focus and do whatever it takes to get them all picked and sold, maximize your sales and mar- gins, and, most importantly, put money aside for next year. Farmers, more than most businesspeo- ple, know there is no guarantee everything will go according to plan. Businesses with direct expo- sure to mother nature are living in a less certain environment, and planning for the long game is more important than ever. The ups and downs of the region's weather patterns is one thing, but tak- ing the hit from a major hurricane is a whole dif- ferent level of hurt. Let's hope we can continue to dodge the catastrophic weather, but we can learn from the hardy survivors who have the discipline to save for a rainy day. W

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