The Van Wert County Courthouse

Thursday, Mar. 28, 2024

Employers get medical MJ, OT rule info

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Local business people had to chance to learn about Ohio’s new medical marijuana law, as well as federal legislation dealing with new federal overtime guidelines, during an event sponsored by the Van Wert Area Chamber of Commerce on Friday morning.

Dayna Noble of the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation talks about the state's new medical marijuana law during an event Friday sponsored by the Van Wert Area Chamber of Commerce. Dave Mosier/Van Wert independent)
Dayna Noble of the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation talks about the state’s new medical marijuana law during an event Friday sponsored by the Van Wert Area Chamber of Commerce. Dave Mosier/Van Wert independent

Dayna Noble of the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation first addressed the state’s new medical marijuana law, noting that House Bill 523, which goes into effect September 8, doesn’t make medical marijuana available immediately, but merely sets up a two-year process whereby the regulatory structure needed to allow medical marijuana use.

“It really just starts the clock for putting policies and procedures in place,” she told a roomful of business people at The Kenn-Feld Group’s training center west of Van Wert.

Even after a regulatory framework is created, businesses should still have a lot of options available, she said.

Noble said passage of the new law would not affect the Drug-free Safety Program currently in place, while adding employers still have plenty of freedom in deciding how to deal with employees who use medical marijuana — especially if they have a drug-free workplace program in place. Specifically, she noted, the law:

  • Does not require that employers accommodate an employee’s use of medical marijuana.

  • Does not prohibit an employer from refusing to hire, discharging, or taking an adverse employment action because of a person’s use of medical marijuana.
  • Specifies that marijuana is covered under “rebuttable presumption”, which means an employ who is injured as a result of being intoxicated or under the influence of marijuana is not eligible or workers’ compensation benefits. That’s true even if a physician recommends medical marijuana use.

While not specifically addressing reimbursement for medical marijuana recommended for injured workers, Ohio law already has rules and statutes in place that limit what medications are reimbursable by the Ohio BWC.

Meanwhile, administrative code states that the BWC is limited to covering only drugs approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration, with the BWC noting that the FDA has not approved marijuana, which remains a Schedule I illegal drug under federal law.

Also, since medical marijuana will be dispensed from retail marijuana dispensaries, and not through BWC-enrolled pharmacies, it would not eligible for reimbursement.

A handout provided by Noble provides information on which state agencies will be tasked with creating the regulatory framework for medical marijuana use.

The Ohio Department of Commerce will be the regulatory agency for medical marijuana use and will license marijuana cultivators and processors, as well as laboratories that will test marijuana for medical use. The Ohio Board of Pharmacy will license retail dispensaries, as well as patients and their caregivers.

In addition, the State Medical Board of Ohio will regulate physicians’ requirements and procedures for applying for, and maintaining, certificates needed to recommend medical marijuana, as well as creating and maintaining a list of conditions for which the drug can be recommended.

Noble noted that businesses with additional questions, or that want to implement a drug-free workplace program should contact their legal representatives for recommendations on what they should do.

Later in the Chamber Coffee on Friday, Jon Stoller of the local CPA firm of Bashore, Reineck, Stoller & Waterman talked about the new overtime rule that basically affects white collar workers.

Stoller first provided information on the Fair Labor Standards Act, a Depression-era federal law that was created to provide an incentive for businesses to hire more workers — something critical in the 1930s, when a large portion of American workers were without a job.

Stoller stressed that the new overtime rule basically deals with the “white collar” exemption included in the Fair Labor Standards Act, noting that the new rule does the following:

Raises the salary threshold for affected white collar workers (for example: retail managers, fast food manager, non-profit administrators) from $455 a week to $913 a week ($47,476 annually), which could affect approximately 4.2 million white collar workers.

Strengthens protection for white collar workers already entitled to overtime.

Provides clearer language on what types of positions are affected.

During his presentation, Stoller also noted that he feels areas with a low cost of living, such as Van Wert County, will be “disproportionately affected” by the new rule, since salaries are lower here because of the lower cost of living.

He recommended that employers contact their accountants or attorneys to obtain more information on how the new rule would affect them.

POSTED: 08/27/16 at 7:26 am. FILED UNDER: News