All companies and organizations have a drug policy regarding current and prospective employees. (At least, they should have a drug policy.)
During the past several years, marijuana has made national headlines, namely in terms of the legality of its use. Not only have a number of states legalized the recreational use of marijuana, but over 20 states have legalized marijuana in some form or fashion.
The question becomes this one: what effect has all of this had on companies and their drug policies, including drug screenings?
One of the states that has legalized marijuana for recreational and medical use is Colorado. However, a ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court last year resulted in a proverbial “sigh of relief” from employers in that state.
The court ruled in a 6-0 decision that businesses can fire employees for the use of marijuana. These are the two important distinctions regarding that ruling:
Employers can fire employees for the use of medical marijuana, not just recreational marijuana.
Employers can fire employees for the use of marijuana even if it’s off-duty.
This ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court affirmed a lower court ruling. It also quite possibly helped to set the direction for other states.
After all, Colorado was a leader in the legalization of marijuana. That legalization created possible complications regarding how companies could approach marijuana in terms of their employees. In much the same way, the ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court could lead the way with this particular issue.
Taking all of this into consideration, there are two things that employers should do in regards to their drug policy:
Make absolutely sure that their policy is worded in a completely fair and neutral fashion. In other words, it must be non-discriminatory.
Have their legal counsel routinely review their policy to ensure compliance and protection in the face of ever-changing legislation at the state and national levels.
However, when employers use the services of a staffing firm, that firm takes care of all issues related to drug policies and drug testing. Time Staffing has an extensive pre-screening process for all employees. That process includes the following:
Background checking
Drug screening
Reference checking
Job-related skills testing
Make sure that your company’s drug policies and screening procedures are up-to-date.

​In a previous blog post, we addressed how to set up your organization’s performance reviews for success. However, that post dealt with the planning of the reviews. In this post, we’re going to deal more with the execution of that plan.
That’s because formulating a plan is just the first step. No matter how good your plan might be, unless you execute it well, it’s all for naught.
With that in mind, below are five more tips for conducting superior performance reviews:
#1—Set a positive tone for the evaluation.
It’s important to start the meeting on the right foot and put the employee at ease. After all, this can be a high-stress situation. As a result, feel free to initiate some small talk prior to starting the review. Strive to make the employee feel more at ease before getting to the “meat” of the meeting.
#2—Discuss the employee’s strengths first.
Don’t just dive right in with all of the employee’s perceived shortcomings. That’s just going to put them on the defensive and make them reluctant to share their opinion and other information. Start first with those things that you believe the employee has done well since their last review. This will help to further build a positive atmosphere, so that you can move to the next phase: a discussion of their weaknesses and a plan for improving them.
#3—Cite specific instances and examples when addressing weaknesses.
It’s important that when you discuss weaknesses with an employee that you also cite specific examples. Don’t be vague; that won’t cut it. People don’t like to be criticized to begin with, so make sure that your criticism is constructive in nature.
#4—Set equally specific goals.
When setting goals for future production and performance, be sure to once again solicit feedback from the employee. Get them engaged in the process. Secure their “buy in” for whatever goals you set, identify action steps for achieving those goals, and set clear expectations and a timetable for doing so. It’s all about communication and clear expectations.
#5—End the evaluation on a high note.
You started the review in a positive fashion, so it only makes sense that you end it in the same way. Emphasize the fact that the person is valued as an employee (if that, indeed, is the case) and express your optimism regarding their standing with the organization. This is about motivating the employee as much as it is about evaluating them.
In actuality, employees should leave their reviews not only motivated, but also energized and excited about their future with your organization. This is how you boost their productivity and also retain them as valued members of your team.

We’ve written before about the topic of the resume in this blog. Below are two such examples:
“10 Changes to Your Resume You May Not Have Thought About”
“3 Ways to Beef Up Your Resume”
As you might have already guessed, we’re going to address the resume in this blog post, as well. Specifically, we’re emphasizing the importance of proofreading it.
There are probably some skeptical readers who are asking themselves, “How important is it . . . really? Am I going to lose out on a job just because of a typo or a grammatical error? Isn’t it more important that I’m able to perform the duties of the job?”
Let’s address those three questions in order:
“How important is it . . . really?”
Your resume is how potential employers see you before they see you. It’s part of your first impression. Your resume often dictates whether or not you have a phone interview, and how well you do during the phone interview dictates whether or not you have a face-to-face interview. So in actuality, your resume is the first step on your journey to finding a new job. That’s how important it is.
“Am I going to lose out on a job just because of a typo or grammatical error?”
You must remember that you’re not competing for a job in a vacuum. There are other candidates who are attempting to land the same job that you are. You might think that nobody has lost an employment opportunity just because of a simple typo, but that’s the case. People have lost out on opportunities because of typos and errors on their resume, and it’s not an isolated incident. When a hiring authority is having a difficult time choosing between two candidates, the hiring authority will invariably choose the candidate who has the better resume—or the one without any errors.
“Isn’t it more important that I’m able to perform the duties of the job?”
True, your ability to perform on the job is important. However, as we mentioned above, you’re not competing for a job in a vacuum. There are other people who can also perform those job duties. What you’re attempting to do is convince the employer that YOU are the better candidate. Let’s take a slightly different angle with the scenario we described above.
Perhaps the hiring authority is having difficulty choosing between two candidates, both of whom possess similar experiences and abilities related to the duties of the position. If the hiring authority believes that one of the candidates has better communication skills and pays more attention to detail, then that candidate has the edge over the other one.
Time Staffing can help you during your job search. We not only provide guidance regarding your search, but we also have an extensive database of available positions.