This company is having a hard time recruiting due to its weed testing guidelines

By Nina Zdinjak

The legendary American automaker and one of the largest in the world, General Motors (NYSE: GM) is reluctant to jump on the cannabis-friendly bandwagon, and some say the consequences are proving negative for the company. Headquartered in Motown, which happens to be in a state with fully legalized marijuana, the company is struggling to find workers.

Aside from being no longer one of the better paying worker jobs in the country, another reason not to attract workers is GM’s weed testing policy, according to Merry Jane magazine.

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Candidates leaving job interviews

The company is currently hiring 725 temporary part-time workers for two of its assembly plants – one in Flint and the other in Fort Wayne – but United Auto Workers (UAW) executives appear to have learned that many potential new hires are possible when they said goodbye to interviews realized that GM is testing for cannabis.

Michigan state law allows any adult resident to use marijuana for either recreational or medicinal purposes – a right many young workers are unwilling to give up for a low-paying temporary job.

RELATED: The End of Pre-Hiring Drug Testing Doesn’t Mean You Still Can’t Get Fired For Marijuana

This leads to another problem at General Motors: their compensation package. Temporary jobs that need to be filled only pay $ 16.67 an hour, while a local Pizza Hut delivery driver makes $ 20 an hour.

Another problem that annoys potential GM workers is the way the company tests for weeds. It uses the hair follicle testing method, which only shows that someone has used cannabis in the past few weeks, but not exactly when, i.e. use while at work, can be suspected but is not necessarily the case. Testing for CBD in a person’s system is also known to be prone to a false positive result.

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United Auto Workers urge the company to stop testing

The UAW urges General Motors to abolish its weed testing guidelines and increase its hourly wages to at least $ 18.

Whether the company will take the claims seriously remains to be seen, but GM is considering them and is in talks with UAW officials.

RELATED: Amazon Supports Federal Marijuana Legalization Bill, Drops Drug Screening

Another corporate giant, this time in online retail, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) recently decided it was time to change its outdated guidelines and stated that it will no longer test for cannabis in most places.

Amazon has also expressed its support for the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Exungement Act of 2021 (MORE Act).

While some states with legalized cannabis have banned companies from testing their employees for drugs, federal agencies like the Veterans Affairs Department, NASA, and all branches of the armed forces must continue to adhere to strict federal regulations and not even allow their employees to use CBD. writes Merry Jane.

This article originally appeared on Benzinga and was republished with permission.