Whether you agree with the use of alcohol or marijuana, each is currently a legal substance in New York state as well as many others. This Coaching & Consulting Podcast is not intended to spark a political debate or act as a springboard for discussion on the “state of our society”. There are plenty of other podcasts for that.

For cleaning company owners, managers and frontline cleaners, what we’re covering here is the impact of a choice to consume.

This post was published on October 1, 2024. For those states where marijuana is legal as of that date, it poses a challenge for many employers and customers in commercial cleaning, service industries and many other businesses. Maybe this is in part because it’s new. Maybe because the act of smoking marijuana LOOKS similar to smoking cigarettes. But you know the effects are very different. Post-pandemic, many businesses are struggling to maintain staff. For this reason alone, there may be employers are slow to react to this.

The Cleaning Business Challenges

Commercial cleaning and janitorial services in Rochester New York face the same challenges as Houston and Los Angeles. Locating staff who show up on time is hard work. There’s been a shift in many industries. The post-pandemic attitude for many employees has changed. Timeliness; Respect; Positive work ethics have become harder to find in employees. We see it with many coaching clients.

Business insurance and “lost time” cost your company real dollars. Likewise, the cost of lives and futures is beyond calculating. As professionals, we can elevate our companies by elevating the expectations of our employees. That step will help your staff to be more reliable and build a better future for themselves and your company. All of that translates to a better service experience for your customers. Finally, substance abuse is a real issue. According to the CDC, in 2023 there were more than 107,000 deaths in the US due to drug overdose. That doesn’t account for deaths due to alcohol. Those drug testing companies in your area will likely have connections to clinics for treatment and recovery.

DOC’s Consulting Services covers these coaching topics with clients. And yes, some of those include the drug testing topics and how to handle the situations. Those conversations remain private. However the topics need to be discussed. For cleaning company owners & supervisors, you aren’t alone. And yes, you CAN expect more. Working with a reliable HR service provider for screening will help. Having a local testing company for initial screening and fast response will also help. In fact, if you’re willing to share the company you use in YOUR area, please go to this form. We intend to share those you recommend with other cleaning companies.

If you’re dealing with substance-use issues on your cleaning staff, consider contacting DOC’s Facilities for coaching.

Ray

Joel, we’re back, and we are talking about more HR topics.

 

Joel

Oh fun, my favorite topic!

 

Ray

Yeah, I know. Now, here in New York State, and in many other places across the country, marijuana has become a legal substance. (What?) I know. I understand one of your customers was recently faced with, “You can’t test me for that!”

 

Joel

That’s correct.

 

Ray

Where do we go with this?

 

[00:00:28.15] Joel

This is a very interesting and touchy subject. I’ve had conversations with friends of mine, even about my company, because they know I do drug testing at my company. Well, we can test. Well, you can’t test for weed. You can’t. I said, You’re right, we can’t. Well, see? See? And they said, But yet we can. They don’t understand. So I explained to them, just like with this client. You can do pre-drug screenings for pre-employment. We used to be able to do five-panel testing, which included marijuana. We can’t test on marijuana. So, now you can only screen on a four-panel test. So if a person comes back clean on the floor panel, the person passes your background check in regards to drug testing and everything else, and then they’re able to be onboarded. One of the key things that I’ve learned with working with my HR consultant is that you can still say it’s a drug-free workplace. And there are legalized drugs such as weed. Alcohol could be a drug, and that’s also legalized. And people aren’t supposed to show up to work drunk either.

 

Ray

Well, I mean, you assume that at lunchtime, someone’s not going to go out to their car or to the local restaurant in the middle of their shift and down three beers. So that’s got to relate.

 

Joel

Yeah. And what’s the same thing when it’s smoking weed? Well, I’m on my time, and so I smoked. You can test for marijuana if it’s observed that an individual is acting suspiciously, just like you would with alcohol. You write down everything that you observe, you try to get a second person to be able to observe it with you. Hopefully another person in a line of your vision, and you make all the kinds of notations. This person appeared to be this way. This is what was going on. This is what I smell. This is how they walk or stumble.

 

Ray

The observation is “Someone who is on the work site, impaired.”

 

Joel

Correct. It could be impaired for weed. It could be impaired for alcohol. It doesn’t matter. Because I can’t test somebody pretesting either for alcohol. But on a work site, I can if there’s impairment; If there’s other reasons when you can on a work site; If there’s injury; If someone dies; If there’s property damage. Any of those types of things now is justified to bring in somebody, a medical professional, and I work with a company that, at least here in Rochester, for my cleaning company. They can come and send a doctor out within an hour or less to a job site and test our employee for a five-panel.

 

Ray

So important for the cleaning company owner to be in contact with perhaps a local company that does that type of testing? (Absolutely.) Okay.

 

Joel

Because it is critical. I’ve also had a lot of long conversations with my insurance company about what happens if I’m liable. I’m liable as the company. And if I’m not doing the testing that I’m supposed to be doing, when I’m supposed to be doing it, my insurance could be canceled. And it’s not just a person losing their job, or God forbid, they killed somebody. But also it could affect the livelihoods of every other individual that works within that company.

 

Ray

So, let’s relate that to the small business owner, the small cleaning company owner. Just by example, you’ve grown to the point that you maybe you started with one other person, and you have brought on one, two, three staff members. You are now employing them. They are your representatives, and they’re on your insurance. By the way, if you are working without the proper insurances, you are setting yourself up to be ruined. (Correct.) You’ve gotten them to that point, but you’re responsible for them.

 

Joel

You are responsible for them, and any action that they take on the job site. Which includes the parking lot; Which includes when they’re on lunch; When they’re on break. You are responsible for them from the time that they’re supposed to start and end.

 

Ray

For those less initiated people who might be thinking, The cleaner is coming in to do dusting, mopping, and vacuuming. What could possibly go wrong? (What could possibly go wrong? What could possibly go wrong? Oh, my God.) I’m thinking, other than someone tripping on the step (but) running an auto scrubber.

 

Joel

Yeah, I’ve seen early in my career, auto scrubbers be driven off a (loading) dock. Some of the large ones, they have 12 batteries in them. So they’re not… Back then, 30 plus years ago, those were $100,000 units back then. Way more expensive in today’s world. So do you think there’s a reason to make sure that your People are able to operate pieces of equipment properly or motor vehicles if they’re driving between accounts for you. All those types of things. And you are open to risk. And that’s what insurance is about, is to help close those risk gaps. But again, going all the way back to the pre-screen during the application process and laying the law that, hey, we are a drug-free workplace. We are an alcohol-free workplace and leading by example and making sure that all the policies and procedures are being followed, and that the supervisors and the managers are all on the same page. And that they continue to talk to the individuals in the field, even if they’re not under the influence about these are the types of things. Don’t forget that if this happens, if you see a coworker like this. You need to let us know you’re not squealing, you’re not telling.

 

Joel

You’re protecting your job as well as the jobs of everybody else in a company, because these could be serious problems if they’re not dealt with in the right manners.

 

Ray

Thank you, Joel. I appreciate it.

 

Joel

You’re welcome.