Home Depot, one of the largest employers in the United States, is shifting its employee drug testing policies to remove cannabis from screening panels entirely and stop pre-employment drug testing of most of its workers The changes took effect on September 1 and emails were sent out in a human resources memo last week, which says that “Marijuana will be removed from all drug panels” in the U.S.—including from tests following a workplace accident and in cases where there’s reasonable suspicion an employee was impaired. The memo says that “Home Depot continually evaluates our policies, the external environment, and benchmarks with other companies to ensure we remain competitive while complying with local, state, and federal laws.” The policy changes do not apply to employees regulated through the federal Department of Transportation.
When the policy takes effect, Home Depot will be one of the largest private companies ever to cease marijuana screening of its employees. The company says it employs more than 400,000 associates in more than 2,000 stores across the U.S., putting it among the top employers in the country. Outside of Amazon, Home Depot is one of, if not the largest public company to go away with cannabis testing for employees.
