2015

The University of Southern California recently terminated Steve Sarkisian, their head football coach. The firing came after a cavalcade of headlines that Sarkisian was increasingly showing up at practices, team functions, and even games allegedly under the influence of alcohol. The way USC handled the situation with a high-profile employee offers instruction on how to handle employees with substance abuse issues out of the public eye. The disease of alcoholism meets the definition of a disability, which means that an employer can't take into account that an employee is an alcoholic when making employment decisions. However, an employer may maintain a blanket prohibition on drinking at work that applies to both alcoholics and non-alcoholics alike. An employee who can't meet those standards because of drinking may be disciplined, whether they are an alcoholic or not.

With the enactment of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act (AMMA) in 2010, the number of medical marijuana card holders in Arizona is over 65,000 and growing. Chances are your business does or will employ one of them. This article will answer the five most pressing questions facing Arizona employers with the goal of helping them avoid the legal weeds surrounding medical marijuana in the workplace. 1. Can employers discipline or refuse to hire an employee|applicant because he|she is a medical marijuana cardholder? No. The AMMA prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals who are authorized to use medical marijuana. 2. What if the employee|applicant tests positive for marijuana use? Doesn't matter. Although Arizona employers are permitted to drug test their employees or applicants, the AMMA protects medical marijuana cardholders who test positive for marijuana from adverse employment action based solely on the positive test results.

"According to a new study from MeriTalk, 45% of all federal agencies were targeted by insider threats, with 29% losing data to an insider incident over the past year. The report also found that although 76% of federal agencies are increasing attention on combating insider threats compared to a year ago, nearly half still suffered from an insider attack. The challenge comes because, as agencies are entrusted with storing and managing a range of sensitive information, the potential channels for data loss are becoming more complex. That makes breaches perpetrated by insiders ""whether malicious or unintentional"" very real and growing problem. Create a formal insider threat program, with annual in-person security training, real-time alerts for inappropriate access|sharing and data loss, agency-wide security technologies, and government-wide initiatives to support the effort."