Proposal to protect workers from getting fired for off-the-job marijuana use advances with Illinois lawmakers

CHICAGO — A proposal to prohibit firing workers for trace amounts of marijuana in their systems moved closer to passage when the Illinois House of Representatives approved the measure earlier this month — but employers remain very leery about it.

The chief sponsor, state Rep. Bob Morgan, a Democrat from Deerfield and an attorney who does cannabis consulting, said the change would let people, especially medical cannabis users, use a legal product on their own time “and not fear losing their job.”

But employers fear the change will only lead