MATTOON, Ill. (WAND) - With legal recreational marijuana use on the horizon for Illinois, employers are talking about how they’ll move forward.

As it turns out, many of the same concerns employers had when medical marijuana use was first legalized is coming up again. WAND spoke to employment solutions company Manpower about the topic.

"I did have a number of customers that said, 'You know, I would maybe be on board with that, but I don't want to be the first one,’” Manpower Director of Operations Ginette Comstock said.

That’s how her clients felt about altering their drug policies when medical marijuana was first legalized in Illinois.

Comstock says many people are going to bat for employee marijuana use outside of the workplace, despite federal law which bans it entirely.

"Many of the people that are having to fill the jobs, the HR Level Professionals and the hiring managers,” Comstock shared, “They're really wanting to see more flexibility in that to be able to put more people to work."

Comstock says once recreational marijuana use is legal in Illinois, it could help more employers and employees fill the hundreds of jobs that need filled within the state.

"For the employers it would be helpful,” Comstock explained. “They would have more talent available to them with backgrounds being expunged for the minor drug charges regarding THC, and also it would open up more associates to them if they either didn't test for the THC in a pre-screening scenario, or modified their substance abuse program."

Even with many unknowns out there still, Comstock says safety in the workplace will continue to be a top priority.

"Just like we won't let someone have drinks on their lunch hour and then go back and operate a forklift, no one should or would be tolerating consuming THC while on the job," Comstock said.

She says one challenge employers could face in the future includes being able to tell if an employee is under the influence of marijuana while on the job. Another gray area is how to know if a THC-positive drug test is due to recent marijuana use or from use outside of work hours.