Workplace Drug Testing News

The Enterprise News has reported that more workers are testing positive for opiates and amphetamines.

The New Zealand Herald has published an article on the legality of workplace drug testing in New Zealand. The basic legal position is:

Your employer can unilaterally introduce drug testing in your workplace even if it is not expressly provided for in the employment agreement but the drug testing policy must be reasonable and your employer should consult staff before implementing the policy.

Stars and Stripes has reported that a staff sergeant charged with running his unit’s drug testing program was found guilty in a general court-martial of using marijuana himself and engaging in a conspiracy to hide another soldier’s drug use.

The staff sergeant was a unit prevention leader for a platoon of the 14th Movement Control Battalion and was responsible for collecting urine samples from soldiers in his unit. However, the staff sergeant admitted to providing advance warning about upcoming surprise screenings.

The Financial Times published an article yesterday on workplace drug testing in Europe that contained some interesting facts:

• The contruction group Laing O’Rourke sacked 115 employees in 2007 after drug tests revealed traces of cannabis and cocaine. The company conducted 1,270 random drug tests, which means over 9% of drug tests were positive.
• Almost 70% of workplace drug testing worldwide is conducted in the USA.
• A 2007 Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development survey revealed 22 per cent of UK employers test employees for drug and alcohol use and another 9 per cent were planning to introduce drug testing. Some 31 per cent of UK employers had dismissed at least one employee because of alcohol abuse and 15 per cent had dismissed employees for drug problems.
• The 2006 annual British Crime Survey found that 10 per cent of the general population had used one or more illicit drug in the previous 12 months.

The Financial Times article also provides a case study:

Zero tolerance approach keeps ferry services afloat

NorfolkLine Ferries has had a drug and alcohol testing policy in place for more than 10 years. The UK company has 430 onshore employees and 800 people on vessels on rolling rotas. Last year more than 2m passengers travelled on its ferries across the English Channel and the Irish Sea. The company also runs freight services.

“We have a zero tolerance approach to drugs and alcohol for our vessel-based employees. The shore-based employees are subject to random drug testing but can drink to the legal driving limit,” the company says.

It randomly tests 15 per cent of staff every year. It also tests individuals if their behaviour is considered suspicious or after any accidents or other incidents. Employees are contractually required to let the company take breath, saliva or urine tests.

“Sometimes there are people who refuse to take the test. This usually results in disciplinary action and can often lead to dismissal,” the company says. On average, it says, it dismisses fewer than five people a year for failing such tests.

But there is a policy of self-referral in place which means that employees who worry that they might fail a future test can sign up to therapeutic programmes to help them with drug or alcohol issues at the company’s expense.

The Times Colonist has published an article on public safety and workplace drug testing.

The Age has reported a dramatic increase in positive drug tests in the workplace, with one in eight employees testing positive for drugs at work and about five percent of employees in high-risk jobs using illicit drugs.

The Times has published a Q&A on introducing workplace drug testing that provides useful recommendations:

Before any new policy is introduced, you must consult properly with your workers. Clearly advise all employees of the rationale and business purpose behind such a policy. Any concerns raised must be taken seriously.

There should be no problem with random testing providing it is applied reasonably and fairly to all employees. Even when a policy gives the right to test, you will still need to show that you have implemented it reasonably and you have valid grounds for asking an employee to undergo a test. You cannot force an employee to take a test so you may need to treat refusal as grounds for disciplinary action and/or dismissal.

It is unusual for a failure of a drugs or alcohol test to be so serious that it amounts to gross misconduct, although this depends on the circumstances of each case. If the employee’s actions are so serious that the contractual relationship is broken - if, say, your employee has committed an offence that jeopardises the functioning of your business or the safety of your staff and the public – then the employee must be removed from the business and suspended on full pay while an investigation takes place.

If a member of staff fails a drug or alcohol test, you are justified in instigating disciplinary proceedings. You must make sure that the correct procedures are followed and the employee is given every possible opportunity to defend himself.

The Wall Street Journal has published an article on a Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive health-care poll that has found that more than half U.S. adults surveyed believe the abuse of prescription medications is as great a problem as abuse of illegal drugs, while 22% think illegal drug abuse is a bigger problem and 18% think prescription-drug abuses is a bigger problem. The poll clearly indicates that the problem of prescription drug abuse is common knowledge.

RailCorp has published a report showing an increase in the number of rail workers who have tested positive for drugs or alcohol. The report states that 4,400 CityRail workers were tested in 2007 and 66 tested positive for drugs. That is about five more than the 2006 rate.
Some 29 workers out of about 22,000 tests were caught under the influence of alcohol, which was 50 per cent higher than 2006.

The Bay of Plenty has published an article on the cost of drugs and alcohol in the workplace that claims 13 percent of New Zealand employees test positive for drugs or alcohol.