Have a small company with 12 full time employees. How does everyone address drug testing and what happens if any of the employees test positive for drugs? What if they show up with hints of alcohol on their breath? Are they fired, sent to rehab or what? I am considering random drug testing to insure my workforce stays drug free and feel that a good employee may have a drug problem now. I have not got any proof, but his actions are pointing towards it more and more.
*** edit *** I missed part of the questions. Depending on what your company policy it might be better to call a lawyer. If you single someone out you can set your self up for a lawsuit. It might be better to do 100% on site test and after the testing have everyone sign an updated drug policy. On site testing for 12 people would run about a grand where I’m at. * end edit * If there is a suspicion of drugs or alcohol someone off our safety staff will drive them to the local drug testing offices. It's best to do a random test and uses something like everyone with a 5 in there SSN and make sure the person in question is in the group. Every few months at the morning meeting we will draw names and take a van full to get tested. If needed we have the testing company come to our office and test everyone in office. If someone test positive they do a second round of testing on the spot. Both samples are sent to a second lab for more testing. It takes 7 to 10 days to get the results back and they go on paid administrator leave for this time. If they are positive they are fired. If someone turns them self in then rehab. After rehab they can come back to work, but some kind of random drug testing system will be in place for them. I have been though this once and it was a pain in the butt. Anyone that is taking something that will show up on the drug test then they have to go to our company doc, before they can go back to there normal job. We do offer office jobs to these people till they get into the company doc and it's normally takes about half a day. We also offer office jobs to people with colds taking over the counter drugs if needed. With our insurance we are required to test a % of office staff, CDL holder, heavy equipment operators, and maintenance.
Thanks gravelwasher, sounds like it would be best to have everyone tested first, because I sure dont need a lawsuit to deal with. I do not even have a written drug policy at present. Are there generic written "drug policies" already made up for companies to acuire? I am unsure if our insurance carrier would supply one or not, will give them a call to see if they have suggestions also.
Our insurance policy gave us a list of requirements we were to meet for testing. I read this one and it looks to cover all the basic stuff, but I would talk to a lawyer as laws are different in each state, and I would also let my insurance company give there recommendations to what it should say. http://www.worksafecenter.com/safety-resources/PDF/Drug and Alcohol Sample Policy.pdf
We are non-union, at will employer, we send randoms down to the clinic for $35.00 each. We also do on the spot if there is an "incident", in house. We also do in house testing for pre-employment. As a back up we take pictures of all results that include a picture of the packaging that shows lot number, and date of manufacturer. We have a very strict policy here, no second chances.
A refinery I was working at pulled a surprise UA during a turn around. All contractors were to meet at the machine shop for a meeting. As you walked in the door they handed you a test kit. They caught about 300 people out of the nearly 1000 workers. Needless to say the refinery wasn't happy. This was in the mid 1980's, about the time they started getting serious about UA testing. I think I have had about 8 to 10 UA's in the last year, as most plants require UA's before you can work at their facility. Once last year a plant also UA'd the entire plant work force, but it was less than 300 workers total. Only 1 tested positive, so I guess things have come a long way in the last 30 years.
You can hire a contractor to administer a program such as you want. They will have all the legal angles covered as far as how to administer the program and keep you out of legal problems. It may give you a break on your insurance. Also this type of program may help with larger or federal jobs that have requirements that all employees be tested or meet a threshold that they determine.
I work for a factory is missouri, we do prehire and for cause drug screening. The cause can mean for an accident or attendance and eradic behavior. Missouri is an at will state, you can let some one go for no reason. But if you let some one go for a reason and not a nother person this is where law suites come from. This is where your policy has to rock solid across the board. Also work policy and rules can be a double edge sword, some times their productive some times not. I have lost some employees that I never though did drugs. Was able to get rid of some that played our attendence policy.
I have seen employees test positive and just have to do "rehab". They where good hands though. Alcohol is a bigger issue, guys going out drinking until 2-3 in the morning then coming to work. Its over looked at times, because they have jobs they can do that being hungover/buzzed isn't really a issue. Like "paper work and training".
Just ask the guy what his deal is. Never hurts to act human around your employees. Problem persist, replace him and maybe consider implementing a policy at that point.
I know this is an old thread BUT> Insurance costs are lower w/ a drug "policy"..according to our "people"..and the ins. co. picks the testing facility. At my place [35 total] the insurance co. has a list of ALL employees..they "randomly" fax/email a list every 3-4 months of 4 names and 3 alternates.. IF the 4 named people aren't available..the names get pulled from the alternates.. BUT heres where it gets funny...the dept. heads know who does what..and the "suspected folks" are "convienently" "out on a job and away from the office" when this rolls around..so the names get picked from the ALT'S.. Usually from the secr. pool or mgrs... BUT> I've seen it used to get rid of folks too...1 girl in the sec. pool used to brag about "doing this and that".. and BAM..her name was on the list...2 months AHEAD of the 3-4 month schedule.. I GUESS it was worth the 35-60.00 to get "the pool" tested..just to get rid of her.. OH, and ONLY 2 CHOICES..RESIGN[quit] with no "black mark" on your record and FULL recommendations for your next job...OR REHAB for 30 days... Was in a friends place of business awhile ago and he had a 2nd chance policy up on his personell board.. 1st offence was 2weeks off w/o pay and retest w/in 30 days..2nd was rehab or quit and 3rd was termination.. BUT GET THIS>> it was all NULL AND VOID AFTER 365 days...YOU STARTED OVER AFTR 1YR.. LOL SO..unless your a REAL DUMBASS..you can get a free 2 week vacation EVERY YEAR..HELL I would just coincide it w/ my ALREADY 2 weeks payed and take 1 month!! lol just sayin'..
Reach out to your BWC. Here in Ohio, the state health and safety program will train you for FREE and help you set up a program and it will give your company a discount for having a drug screening program. A few things to keep in mind on drug screening. You need a written program and you need to be consistant with the written program , dont deviate from the program. There are classes for the first line supervisors also and the classes cover suspisious cause for random drug testing. There is NOTHING wrong with sending someone out for a random drug test for just cause. There is a procedure for this which should be part of your written drug screeening program.
If the management is doing the pooling, then it isnt a random, but a suspision testing. The random should be pulled by a computer using SSN or employee numbers. If she was bragging about abusing drugs and they send her out for a drug screen for reasonable suspision (two people observing her, for tall tell signs et el) and she fails and the written policy is dicharged on the first offense, that is how it should work. We had a driver laid over at a hotel due to weather and he hit the hotel lounge and was drinking heavy while in uniform. Someone from the hotel called into dispatch. The transportation manager met the driver the next morning at the hotel (they didnt want him driving back to the terminal) and drove him to the medical center for a drug/alcohol screen and was terminated once the BAT came back positive.
When cops, congressmen, and CEOs have to **** in a cup that'll be one thing, in the meantime it's mostly bulls#!t. That goes double for people who have crap jobs with crap pay having to put up with everybody else's crap. (and not in any kind of position where they could be remotely dangerous to others) And yes, I'm self employed and required by law to be in a program. (unlike the people requiring me to be in the program) If you're thinking I have a bad attitude about some things, you're spot on.
Understand your frustration wilco.My buddy who is an experienced concrete mixer driver (20 years in the seat) and damb good at putting the crete where it needs to be .Anyhow he is pouring at a bridge job and due to site conditions has to get on the edge of the causeway fill.It was soft and he gets stuck,wrecker is called to help him out ,No big deal.When he gets back to the plant he has to take a drug test.Go figure:beatsme
Common sense and good judgement are being replaced with a rulebook. Thanks, TD. Kind of thought everybody would jump down my throat on this.
At our mine its zero tolerance post incident and random testing! everyone signs a drug policy and it is enforced.
And do the suits in the office get tested every time they make a dumb decision?
At our company, they do.........If they have an accident, they are sent out for a drug/alochol screen.
Employment law requires that businesses have written policies and contracts with employees and implement a workplace drug testing program ( https://www.ntatesting.com/Employment%20Drug%20Testing%20and%20Education%20Make%20the%20Workplace%20Safer.aspx ). Do you need to follow DOT regulations? We also wrote a post about the responsibilities of employers who have to perform DOT drug testing here: https://www.ntatesting.com/Basic%20Responsibilities%20of%20Employers%20Who%20Perform%20DOT%20Drug%20Tests.aspx . You basically need to start a program with random drug testing. You can have your staff trained to perform the supervision for the program. You can even benefit from insurance companies that give discounts on Workers Compensation insurance for companies that perform regular drug testing.
Drug testing is a sure way to find out who the company hypocrites are.
Jbash, before doing anything, talk to your insurance company, then your attorney, if neither will help you out, before proceeding get both a new insurance company and lawyer then proceed with how and what "they" tell you, its your company, your business and your butt on the line to deal with lawsuits and things like that, nobody else's and both the insurance company and your attorney will be involved big time if things go bad.
if you are actually trying to keep people from working for you that use illegal substances or excessive alcohol do not use urine testing this will only catch the dumb ones! synthetic urine is an easy way to pass any regular urine test. Most companies use this type of testing to show an effort to there insurance companies or to qualify for federal or municipal work. If you really want to eliminate drugs or excessive alcohol use you must do hair and blood testing....TIO
How does the random test work does a computer pic or what. I worked for a company that loved hireing and fireing. If you were out sick for very long you would get randomly checked. I got picked and before the next random i was sick and went to the doctor had a paper from him. So i got picked agin. This time the safety guy was their and drove us. On the way i ask what about meds i was on he said that was brought up in the office. I passed but a buddy got randomed after a sick leave and he didnt pass. I will never know what happened but he didnt seam the type. We had both been there 4year and that was almost unheared of. If something happened you would get tested right away. I work maintinance at a factory. They tested before hireing and not agin. My shift was made up of 5 guys and 20 women. A group of the young girls would smoke left handed cigaretts on brake. One night one of them grabed a roller chain it was a 90 i think moveing very slow. I will never forget her screams as i backed the machine up to free her fingers.
Old Doug, for me its computer generated, I'm the owner and myself and my crew is in a larger pool, supposedly the larger the pool the lesser chance you have of being picked, there supposed to randomly sample 12.5 percent of the entire group each quarter is the way it was explained to me or in four quarters, half of entire group is sampled each year once, but the law of averages differ for some, I've been picked all four quarters each year for years, I don't think I've ever not gotten picked at least twice per year, a friend of mine is in the same pool as I am, he's been in it for over 15 years and has only ever been drawn once in all those years, so as they say some are lucky others not. Now that said, sometimes as the owner, I'm supposed to send in one employee, but I can choose who goes in, other times the employee's name is specified and no other can take his or her place, I'm also given as the owner a time frame it can be done in, usually a few weeks they or I have to go in for the sampling, other times its a given date the one chosen has to go in to have tested, it all depends on what the test is for, and where its done at, in my area not all tests are done in the same place, I've had to go in on a specific date and time for a breath test, hair and even blood tests, other times its just a urine sample they want done. As for being sick, or on medication or something over the counter, I list the stuff I've taken in the last few weeks and never had an issue on any test I've had done or my crew has had done, as long as its not an illegal drug, your supposed to be good, as for alcohol, I can't tell you, my crew isn't a big drinking group, I don't drink much if any, so its a non issue for me.
So if a company had sent 3 enployees at a time its possable they could hand pick one of them. I dont drink,or do drugs but i had some pain pills left over from a operation i had taken 1 and didnt like it. One night i after not sleeping good for several nights i took half of 1 they must have gone bad because it didnt help. The next day or so i thought about what i had done and was glade i did get a random. I dont remember just what took place but a guy their was headed to a random told me the same story and he didnt come back. If it was the truth or not i dont know.
Doug, That's "funny"... Shortly after posting MY RESPONSE TO THIS POST.. like 2 days later.. I was picked for a "random" DT... and we had 1 a WEEK before.. anyone from my company KNOWS the story..and probably figured out who "TPGSC" is.. ME, The BIG BOSS, and a flunky that cant speak English.. GO FIGURE?? I told him when we got back, [he drove us] "better luck next time Mother F'er" and went back to work.. So "random" drug testing "MIGHT BE A STRETCH".. In my case anyway..
For me, sometimes its totally random, other times its a specific person, we just never know, as for the timing, even though it was a week apart, it still could have been for a random sample, I've had that happen too, some are given a specific date to go in, others have a window of a few weeks or up to a month to do the sampling, again I never know, for me and all the times I've had it done, its usually a window of time I can go in like weeks worth of time. As for meds, if its doctor prescribed, your supposed to be fine, its illegal substances they're looking for anyhow, now that said, I'm the owner and boss, so yes I can rock the boat some on the one's doing the sampling, and yes I hate it with a passion, because it costs me out of pocket by the time I'm done around 300 bucks each time, sometimes even more to find out I'm not doing drugs and not drunk when I go in for testing, to me a total waste of money and time, but what I have to do to have a cdl and keep insurance. So I can and do ask questions and surprisingly do get answers, anything you take, whether its legal or illegal, shows up on the test, and they can actually tell even if you don't tell them, so if you forget and take some meds and go in for testing, they then have a list of drugs [meds] those drugs are in, and if they wanted they can access your medical records and check to see if they were indeed prescribed to you. Now the biggest thing I've learned over the years is this, when your taking your sample, your told to witness the one doing the sampling, make sure its sealed up and your supposed to sign saying to watched it done, that's how its done here anyhow, makes sure you watch and actually see it being done, before signing it, I had a sample done at a clinic once and had to do a retake, another 300 bucks and boy was I ticked off, about ripped the head off the lab person doing it round two for the same sample period, turns out, I never witnessed the first one doing it, I just never paid attention and I later found out, my sample was switched with a druggies, and the lab tech got paid to do it, turns out, I was on prescribed meds and the lab that did the sampling knew it, since I'd been done so many times before and cross referenced the samples taken from everyone in that clinic for weeks and what do you know, the druggie that claimed my sample was his, wasn't prescribed any of the medications I was on, and in the sample that was actually from the druggie that was labeled with my name on it, had none of the meds in it, the lab knew immediately it wasn't my sample, the clinic tech was canned after the investigation was done, I had to retake the test, pay the second time and the druggie lost his license, and yes I got answers, if I'd been just an employee I probably never would have been told anything other than I'd had to do a retake. So for those attempting to do bogus sampling and using someone else's sample to submit,, good luck, make sure the one your taking the sample from has taken or hasn't taken anything you have or haven't taken, remember, every sample you've ever done, is on file somewhere in a data base to be compared to later. Now for here, since this ordeal, that clinic is no longer a testing site, ever, and now we have a half hour wait in the waiting room, before your ever able to go in for testing, you can't leave, go to the bathroom, or move off your seat till you go in, or your half hour starts over again, then your pockets are cleaned out, your stripped to your bare clothes, shoes come off, and you go into the bathroom, all water is shut off and there's colored die put in the toilet, and the door remains open and you pee in the cup, your removed from the bathroom, the sample never leaves your sight and its sealed in a bag, you sign for it, get back dressed and fill out the papers and leave, oh yea, you need your drivers license to get into the lab in the first place, if you leave it in your vehicle, your half hour wait starts over again, and there are two techs present at all times, never let the sample out of your sight till its sealed in the bag and you sign for it, I forgot about that part when my episode started, I was busy chatting with one of the techs when the other one turned his back on me and when he turned back around he had it stuffed in the bag and I signed for it, yes I was later questioned as to why I signed for it and I told the guy asking, it all looked legit to me at the time, I just wasn't paying attention, I'd done it so many times it was routine and basically didn't care, I knew I hadn't taken anything illegal so why bother, and it cost me another 300 bucks and a wasted morning to find out why its important to pay attention to every detail.
I would have got my have goten my money back or got in deep trying. Now days you cant leave any thing to chance. I need that tatoed on my hand.