Alcohol And Drugs Policies At Work
Alcohol And Drugs Policies At Work
Where does your company stand on alcohol and drugs? Chances are you’re not sure. When it comes to employee discipline, things like consistent lateness or absenteeism are easy to measure. Bad behaviour is often cut and dry, but alcohol and drug problems can affect employees in a different yet still detrimental way. If this is the cause of bad behaviour, do you know how to handle the disciplinary process? After all, once an employee admits a problem it becomes not a matter of discipline so much as a matter of disability.
Employers are legally required to help employees who have a disability. An addict falls under this category, so even if it could be argued it’s their own lifestyle that has led to their problem you still have to offer them access to treatment. This means all the associated costs such as allowing them to work around their treatment appointments, and getting colleagues to cover if they’re off work for an extended period of time.
The most difficult thing is to prove an employee has a problem in the first place. Often they will use excuses for their lateness or absence from work and it only becomes apparent after a long period of time that all isn’t as it seems. Even if you talk to them about it informally they might deny there’s a problem, and you can’t test them for alcohol or drugs just because you suspect something. There has to be enough evidence to reasonably assume they’ve been drinking or have taken drugs.
This is why it’s so important to have a policy for anyone joining the company. Manufacturing companies for example and those that employ drivers quite rightly have very strict policies on illegal substances and alcohol. It would be dangerous for anyone working there not to be in a fit state to work. Whilst office workers don’t have the same
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responsibilities, they still have to make decisions and perform at a certain level of alertness so it’s still important not to be drunk on the job.
Many companies therefore simply write it into the employee’s contract that if they’re caught abusing alcohol or drugs their employment will be terminated. They also test employees before employment and at different times during the year to ensure the policy is enforced. Not having any sort of policy, and overlooking these issues means that one employee can cause problems for many parts of your company. Imagine their colleagues knowing they can’t be trusted and having to cover for them constantly, or bad decisions being made and the employee not feeling accountable for their actions.
If you have a stringent policy right from the start employees know that they can’t take advantage because they’re always at risk of being found out. To some extent this will help to stop problems from arising in the first place – employees who have alcohol or drugs problems are far less likely to work for you. It also means that you can hold offending employees in breach of contract and you’ll have a strict policy if you wish to let the employee go.
Alcohol And Drugs Policies At Work / Author: Sylvia Kittens