Suspicion Testing - Alcohol Use

Suky

A manager in one of our Florida locations has said he smelled alcohol on an employee's breath and wants to send that employee for an alcohol breath test. This manager has not received specific suspicion testing training. We do have a policy on drug testing and each employee signs a consent form re testing. Do I let him go ahead and send the employee for testing, or . . . ?

Down_the_Middle

I'm missing some important information b/4 I can offer a meaningful suggestion.................You weren't clear about whether the consent form is signed at time of hire or at the time of being tested?? Does your policy include odor of alcohol as evidence of reas suspicion?? Are there procedural things that must be done (via your policy) that may be jeopardized due to the Managers lack of training?? (e.g. If the Mgr is respon for chain-of-custody issues, I would not let them test the employee until they get trained in this area.) Can another "trained Mgr" assist with the visual observation?? Does the Mgr understand things like, offering the employee transp home after testing, etc....Realizing the decision to test has to be made today, my only advice is to see what your policy says about the above issues. If the policy's unclear or vague, I'd advise the Mgr to not test the employee and to get the training completed ASAP. If the policy's pretty clear altho not very detailed, then I'd proceed with testing. The presence of alcohol in the workplace is grounds for reasonable suspicion. Secondly, train the Mgr ASAP.