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Suspect drug Abuse

hrnewbyhrnewby 40 Posts
in HR & Employment Law Vote Up0Vote Down
I am new to HR by default - a former loan trainer thrust into HR bacause no one else wanted it! I have an employee who suspect is using cocaine. He sweats profusely on occasion, takes long and frequent breaks, sometimes to his car, and also seems to zone-out when you are talking to him. We are in Illinois and I am not sure how to confront him. My purpose is to help him, not fire him. I also want to be very legal in doing so. Help is appreciated.
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  • 5 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • SystemSystem 5,885 Posts
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    Do you have a Drug-free workplace statement and policy? This one falls under a 'reasonable suspicion' clause. If you're not sure what to do, you may have an EAP contact who can tell you how to go about the documentation - the most important phase in testing someone on reasonable suspicion. I suppose you don't operate alone in the capacity of HR. Let your supervisor know where you're going with this.
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  • POPEYEPOPEYE 958 Posts
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    Do you have a written policy concerning being impaired at work either with drugs or alcohol? If so, then you need to follow your policy. If not, you do need to get one written.

    Minus a policy, if the type of work this individual is performing would be compromised by impairment such as safety related for the EE or other EEs, then you do have an obligation to investigate. If you don't have a policy that is 0 tolerance, and as you say, you want to help this EE, then I would suggest having a conversation and advise of your "documented" observations and concerns and refer them to your EAP or other counseling services available.

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  • hrnewbyhrnewby 40 Posts
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    We do work with an EAP. Can I require him to call them?
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  • Don DDon D 9,834 Posts
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    You would be much better served by visiting with your EAP professional. One, it gets you more acquainted with them and the process, two, it lets them see you as the company 'point person' in HR, and three, they will tell you exactly what you can, should and might do for this employee. It's not time yet to talk about requiring the employee to do something.
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  • hrnewbyhrnewby 40 Posts
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    Thank you for your guidance. I will call our EAP gurus and set up a meeting with them.
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