Random Drug Testing

HR in NY · April 2003

I would like to hear from any of you who do company wide random drug and alcohol testing. What kind of policy do you have? How does it operate? Currently we are doing DOT Drug and Alcohol testing for our Drivers which is about 30 employees. We employ a total of 170 employees in New York State and we just became non-union (yeah). How would we start - just send all 170 employees for testing, then after that do a lottery? Are there any rules for current employees and just deciding to do this program because we want to? Or, are we allowed to only test new employees? I have lots of questions. Any input would be greatly appreciated. As always thanks for your help.

LFernandes · April 2003

We have random drug screening. All new hires are subject to a pre-employment drug screen. Once hired, we have a third party administrator (Substance Abuse Management Inc.) administer the program so all we have to do is send EE's to a company selected drug collection site. We provide SAMI with an updated employee census quarterly, and they generate the random list and let us know who has been selected for the random drug screen.

We've modeled our policy after the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations ([url]http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_99/49cfr382_99.html[/url]). I provide annual training to all supervisors and above on reasonable suspicision drug and alcohol testing.

I wasn't here when they implemented the program but I don't think we sent everyone all at once. We notified everyone about the new program in writing and had them sign a drug and alcohol policy acknowledgement.

Good luck.

LFernandes

Leslie · April 2003

We do random, general, reasonable suspicion, post accident (all 10 panel), plus have some 30 drivers for DOT testing - in other words the whole nine yards. My best advice is to find a good consulting firm to assist with your policies and/or collections. We have ours come on-site and they do a great job keeping us totally compliant with all state and federal standards. If you're interested I believe they are national.

Margaret Morford · April 2003

I have a drug testing policy that allows for "the whole nine yards" as one of the posts says. I'll be glad to send it to you if you will e-mail me.

When we implemented, we simply started testing all new hires going forward and only tested current employees if they had an accident, caused property damage in excess of a certain dollar amount or we had reasonable suspicion.

Margaret Morford
theHRedge
615-371-8200
[email]mmorford@mleesmith.com[/email]
[url]http://www.thehredge.net[/url]

jules2001 · April 2003

Our drivers are tested annually per DOT regulations, and also included in the random testing that is done quarterly. We have a policy in the handbook, and we have everyone sign this policy just before they are tested again. Our quarterly random testing is basically a lottery system and includes all employees from top to bottom, administration and management included. When our company bought out the previous one, all employees were tested at once. We have a testing company that comes on site. Our Work Comp. clinic will come on site and do testing, also. They are just more expensive than our current company. We also test all new employees. Hope that helps a little.

Nick Ogden · April 2003

Our company does the same as above. To add to the dialog, if an employee fails the test, we will allow EPA if appropriate. Also, if the employee is a driver, they lose their CDL for a year and are subject to 6 additional tests (at their cost) while they are doing other jobs for us (no driving). If a employee refuses the test, it is considered a "failed" test and they are terminated; we are a "zero" tolerance company. My bigest challenge is to make the immediate foremen and supervisors really watch for "reasonable suspicion" and have the stones to take the employee in for a drug test if it is warrented. In the long run, the "good" employees feel that we have done the right thing.

ray a · April 2003

We do both prescreen and random testing. We contract through a local medical group to handle all testing. They come to our facility monthly and do the sampling on our premises. Very convenient. I provided them a list of employees and when they do the prescreens for us those new employees are added to the list. Their computer randomly selects 8 to 12 employees and and equal number of alternates, then they fax me the list.

We also have a zero tolerance policy. If an employee tells us ahead of time (before they are selected for testing) we will direct them to an approved EAP which our health insurance will partially reimburse, and their job is safe. The employee must pay the remaining part. Those who test positive are immediately terminated. They are eligible for rehire provided they pass rehab through an approved provider and there is a job opening.

tbehan · April 2003

We too have a drug testing policy for our CDL holders- we have a policy that following a positive drug test, an employee must go to the EAP for counseling etc. before they are returned to work. A 2nd positive test result within a 5 year period results in immediate termination per our policy. We have had an employee test positive again 5 days before the end of the 5 year period. We terminated that employee and now are facing union objection to this action. we have met with the union and the employee, who admits to the violation on the premise that he doesn't agree with our nation's strict drug policies. The union is still supporting this employee by requesting a hearing on the matter claiming a wronful termination. This union was involved in the start of the testing program and the employee was given a copy of the policy in the past. It seems that this is a tremendous waste of $$ and resources by having to defend such a case. Anyone have any similiar experiences?

Whatever · April 2003

This one of the reasons why management and unions do not get along. I am so tempted to print thread after thread after thread venting about the time I have wasted on absolutely silly, you have got to be joking arbitrations. But I will make it short, in the last ten years, the record is company 14, union 0.

kcovalt · April 2003

When we began our drug testing program several years ago, we gave every employee a copy of the drug testing policy and had them sign an acknowledgment form saying they had received the policy. We gave everyone 30 days to voluntarily take the drug screening test. After the 30 days, the test became mandatory. We had two employees fail the initial test, sent them for a rest test, which they also failed and then they were terminated. Now, all new employees are drug tested and we also drug test for accidents, reasonable suspicion, and the DOT required testing as well as random testing. The word has gotten around that we are serious about our drug policy and we haven't had any applicants that failed the test in several years.

HR in NY · April 2003

Thanks everyone for your very useful information. It has helped a lot in helping us to figure out how to begin this process. Thanks again.

5560905 · April 2003

We have approximately 180 employees at 5 different locations in one metropolitan area. When we began our Drug Testing program two years ago, we published the policies 90 days in advance of the beginning of the program and had each employee sign off that they had received the complete policies and procedures including the consequences of failing a drug test. Once the program began, we scheduled all current employees to be tested over a three month period and began pre-employment testing immediately. Once everyone had been tested once, we turned everything over to an administrator for the random selections. We test 7% of our total employees monthly. We only lost a couple of people during the first round of testing and now only rarely have a random test failure. Our policy is VERY SPECIFIC - no illegal drugs or alcohol "in your system" while on the job. That covers us if someone uses drugs on their off days since there is generally residual drugs in their system when they return to work. All our employees know that Zero Tolerance means just that. Just a note....if you want to test all your employees initially and budget is a factor, negotiate with the testing entity. Our vendor was anxious to get our business and gave us a special rate for the initial testing of all 180 employees.

Random Drug Testing

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