Employee w/ drug issues
WA ER
2 Posts
Hi. I'm hoping you can help me. We are located in WA and last week had an employee come to her supervisor and tell him she had a prescription drug addiction and was planning to enter rehab next month (she was already planning to be off for the summer). Her supervisor encouraged her not to wait and to get the help she needed ASAP and told her she would still have her job waiting for her in the fall as planned so long as she got her drug problems taken care of.
We are wondering the following:
-Can we require that she pass a drug test before she returns to work when we don't currently do drug testing on other employees?
-Can we require future drug tests if it appears that after her return she may have started using drugs again?
-Are there other issues we should be concerned about that we haven't thought of?
Any advice would be appreciated!
We are wondering the following:
-Can we require that she pass a drug test before she returns to work when we don't currently do drug testing on other employees?
-Can we require future drug tests if it appears that after her return she may have started using drugs again?
-Are there other issues we should be concerned about that we haven't thought of?
Any advice would be appreciated!
Comments
If not, you need to draft a drug abuse policy that is right for your business. Identify that you are a drug free workplace. Set up guidelines for pre-employment screening, random screening (if you choose to do this), establish guidelines for reasonable suspicion testing, decide if you want to test for work related accidents (if so, what are the criteris, i.e. lost time, injury, certain $ amount involved, etc.). The main thing is to develop a policy that you can manage and consistently follow. Make sure that it is communicated to your ees (attach to paychecks, put on communication boards, etc). Identify a start time for the policy to take effect and then abide by the policy.
Since the ee has voluntarily admitted, you can set requirements for her to meet in order to continue employment. But you want to be consistent with it. If you are going to set a precedent, make sure you communicate that to your management team so they know to bring similar situations to your attention. For us, when we have a voluntary admission, we have the ee sign an agreement that employment is contigent on successful completion of the rehab program. We receive updates from the Counselor regarding the ee's progress. We also include language informing the ee that we can test at anytime during their employment and that a positive or refusal will result in dismissal. So, to answer your question, yes you can, just be ready to address future situations in the same manner.
BTW, make sure when the ee completes the program, you communicate to her supervisor that s/he cannot treat the ee differently because of the drug abuse history. Drug addiction is a disability protected under the ADA, unless the ee is currently using. Be midful of your responsibility under the ADA.