FIRMS SHOULDN'T GET RID OF DRUG TESTING

It's In Their Best Interest To Screen For Users And Offer Treatments

If you are an employer tempted to cut back on your drug-free workplace
programs to save costs, experts have one piece of advice: don't.

Drug-free workplace programs, such as drug testing and rehabilitation
services, are optional for most U.S. employers. The programs became
popular after the passing of the Omnibus Transportation Employee
Testing Act of 1991, which mandated drug testing for workers in the
transportation industry.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human services reports that alcohol
and drug abuse cost American businesses roughly $81 billion in lost
productivity a year -- $37 billion due to premature death and $44
billion due to illness.

Yet work-place experts say it can be in a company's best financial
interest to offer treatment to retain drug and alcohol abusers, rather
than fire employees and search for, hire and train new ones.

Indeed, if you're tempted to slash employee drug and alcohol
rehabilitation services, you risk having no option but to fire
employees who violate the company drug policy -- even if they brought
years of valuable experience and expertise.

"If you've invested so much time in your employees, it makes sense to
give people a second chance," said Paula Harvey, president of the
Charlotte chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management.

Harvey said at SteelFab Inc., where she is human resources director,
long-term employees are given one chance to take advantage of an
employee assistance program after they have been caught violating the
company drug policies. She said the company has about a 50-50 success
rate with this program, allowing them to keep some employees who made
a one-time mistake.

If it's drug testing you are thinking about cutting, you risk hiring
leftover applicants who were screened out of other jobs.

"Some companies try not to spend a lot of money for employees," said
Terry Thorson, president of the Business Innovation and Growth
Council, a Charlotte-based nonprofit. "And you get what you pay for."

Employers become vulnerable to hiring the wrong person when they cut
drug testing from their interview process, she said.

Even cutting back to only pre-employment testing from random drug
testing can cause problems.

"People can get clean for 30 days and then go back to their old ways,"
Harvey said.

Scaling back on employee education can also cause long-term losses,
said Elena Carr, drug policy coordinator for the Department of Labor.

Employees need to know what the expectations are if they're subject to
drug testing, Carr said.

"If someone is called on the carpet and they're not familiar with the
policy, they're going to ask `Why are you doing this?' " she said.
This is often a starting point for litigation, she added.

Another major way employers get into trouble is by violating their own
drug policies, Carr said. It may be tempting to do this when you have
a file full of potential replacements, but it could cause you to hire
a costly legal team later on.

For example, if your drug-testing policy specifies that an employee
will be given one chance to enter rehabilitation while still keeping
his job, then firing him without allowing him this chance can spurn a
lawsuit, Carr said.

Even if your drug testing policy allows for discretion on a
case-by-case basis, you may still be legally vulnerable, Carr said.

"Enforcement needs to be clearly and fairly done," she said. "You
can't just give infinite chances to supervisors but fire line workers."

How Companies Can Help

Steps every company can take to deal with addicted employees.

- - Recognize the existence and extent of addiction within the company.

- - Inform employees about the company's approach to addiction.

- - Create a company culture that supports treatment and recovery.

- - Balance discipline with the promise of treatment and recovery.

- -Inform employees about what they can do to help colleagues with addiction.

- -Make confidentiality and respect the core of the company's approach to
addiction.

- -Evaluate the company's efforts to handle addiction.

- -Make it easy for employees to access support for their sobriety.

- - Request health insurance coverage for treatment for addiction.

SOURCE: Department of Labor