Having a written policy in place is the single most important step in setting up your company's drug testing procedures. Work with your legal counsel to develop and implement a policy in accordance with applicable state laws. This will allow you to notify potential hires early in the application process and obtain their consent before testing.
To help maintain confidentiality, collect samples in a private and unobtrusive manner and discuss positive test results and consequences with the employee in private.
Understand your drug testing options 1 Random drug testing is conducted unannounced on all current employees or a class of employees (e.g., employees who drive for company business) and provides the best deterrent against drug use because nobody knows when he or she will be tested. The downside of random testing is that it can create feelings of fear and mistrust within the workplace. 2 Reasonable-suspicion testing is conducted when an employee exhibits behavior that leads you to suspect illicit drug use or possibly after an accident occurs. Having a written policy which clearly defines what constitutes suspicious behavior or accidents can help avoid claims of discrimination. Reasonable-suspicion testing also helps you avoid creating a "Big Brother" atmosphere in the workplace and reduces costs by only testing those employees deemed suspicious.
Reasonable-suspicion testing also helps you avoid creating a "Big Brother" atmosphere in the workplace and reduces costs by only testing those employees deemed suspicious.
The downside of random testing is that it can create feelings of fear and mistrust within the workplace.
To avoid claims of discrimination, all applicants who have been extended an offer of employment should be subject to testing. If you test only the applicants deemed suspicious, it may be construed as singling out people based on race, gender, or other protected status.
Pre-employment testing is considered the most legally valid form of drug testing and should be conducted on all applicants as part of the screening process. However, the test should be requested and administered only after a conditional offer of employment has been made. According to the Americans With Disabilities Act, it is illegal for any employer to test a job applicant without first making a contingent offer.
(1) To obtain an Antidrug and Alcohol Misuse Prevention Program Operations Specification, you must contact your FAA Principal Operations Inspector or Principal Maintenance Inspector. Provide him/her with the following information:
Contact the Drug Abatement Division at FAA, Office of Aerospace Medicine, Drug Abatement Division (AAM-800), 800 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20591. (4) An air traffic control facility not operated by the FAA or by or under contract to the U.S. Military.
For a substance abuse testing program to be successful, it must be well-understood by workers and those who supervise them. Overall responsibility for training should rest with a manager, who becomes known as the Designated Employer Representative (DER). Within most organizations, this responsibility is typically assigned to either the human resources manager or the safety manager.
Pre-employment testing is self-explanatory: employees are required to obtain a test after being hired and before their start date.
Under the DOT requirements, each employer is required to have a sufficient number of supervisors who have received this training. Rather than simply comply with the minimum requirements, it makes sense to provide this training to all supervisory-level personnel who have direct contact with employees each day. Sharing this knowledge will improve everyone’s ability to identify employees with problems and ensure consistent responses across the organization.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has developed an excellent standard for employee testing program that is spelled out in 49 CFR Part 40.
Requiring such training every three years will be sufficient for most organizations.
If your employees are unionized, it’s likely that their union will already have an excellent program in place. Most unions recognized early on that requiring drug testing programs for their members offered another way to present those members as a superior choice for employers and strengthen the unions’ reputations.
In some organizations, a single positive test is cause for immediate termination. Others may prefer an initial warning or suspension with a follow-up test within a certain interval. Still others may allow employees to remain with the organization only if they agree to participate in an employee assistance program (EAP).
When you implement a drug testing policy for your company, you must clearly define the company’s next move when someone tests positive for illegal drugs. Your failure to make this a part of your program can be legally problematic to say the least.
Also called Substance Abuse Supervisor Training, this training helps to make your supervisors aware of the common signs and behaviors associated with prohibited drugs and alcohol abuse. This training also makes supervisors learn about actions of possible drug abusers, how to legally document their observation, and how to confront employees who appear to have drug problems.
No company or organization can install a drug testing program if it isn’t willing to comply with federal, state and local laws, and there is no time like the present. To get an idea how it may be organized, look into the employee drug testing program developed by the U.S. Department of Transportation. It is clearly stated in Rule 49 CFR Part 40 of the DOT.
But if your company is already doing random and post-event testing, annual testing may no longer be necessary.