Employers can easily get confused when they read advice concerning the best way to deal with detected drug or alcohol use in the workplace.

1. Responding to Positive Drug Tests
Employers can easily get confused when they read advice concerning the best way
to deal with detected drug or alcohol use in the
workplace. Does the employer immediately
terminate the worker? Should the employee be
allowed to go through multiple rehabilitation
programs? Should the worker be told to go home
and return the next day? When a fair dismissal is
supported by the facts, how does the employer
implement the dismissal policy with minimal
business disruption? These are the kind of
questions that continually arise as employers
attempt to fairly manage drug and alcohol
programs in a way that balances workplace safety
and health while promoting harm minimisation to worker lives.
As long as an employer uses rigorous and high-quality testing equipment and
adheres to appropriate collection procedures, they can rely on the results.
Additional appropriate safeguards include communicating clear cut-off points for
positive results to workers, ensuring procedures are clear about who will be told
final testing results, and developing a grievance and complaint process that
includes a process for challenging test results. 1 However, a well-developed set of
policies and procedures also addresses how positive tests will be managed from
that point forward. One of the important points to keep in mind is that the faith and
trust workers put into a drug and alcohol test program depends on administrative
consistency and uniform and fair application of consequences in response to
positive test results.
What Next?
The consequences of positive substance tests include temporary suspension,
mandatory re-testing, required counselling or completion of a rehabilitation
program, and termination. How consistently an employer responds to a positive
drug testing plays a major role in how seriously employees take the program and
how effective the program is in the end. Assuming an employee tests positive, what
are the appropriate responses?
First, the employer should always re-test the employee to verify the test result is
accurate. This supports the importance of using high-quality equipment that meets
Standards Australia requirements. It is important to be careful to avoid making
statements that can be misconstrued by the worker. For example, saying something
like, “I expected you would test positive,” instantly adds suspicion to the test
despite the verifiable results. Those kinds of statements can create a perspective
that the testing was done to “catch” a worker doing wrong.

2. If a worker has a positive re-test, the worker should be informed in a professional
manner what the next steps will be and the options offered by the employer based
on the policy. The worker should be asked to stay in a safe place in the workplace
until safe transportation home is arranged. An incident report should be completed
quickly while events are fresh in the manager’s mind and to ensure documentation
is completed. Upon consultation with Human Resources and top management, the
manager will recommend the next steps which are the “consequences” of using
substances in the workplace. Consequences are usually a combination of
disciplinary action and some form of rehabilitative action. Disciplinary actions can
include demotions, temporary suspensions, termination, or job reassignment when
appropriate.2 In jobs with high safety risks, allowing the employee to return to the
same position without rehabilitation is usually not an option.
Accountability and Fairness
Unfair dismissal claims brought by employees to Fair Work Australia are common.
Employers are held accountable for the wording of the policies and the
administration and communication of the policies. Policies and procedures must be
reasonable and fair. When an employee is dismissed, the employer must be able to
prove each step was completed and that the employee was not treated any
differently than any other employee who tests positive for drugs or alcohol.
CMM Technology (cmm.com.au) can help employers fulfill their responsibilities to
accurately and fairly administer drug and alcohol policies and procedures. CMM
Technology has a wide selection of testing supplies and equipment that are reliable,
accurate, and dependable.
This article has been taken from: http://www.cmm.com.au/articles/responding-topositive-drug-tests/