Human Resources Employees Suffering From

Human Resources

Employees Suffering from Drug and Alcohol Abuse Policy

Drug and alcohol abuse is not a new problem in our society. During various times throughout history there have been movements to address substance abuse and its effects. The issue of drug and alcohol abuse in the workplace has traditionally been met by a dismissive attitude. It has often been reacted to by trying to sweep the problem under the carpet, based more on moral precepts than a concern for the health issues involved. Yet, drug and alcohol abuse is coming to be much more widely understood as being harmful to both companies and workers (Drug and alcohol abuse - an important workplace issue, 2009).

A company's policy should be to employ a workforce that is free from the use of illegal drugs and abuse of alcohol. Any employee that is determined to be in violation of this policy would be subject to disciplinary action, which may include termination. In order to maintain the standard of a drug free workplace companies are employing several different polices. An employee that reports to work visibly impaired and unable to perform their job functions are not allowed to work. If after meeting with the employee the supervisor determines that their indeed is substance abuse, the employee is sent home (Klingner and O'Neil, 1991).

Companies are implementing and maintaining Employee Assistance Programs which provide help to employees and their families who suffer from alcohol or drug abuse. Through this program the companies are providing appropriate assessment, referral to treatment, and treatment of drug and alcohol abuse. Employees are often granted leave with a conditional return to work depending on the success of their treatment program. A condition of their return is often that they must be willing to submit to random drug tests (Klingner and O'Neil, 1991).

Random drug screens for current employees are put into place to identify employees who use illegal drugs or alcohol, either one or off the job. Companies are making it a condition of employment to submit to a drug screen when:

there is reasonable suspicion to believe that an employee is using or has used illegal drugs or alcohol there has been a mishap or accident involving the employee in which persons were injured or equipment was damaged upon return from extensive leaves of absences (Klingner and O'Neil, 1991).

Companies are also implanting pre-employment drug screens that are designed to prevent the hiring of individuals who use illegal drugs or individuals whose use of illegal drugs indicates a potential for impaired or unsafe job performance. By not hiring these people from the beginning the company is preventing a lot of problems that are sure to occur in the future (Klingner and O'Neil, 1991).

No company is immune to drug abuse in the workplace. Recognition is essential, and rehabilitation of abusers is important to help errant employees. Prevention is achieved by having a policy that does not tolerate drug use or abuse. Considering the implementation of a drug testing program in order to prevent drug abuse in an office, will only help everyone involved (Workplace drug abuse: Your practice is not immune, 2008).