According to federal law, drug testing by employers is required in certain industries that are sensitive to safety like transportation and aviation, etc. The requirements for testing drug usage in California are analyzed in this article.

 The main kinds of drug tests required in California:

• The most common test is the urine drug test
• Saliva drug test
• Hair test
• Blood drug test

Drug Test for forthcoming employees

One of the terms and conditions for the future employees can be drug testing, according to some cases in California court.

The employers can do drug testing on every applicant according to the type of job. However, the employer should not be biased at all while doing this testing. The race and disability of the employees can be the basis of this discrimination.

Drug Testing for employees in California

While legalizing drug testing, the courts in California face two problems. The first issue is the reason the drug test is performed and the second is the privacy of the drug test results.

A solid argument offered by the employees is that drug testing is not needed by an employer as they can check their work history to evaluate their productivity.

 An employer can legally conduct drug testing if he is convinced about the use of drugs by an employee, but he must have various facts to support his suspicion.

Though casual testing can cause many disagreements, the courts of California have permitted haphazard testing, particularly for safety-sensitive jobs.

Drug Testing in the Transportation Industry

The federal and state laws have imposed strict regulations for drug testing on the employees and operators of commercial transport systems. Individual employees and operators will have to face penalties if they fail to follow these laws.

Drug Abuse and Disability Discrimination 

Any protection to the people presently using drugs is not provided by the Act of California Fair Employment and Housing or FEHA and Federal Americans with Disability Act or ADA. However, those who abused drugs previously, but are not using drugs after successful rehabilitation, are protected by these laws.

Proposition 215 of California

This act, also known as the Act for Compassionate Use, allows:

• Acquisition and use of medical marijuana
• No prosecution for physicians
• No criminal prosecution for patients using medical marijuana

Though the above permissions are granted still, according to the argument of the California Supreme Court, the employers are permitted to reject employment for possible employees if their marijuana test is positive because this drug can cause disability. Overall, employers can drug test employees by California law. However, testing can be limited by very specific and limited conditions. For example, employers in the private or public sector can conduct drug testing randomly for security or safety-related jobs. Before asking the existing or prospective employees for a drug test the employer should meet the requirements of drug testing laws.

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As an employer, it is your duty to deal with intoxication in the workplace You have a duty to provide a safe workplace for your employees and anyone else who interacts with them. This means that if your employee reports to work while drunk or under the influence of drugs you should deal with him or her accordingly.

What Should I Do?

The first thing you should do in such a situation is to relieve the employee his or her duties. If the employee is apparently under the influence of some kind of substances such as alcohol, marijuana or other drugs you should ensure that the employee does not continue working.

This is mainly because working under the influence of some substances can endanger the other employees. This can also because intoxication in the workplace can cause a lot of problems and many things can go wrong.

After relieving the employee his or her duty you should then take the employee into a private room. This is because such things need to be dealt with privately, away from the other employee and your clients. You should then inform the employee that you suspect that he or she is under the influence of some substance. If the employee admits it, then you have the right to terminate him or her. But you should establish the reason why the employee is intoxicated. This is because an employee might have used a substance that was described to be legal but causes someone to be intoxicated.

What If They Deny Intoxication in the Workplace?

In case the employee does not admit to being intoxicated you can subject him or her to a drug test. If you smell alcohol on his or her breath or smell the aroma of marijuana or see the employee has bloodshot eyes or see other signs of being intoxicated you should subject the employee to a drug test.

If the employee fails the drug test you also have reasons to terminate him or her. There are simple drug tests which can be done in workplaces without having to hire an expert. However, some drug tests need to be done by professionals, so that they can produce accurate results.

What If I Don’t Want to Fire Them?

Instead of terminating an employee you can also take the employee into a rehabilitation center. For this to happen the employee must agree that he or she has a drug problem. There are various programs that can deal with such issues, even while the employee is still working.

Some programs require that the employee should stop working for a certain period so you can be rehabilitated properly. If the employee is committed to the rehabilitation program, then the problem can be dealt with effectively. Therefore, through following the outlined guidelines you can effectively deal with intoxication in the workplace if it should occur.

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There are several organizations who suspect that their employees and workers are working under the influence or there is intoxication in the workplace. Now the question remains, how to handle this situation when you are suspecting your employees to be working under the influence at work?

What to Do

Under such circumstances when you suspect intoxication in the workplace, you must send the concerned employee a notice to meet the supervisor to find out whether the suspicion is true. Before taking this step, you should document the facts like slurred speech, the odor of alcohol, balance problems, bloodshot eyes etc. to show why you suspect intoxication in the workplace.

You can also involve a trained observer such as a Supervisor or a law enforcement officer to observe the employee and determine the truth. In the case that the employee is under the influence of the controlled substance, then the trained observer has to establish the “reasonable suspicion” after a careful visual examination.

Lawful Searches

A lawful search can also be an option, with the employee’s consent. You can also ask the employee directly whether he/she works under the influence at work. If the employee replies “yes”, then you need to ask them what they have ingested.

The statement of the suspected employee is to be documented. In case the employee disagrees to this request, then you have the right to ask the employee to undergo an alcohol or drug test which would help to disapprove your suspicion.

Drug Testing

In case the employee declines to take this alcohol or drug testing, then you have to document the incident and place the employee on administrative leave. Also, the employer should be arranging a transportation to get the employee back home. Under such circumstances, the employer or the management should not allow the employee to drive back home.

A breath test is the least intrusive test for alcohol. In case the suspicion is for the controlled substances, then the least intrusive test is urinalysis.

The further step after it has been proved that the employee has worked under intoxication in the workplace is that the concerned employee can be given reasonable corrective directions that will effectively prevent similar or same conduct in the near future during the tenure of the employee’s work in the organization.

A written warning is to be given to the employee that he or she would be required to submit an alcohol or drug testing in the event of similar conduct in future. Also, the concerned employee has to be observed at work for the next few days/months so that you may ensure that similar conduct is not repeated again.

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