This policy is drafted on the basis that the Company will be supportive to employees with drug and/or alcohol dependency issues, however, this is a matter for each employer to consider their own stance on. If you would like to discuss this policy, how it operates and how it can be tailored for your business, please speak to a member of our Employment Team.
Alcohol and Drugs Policy
The Company has a duty to protect the health, safety and welfare of all employees and is committed to providing a safe, healthy and productive working environment for all employees, customers and visitors. However, we recognise that, for a number of reasons, employees could develop alcohol or drug related problems.
You mustas soon as possible inform your Manager if you are prescribed or on any prescribed medication that may have an effect on your ability to carry out your work safely and you must follow any instructions subsequently given.
This policy aims to promote a responsible attitude to drink and drugs, and to offer support to those who may need it.
Support
It is our intention to deal constructively and sympathetically with an employee’s alcohol or drug related problems, such as alcohol or drug dependency. When it is known that an employee has an alcohol or drug problem, their Manager, as so far as possible, will be supportive and the primary objective of any discussions held will be to assist the employee with the problem in as compassionate and constructive a way as possible, including seeking advice and assistance from occupational health. Any discussions of the nature of an employee’s alcohol or drugs problems and the record of any treatment will be kept confidential unless the employee agrees otherwise. Absence for treatment or rehabilitation will be treated as any other sickness absence.
If you have an alcohol or drug problem, you should always seek appropriate help. If you notice a change in a colleague's pattern of behaviour you should encourage them to seek appropriate help. If they will not seek help themselves, you should draw the matter to the attention of your manager [or supervisor]. If you consider that deterioration in work performance and/or change in patterns of behaviour may be due to alcohol or drug abuse, you should seek advice and assistance from [the Company's occupational health advisers or] the HR department or refer the matter to your manager or supervisor.
If you have an alcohol or drug problem which affects your attendance, conduct or performance at work and you are not prepared to seek help or support, the matter may be referred for disciplinary action. Likewise, if after seeking assistance and support (and rehabilitation if appropriate), your attendance, conduct or work performance reverts to an unacceptable level, this may also result in disciplinary action being taken.
Prohibition on alcohol and drugs in the workplace
All employees are expected to arrive at work fit to carry out their jobs and to be able to perform their duties safely without any limitations due to the use or after effects of alcohol or drugs (whether prescribed, over the counter or illegal).
Alcoholic drinks or drugs must not be brought onto, stored or consumed on Company premises at any time, except where alcohol is consumed at a specifically approved Company function. You must not attempt to sell or give alcohol or drugs to any other employee or other person on our premises.
You must never drink alcohol or take drugs if you are required to drive private or company vehicles on Company business. If your job requires you to drive and you lose your licence, you may be unable to continue to do your job. Committing a drink driving offence outside or during working hours or while working for us may lead to disciplinary action which could result in your summary dismissal. [You must also not consume alcohol or take drugs when you are on operational standby or undertaking ‘on call’ duties, whether or not on Company premises.]
If you represent the Company at business or client functions or conferences or attend Company organised social events outside normal working hours you are expected to moderate alcohol consumption and take specific action to ensure you are well within the legal limits if you are driving. You are expressly prohibited from taking drugs on these occasions.
Disciplinary action will be taken against you if you breach these rules. Depending on the seriousness of the offence, it may amount to potential gross misconduct and could result in your summary dismissal. The Company reserves the right to arrange for you to be escorted from our premises immediately and sent home for the rest of the day [or shift]. If this happens, you have no right to be paid for the duration of your absence from work.
The Company reserves the right to conduct searches for alcohol or drugs, including but not limited to searches of [lockers, filing cabinets and desks and [insert details]]. Any alcohol or drugs found as a result of the search will be confiscated and disciplinary action may be taken against you which could result in your summary dismissal.
The Company also reserves the right to inform the police of any suspicion it may have with regard to the use of controlled drugs by any of its employees on its premises.
Alcohol and drug testing
If you intend to carry out drug screening upon employment or as a random programme of screening, please speak to our Employment Team to ensure you have a procedure in place which operates fairly and will enable you to fairly dismiss any employees who test positive for alcohol and/or drugs.
The Company reserves the right to make employment with the organisation subject to a drugs and alcohol test. Testing may also be carried out where we have reasonable grounds to believe or suspect that an employee is or may be under the influence of alcohol or drugs or whose activities and job duties are safety critical. Testing will be carried out only by qualified and competent personnel who will use reliable and accepted methods and who will ensure that tests are carried out with the least possible intrusion into your privacy. Measures will be put in place to ensure confidentiality of test results.
If you receive a positive test result, where there are safety issues involved this will be viewed as a potential gross misconduct offence and it could result in your summary dismissal. Alternatively, or in addition to disciplinary action taken which is short of dismissal, where you accept that you have a problem with alcohol or drug misuse and you are willing to obtain help, we may consider disciplinary sanction short of dismissal and/or suspend any ongoing disciplinary action against you pending the outcome of any treatment in which case disciplinary action may subsequently be suspended for a specified period, discontinued or continued.
Unreasonable refusal to submit to an alcohol or drug screening test may result in disciplinary action being taken against you and could result in your summary dismissal.
This policy is not contractual and it may be amended from time to time.
wh11366575v1 – Alcohol and Drugs Misuse Policy