State Laws & Drugs In The Workplace

Don’t Fall Foul Of State Laws With Drugs In The Workplace

Businesses that do not report illegal drug use of their employees could get into trouble. You can help prevent this by establishing a no-drug zone in the workplace, identifying employees who may have a drug addiction, and how to get the proper help for these employees. This could also apply to workers with substance abuse of legal drugs, such as alcohol.

No Drugs in the Workplace

This must be established with all employees right before they’re hired. It’s not only for legal reasons but also for the safety of your laborers. You don’t have to be a “mean” boss about this; you can still be nice and understanding. However, it’s essential that you firmly enact this rule. One way to help emphasize this is by making “No Drugs” signs and hanging them around the workplace. Make sure to say that drugs can’t be done anywhere on the property. This includes both indoors and outdoors. To assist in preventing any drug use on the premises, install surveillance cameras in and around the company. If you must, hire a security guard to watch the cameras. Once an employee is caught doing drugs on the premises, deal with them properly. This could be a warning or a termination, depending on your company and the circumstances.

How to Identify Employees with Drug Abuse

Even if employees use drugs away from work, it can still have a negative impact on their work ethic. Some ways to tell if a worker is dealing with drug addiction include:

• Constantly being late to work
• Many excuses for not completing assignments or missing deadlines.
• Sudden loss or gain of weight.
• Financial issues.
• Too many sick leaves.
• Completed tasks that are poorly done.
• Slacking off on grooming and personal hygiene.
• Breaks that take longer than they should.
• Unforeseen changes in attitude.
• Careless behavior towards assignments.
• Accidents during work.

Some of these could be a result of stress in the individual’s life. It may not automatically mean that they are doing drugs. Regardless, keep an eye out for these symptoms.

Seeking Help for Your Employee

It’s important that the employer steps in to help an employee if they are displaying many of the red flags above. This is affecting their work as well as other employees and the company as a whole. Make sure they openly admit that they are doing drugs unless you’ve caught them doing drugs before. Send them to an Employee Assistance Program. Make yourself aware of the different types of help available for drug abuse, like inpatient and outpatient programs from rehab facilities.

An employee’s drug addiction affects them, their coworkers, and your business. Having a meeting with your employees and make it clear to them that illegal drugs are not allowed at work. Then, establish this with future employees. Recognize the signs of substance abuse by an employee. Once they’ve been identified as a drug user outside of work, then send them to the proper help. These steps will both help protect your employees as well as assist in keeping your business on the right side of the law.