By Swan Khanna-Salehi, LISW, LICDC, CEAP, SAP, Ease@Work Clinical Manager 

A drug-free workplace is an expectation of every organization and the right of every employee.  The degree to which an organization makes efforts to assure a drug-free workplace varies significantly.  In some cases, the organization assumes that their employees are not abusing drugs on the job and figures that their managers would be able to identify substance abusing  employees. This is probably the most common reason that I hear from organizations that do not have a formal drug-free workplace program. 

If this is the case in your organization, consider this question.  Do you utilize hair testing for pre-employment drug testing?  Wouldn’t a casual drug user stop using while job hunting?  If they were smart they would.  You hire smart employees don’t you?  According to Omega Laboratories, Inc. the typical detection window for urine testing is 2-3 days.  THC, the active drug in marijuana, is the one major exception which can be detected in urine for up to 20 days.  How long is the average job search?  Longer than 20 days?  Even if you are utilizing pre-employment drug testing, only the more expensive hair test will detect illicit drug use for up to 90 days. 

You want to be sure you do not hire substance abusers, but pre-employment testing is only one element in establishing a drug free workplace.  It is also important to discourage the abuse of drugs and alcohol among your current employees with random drug testing.  The less expensive option of urine testing is effective here because of the element of surprise. 

Your EAP is a very important component of any drug free workplace and there are several ways your drug-free workplace program should be benefiting from your EAP.  Even if you do not drug test at all, your EAP can help to reduce the incidence of substance abuse in the workplace in a number of ways.

• Drug free workplace policy: Your EAP can review your drug free policy to ensure that it is effective and can help you to establish one if you do not currently have such a policy. 
• Employee education: Employees need to be told what substance abuse is and that the company does not allow it.  The policy makes this official, but you should have your EAP spend at least an hour per year providing substance abuse education to your employees.  Questions about prescription drugs are among the most common at these employee trainings.  Can a prescription drug generate a legitimate positive drug test?  Yes!  An out-of-date prescription will not overturn a positive drug test.  If an employee is prescribed a pain medication for an injury that resolves before the prescription is finished, they might keep the remainder “just in case.”   Is it safe to take that medication several months later?  Maybe, but maybe not.  It is possible that this employee may have had changes in their diet or health that may cause a different reaction than what they experienced when the prescription was current.  A more serious complication could be caused by an adverse drug interaction with a new prescription, over-the-counter drug or herbal remedy. 
• Supervisor education: According to the article “Bad habits on campus: how to deal with staff and faculty who are addicts , ” in the July 1, 2008 issue of University Business, “Issues of discrimination or retaliation will pop up when supervisors or managers act as unlicensed Psychiatrists.”  According to Alan Cohn, LISW and director of faculty, staff and employee relations at the University of Virginia it is “a liability, a legal issue” for a supervisor to jump to the wrong conclusion about drug abuse.  A well trained supervisor is better prepared to identify and deal with a substance abusing employee.  They will also have more confidence when dealing with reasonable suspicion.  One thing that supervisors learn from our supervisor education sessions is that they can call us at any time, 24/7 for a management consultation with a counselor to discuss a difficult employee issue whether it pertains to substance abuse,   psychological change or any other employee behavioral issue. 
• A confidential, no-cost solution for employees: Perhaps the most important way your organization should be benefiting from an EAP is by giving your employees the means to get help on their own.  Many substance abusers want to be freed from an addiction but do not know where to turn.  Even if you have a “last chance agreement” policy, fear is still a significant barrier to approaching management about substance abuse.  An EAP will make any workplace safer because of this feature, but a workplace with random drug testing will benefit in multiples from the EAP because the random testing provides significant additional motivation to seek help.

BWC Discounts: According to Ease@Work Sales Manager Patrick Gaul, the majority of calls to Ease@Work for information about substance abuse related services used to be from businesses interested in discounts from the Ohio BWC.  The BWC DFWP program was an especially good incentive when they used to encourage all businesses to participate in the program by offering discounts from 10-20% for establishing a Drug Free Workplace Program that met their standards.  As of last year the Ohio BWC took this incentive away from thousands of Ohio companies by disqualifying those which   already receive another discount, including a group rating.  Apparently there are more changes in the works.  According to an email update that Patrick received from Advocare, Inc., a Cleveland-based group health and workers’ compensation managed care organization, “It is very likely a new drug-free safety program will replace the existing Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation’s (BWC) program by July 1, 2010.”  The update went on to say that the potential changes are a mixture of good news and bad for DFWP companies.  For example they are considering elimination of the stacking rule, but only for companies at the advanced level which requires random testing of 25% of the workforce.  They are also considering elimination of the 5 year limit for the discount program, but the discounts will be reduced to 4-7%.  If you would like to receive industry updates from Advocare, you can reach them at www.advocare-inc.com.