Last updated : November 11, 2024
The workplace is meant to be a safe place for all employees. The workplace is also meant to be a place where employees give their undivided attention to their employer. However, an employee who comes to work drunk or high is violating both of those tenets.
What Are The Risks Of Being High or Drunk At Work?
If an employee comes to work after a night smoking marijuana or cocaine, that employees could still be feeling the effects of the drug. At best, the worker is going to be sluggish, irritable and slower at taking direction.
At worst, impaired workers can be a danger to themselves and others. Hallucinogenic drugs can make people paranoid or see things that don’t exist. An employee still high on that type of drug could think that a colleague wants him dead and may take action to make sure that doesn’t happen.
By implementing a drug policy, workers are deterred from coming to work when they are high or drunk because they won’t want to potentially get sent home or lose their jobs completely.
The Consequences Of Not Having A Drug Policy At Work
Without a drug policy, employers who take action against employees who show up to work impaired may face a lawsuit. Although an employer may be able to take action based on a secondary offense such as insubordination, coming to work late or threatening another employee, that worker cannot be fired simply for showing up to work reeking of alcohol.
Therefore, all employers should have some sort of drug policy to give themselves a legal way to deal with those who decide to come to work when not sober. Employers should also consider that they may face lawsuits from other employees if the problem worker is not dealt with.
In some cases, other workers could sue on the grounds that they are being forced to work in a hostile environment. This makes a drug policy worth implementing to avoid facing multiple lawsuits over this issue.
Strategies For Becoming A Drug Free Workplace
The best way to ensure that everyone is on board with eradicating drugs from the workplace is to aggressively enforce a culture change. Any employee who is caught using drugs at work, coming in to work under the influence or tests positive for drugs should be immediately sent home and suspended for the rest of the week.
When the employee returns to work, the only two options available should be rehab or termination. This will prove to all the workers that the company is serious about dealing with any drug problems that exist in the workplace.
Finally, it is imperative that a fair drug testing system is implemented. It is also important that penalties are applied equally to everyone. Doing so will ensure that you don’t have any legal issues or morale issues from those who think that certain employees may be taking sham tests.
Employees should not be coming to work under the influence of drugs or alcohol. If they are, they need to be dealt with quickly. Although you want to help employees who are dealing with drug issues, the focus needs to be on the employees who come to work clean and ready to give their all each and every day. They don’t deserve to work in a hostile environment.
