Drug Testing Policy
There are countries that allow the usage of drugs or consider drugs such as cocaine, cannabis/marijuana, heroin as a healing medicine. Thus, it is the responsibility of the government in cooperation with various health and safety organizations to provide a safe yet productive environment in which drugs can roam free.
In the corporate world, illegal drug-usage and drug-selling create a threat to the safety of employees and overall productivity of the company. The company must then make an effort to conduct scheduled and random drug testing to their employees. To protect the rights of the employees as well as to set parameters on the drug test, a drug testing policy should be created.
What is a drug testing policy?
A drug testing policy refers to a systematized principle, specifically created as a guide to the drug test procedure. Through a drug testing policy, proper implementation and investigation is conducted to make sure employees are free of illegal substances which can definitely affect not only a certain individual, but the image of an entire company.
A drug testing policy is tailored according to the company’s needs and employment policies. The goal of the drug test policy is to list down the procedures of the drug test and to create specific penalties for employees caught having illegal substances within their body systems.
Importance of a Drug Testing Policy
Here are some examples on the importance of creating a drug testing policy for your own company:
- Provides a clarity about drug testing issues or activities
- Explains the importance of a drug test
- Helps the employee understand the restrictions of drug-usage/selling
- Identifies the drug test rules
- Illustrates the purpose of a drug test
- Explains when and how a drug test will be conducted
- Serves as a warning and dismissal document
- Sets drug testing parameters for all employees including management
- Provides legal protection for both management and employees
Tips to Note When Writing a Drug Testing Policy
Learn the process of policy-making
Policy-making is the process of creating a constitution, standards, or set of guidelines and are commonly used in government and corporate entities. Here is an example of a policy-making process:
- Identify the problem. This answers questions like “what will cause this situation to arise?”, “who might cause this problem?”, “does the situation need need legal action?”, “will this problem affect the entire company?”, etc.
- Formulate a solution to the problem. List down an option in the policy where an investigation or forum is required to solve an issue, and the recommendation or solution will depend on the result of the investigation.
- Notarize the policy. This only works if you are government-based company or institution. Remember, the laws of each company is different from each other since they handle different clients and sell different products. But you can always have your policies notarized if a company issue requires legal court action.
- Amend the policy (if necessary). Amending a policy is important since the business climate changes constantly. Products, customer preferences, technology, government actions, and demographics all contribute to frequent changes in the business landscape.
Do some research on drug testing
By doing intensive research on the do’s and don’ts of drug testing, you can easily formulate a policy which will fit your company.
Do some strategic planning
Strategic planning defines the process of making the company’s goals, productivity and decision-making. In this case, do some long-term strategic planning for your drug testing policy. Strategic planning should answer these questions, “how will the policy affect the company’s goals?”, “can the policy eliminate the use of illegal drugs?” and “how will employees react to the policy?”
Get the right contacts
Contacts refer to the people who can influence or create the policy. It is usually the top management in partnership with human resource personnel who will create the policy, but you can also tap individuals specializing in health and medicine to assist.
Evaluate the interest of the contacts
Once the right contacts have been identified, know and understand the interests of the contacts. You want your contacts to provide valuable and specific information in the creation of your drug testing policy. You also want a build a relationship with them so that communication is constant especially if revisions need to be made.
Prepare an outline
Here is an example of a drug testing outline.
- List down goals the company wants to achieve during drug testing
- Identify the procedures of the drug testing policy
- List down the importance of having a drug test
- Identify all illegal drugs as well as their effects to the human body
- List down the consequences or penalties
You may also check:
Make sure the text can be easily understood
Make sure that the content is easily understood. Be specific and do not construct sentences or words that would lead to misinterpretation. Here is an example of a specific yet clear drug testing policy content: “The company prohibits the usage, possession and selling of illegal drugs or any medication without a proof of prescription from a licensed medical practitioner. This is applicable within the company premises at all times.”
List down consequences or penalties
All policies end with a list of consequences or penalties. The rule is simple, if an employee doesn’t abide in the company’s policies, then he or she should suffer the consequences.
In this case, using or selling illegal drugs within the company premises should a serious offense for any company. It does not only apply during employment, but in pre-employment as well. For example, mandatory drug testing should be part of the pre-employment process. If a candidate’s medical exam results to a positive usage in illegal drugs, he should be banned for applying in the company permanently. Also, companies should include in their policies that employees caught using or selling illegal drugs should be given heavy penalties with the option for dismissal depending on the gravity of the offence.
To know more about policies, you may also check the following:
We hope you found our article on how to write a drug testing policy to be informative. Using and selling illegal drugs within the company premises is a serious issue, so make sure you include heavy penalties and fees when making your drug testing policy.
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