When an employee is working under the influence of alcohol or drugs, their performance may be diminished, they may be more prone to error and the odds of them being involved in a workplace accident or injury increase.
Substance abuse can also lead to attendance issues and decreased morale, impacting the productivity of your entire team.
To prevent drugs and alcohol from affecting your workplace, it’s important to train supervisors and managers on:
- How to spot behavior that might indicate inebriation or addiction
- Their role in enforcing the organization’s drug and alcohol policy
- How to document issues related to performance and conduct in an objective and concise way
- How to counsel employees in a confidential and caring manner so they feel supported and are aware of any employee assistance program (EAP) resources that may be available
- Federal, state and local labor laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Family and Medical Leave Act and National Labor Relations Act.
SAMHSA recommendations
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services, provides guidance on developing substance abuse training for supervisors. Its primary goal is to help supervisors understand their role in enforcing the organization’s drug and alcohol policy.
SAMHSA’s suggestions for building out a comprehensive supervisor training program include:
- Educating supervisors and managers on the organization’s drug-free workplace policy. Make sure they aren’t just reading the policy. They should understand its practical impact and be committed to enforcing it.
- Making sure they are aware of any collective bargaining agreement or federal, state or local law concerning prescription drug use that may apply.
- Teaching them to spot questionable conduct. Supervisors and managers are often an organization’s first line of defense when it comes to performance and attendance issues. Therefore, they need to know how to recognize questionable behavior as it comes up so the situation doesn’t morph into a serious problem that jeopardizes workplace safety or productivity. This includes going over scenarios that illustrate:
- Changes in performance or attendance
- Changes in appearance
- Changes in attitude or mood swings
- Withdrawing from interactions with coworkers, customers or clients
- Sleeping on the job
- Inability to concentrate
- Getting defensive when questioned
- Training them on how to draft objective, detailed and iron-clad employee documentation to identify performance and conduct issues. In cases of substance abuse, an employee may habitually call out sick, arrive late to work or leave work early without advance notice. It’s important to impress upon supervisors and managers that the key is to focus on workplace policies and standards that aren’t being followed (for example, if the employee handbook requires employees to notify their supervisor in advance if they will be late to work). Also, educate managers on why they should avoid inserting opinions or making conclusory statements in their notes. Their job is to document the facts.
- Evaluating how well their documentation stands up to critique. This includes whether the documentation:
- Addresses the employee’s strengths
- Specifically describes the job performance or conduct issue
- Has been provided to the employee, so it’s not a surprise that they’re being written up
- Discusses (and describes) performance expectations
- Specifies how to rectify performance or attendance issues
- Outlines how to go about getting an EAP referral should they decide to seek help
- Identifies time frames for:
- Improving performance once the employee is on notice that there’s an issue
- A follow-up meeting to discuss progress
- Making sure they don’t sweep concerning behavior under the rug or make excuses for misconduct. If an employee has a conduct or performance issue that could be related to substance abuse, the supervisor could reach out to an EAP for direction. The program can help guide them in conducting a constructive assessment of the situation.
- Training supervisors on how to act in a caring and supportive manner when an employee is assimilating back to work following a period of recovery. Recovery from substance use issues may have ups and downs, and the ability to maintain sobriety can be improved if the employee feels a connection to their supervisor.
While these are the core recommendations that should be addressed in any training program, SAMHSA notes that a successful program should be customized to fit the unique characteristics of your workplace and employees.
Address ADA-related issues in the training
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) outlines some key points about the ADA that supervisors and managers should be aware of as they navigate substance abuse in the workplace. For instance, be sure to train supervisors and managers on the following information:
- It’s perfectly legal to hold employees with substance use issues to the same performance and conduct standards as other employees. “Poor job performance or unsatisfactory behavior — such as absenteeism, tardiness, insubordination, or on-the-job accidents — related to an employee’s alcoholism or illegal use of drugs need not be tolerated if similar performance or conduct would not be acceptable for other employees,” the EEOC notes.
- It’s an ADA violation to reprimand an employee with an addiction for being late when their tardiness is comparable to other workers who do not suffer from addiction, and there is no direct evidence linking their attendance issues to their addiction. This underscores the importance of ensuring supervisors don’t hold certain employees to a higher standard than similarly situated employees.
- The ADA permits discipline for violations of workplace policies barring illegal drug use and alcohol in the workplace. Still, discipline must be administered evenhandedly with respect to all employees who commit the same or similar infractions.
- It’s acceptable to suggest an employee reach out to an EAP in lieu of or in addition to discipline. However, employers are not required to provide EAPs or offer rehabilitation in lieu of discipline. If a supervisor settles on discipline only, that is permissible.
- If an employee discloses for the first time during a reprimand that they have a drug or alcohol problem, the discipline still stands if they’ve violated “a uniformly-applied conduct rule.” If termination is warranted for the offense, there’s no need for a supervisor to further discuss their purported disability or any request for accommodation they may make. The ADA does not cover cases where employee misconduct is due to illegal drug use.
- If the poor performance or conduct is attributed to alcoholism, a reasonable accommodation may be owed, so long as the employee hasn’t committed an immediately terminable offense.
- Supervisors are not required to offer last chances to employees with an alcohol or drug addiction when the misconduct is a direct result of their addiction.
It’s important to thoroughly train supervisors and managers on these parameters to ensure ADA compliance. It’s equally important to educate them on other state or local laws that may afford greater protections to employees. The bottom line: Give supervisors and managers real-life examples of the actions they may take when dealing with an employee they suspect is abusing drugs or alcohol. Teach them about the specific laws that apply to your organization and industry and what they need to do to comply.
Determine if reasonable suspicion training is required by law
Certain industries must conduct reasonable suspicion training for supervisors who manage employees in safety-sensitive roles. This training teaches supervisors to identify signs and circumstances that may indicate drug and alcohol abuse. Industries subject to reasonable suspicion training include, for example, those subject to Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations.
J.J. Keller & Associates, a workplace safety training company, recommends that training covers:
- How applicable regulations may impact reasonable suspicion testing
- How to spot signs of on-the-job alcohol and drug use
- How to proceed at each of the five stages of the reasonable suspicion process (observation, confirmation, documentation, confrontation and testing)
Many of the concepts covered in mandatory DOT training may be useful for organizations outside of covered industries, too. Consider referring to reasonable suspicion training when training supervisors and managers on evaluating whether they have reasonable grounds for suspecting someone of drug or alcohol use on the job.
Supervisors walk a fine line
You want supervisors and managers to be able to confidently address situations where they suspect an employee is abusing drugs or alcohol. But you don’t want them going rogue and making determinations that aren’t backed up by objective facts.
When all the training is said and done, regularly remind supervisors and managers of the importance of maintaining detailed, objective records. And make sure they aren’t rushing to judgment or disciplinary action simply because an employee is acting as though they may be impaired.
Help them understand what they can and can’t say to coworkers about an employee suspected of being impaired on the job. Supervisors should address these concerns directly with the employee in question in a private setting.
Finally, remind supervisors and managers to apply policies in a fair and evenhanded manner. If a supervisor singles out one employee over suspected substance abuse but not others exhibiting the same behaviors or infractions, they could expose the organization to a discrimination claim. Let them know that human resources (HR) and legal counsel are available to help, so they don’t feel the need to navigate these murky issues alone. The sooner HR knows about a situation involving suspected substance abuse, the better.
Contact us
For more information on training supervisors and managers how to respond to substance abuse in the workplace, reach out to our Human Resources Consulting team.
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