POLICY
The dangers and costs associated with
drug and alcohol abuse (substance abuse) are significant and are manifested
in a number of ways. Substance abuse not only leads to decreased
productivity, it also leads to increased accidents, tardiness, absenteeism,
property damage, workers’ compensation costs, health insurance costs,
employee turnover, and employee theft. With this policy, The Healing
Lodge of the Seven Nations intends to provide a working environment
free of substance abuse and its attendant dangers and costs. This policy
applies to all employees of The Healing Lodge of the Seven Nations and
all applicants applying for such employment. Violation of any
portion of this policy may result in disciplinary action up to and including
termination, even for the first offense.
DEFINITIONS
As used throughout this policy, the following
terms have the following meaning:
Accident: An event
involving a company employee and/or company property while on working
time involving injury to or loss of human life, or damage to company
property exceeding $250.00,
or involving a driving citation for a moving traffic violation arising
out of an accident.
Alcohol:
The intoxicating agent in beverage alcohol, ethyl alcohol or other low
molecular weight alcohols including methyl and isopropyl alcohol.
Alcohol concentration (or
content): The alcohol in a volume of breath expressed in terms of
grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath as indicated by an evidential
breath test (EBT).
Collection site: A
place designated by The Healing Lodge of the Seven Nations where individuals
present themselves for the purpose of providing a specimen of their
urine subsequently to be analyzed at a laboratory for the presence of
drugs. For purposes of alcohol testing, collection site
means a place designated by the employer that conducts alcohol breath
testing with an evidential breath-testing device (EBT) defined herein.
Drugs: Drugs
covered by this policy include marijuana, cocaine, opiates, phencyclidine
and amphetamines.
Evidential breath testing
(EBT) device: A device approved by the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA) for the evidential testing of breath.
The device is found on the NHTSA’s “Conforming Products List of
Evidential Breath Measurement Devices” (CPL).
Medical review officer
(MRO): A licensed physician (medical doctor or doctor of osteopathy)
responsible for receiving laboratory results generated by an employer’s
drug testing program who has knowledge of substance abuse disorders
and has appropriate medical training to interpret and evaluate an individual’s
positive test result together with his or her medical history and any
other relevant biomedical information.
Nonprescription medication:
A drug or medication authorized under federal or state law for general
distribution and use without a prescription in the treatment of human
disease, ailments or injuries.
Positive alcohol test:
Scoring a breath alcohol concentration of 0.02 grams per liter or greater
on an EBT.
Positive drug test:
An employee urine specimen which has been tested by a United States
Department of Health and Human Services (DSHS) certified drug testing
laboratory, and has been determined to contain particular concentrations
of one or more of the drugs defined in this policy.
Prescription medication:
A drug or medication lawfully prescribed by a physician, or other health
care provider licensed to prescribe medication, for an individual and
taken in accordance with the prescription.
Random drug test:
The selection of employees to be tested shall be made by a scientifically
valid method such that each employee has an equal chance of being tested
each time selections are made. The company reserves the discretion to
determine what particular method of random selection will be applied
and the frequency with which random testing will be conducted.
Random tests will be unannounced.
Reasonable suspicion (R/S):
Specific, contemporaneous, articulable, observations concerning the
appearance, behavior, speech or body odors of an employee that leads
a company supervisor, manager or other company designated official to
reasonably conclude that an employee is in violation of one or more
of the prohibitions set forth in this policy.
Refusing to submit to
a substance abuse test, whether for drugs or alcohol or both:
Unwillingness to make oneself available for one or more of the substance
abuse tests identified in this policy; or altering, adulterating, diluting
or otherwise tampering with a specimen sample. Such action will
result in disciplinary action, up to and including immediate termination
of employment.
Verified positive drug
test: A positive drug test which has been reviewed and confirmed
as positive by a MRO in accordance with Guidelines promulgated by the
United States Department of Health and Human Services.
Work, working and on working
time: Either used together or independently throughout this
policy, means all time from the time an employee is scheduled to begin
work or is required to be in readiness to work (e.g., rest and meal
breaks) until the time he or she is relieved from work and all responsibility
for performing work, regardless of whether such work is performed at
one of the company’s places of business or elsewhere.
PROCEDURE
The manufacture, distribution,
dispensation, possession and use of, or having in your bodily system,
illegal drugs while on working time or on The Healing Lodge of the Seven
Nations premises is prohibited. Prescription or nonprescription
medications are not prohibited when taken in accordance with lawful
prescription or consistent with standard dosage recommendations.
A verified positive drug test is prima facie evidence of the use of
drugs and having illegal drugs in your bodily system. An employee
receiving a verified positive result will be subject to discipline,
up to and including immediate termination of employment.
The use of, consumption of,
or being under the influence of alcohol while on working time or on
The Healing Lodge of the Seven Nations premises is prohibited.
A positive alcohol test is prima facie evidence of being under the influence
of alcohol. Observations of an employee’s appearance and behavior
may also lead a supervisor to reasonably conclude that the employee
is under the influence of alcohol. Such observations include,
but are not limited to the following examples: breath alcohol odor,
swaying or staggering walk, bloodshot eyes, etc. An employee receiving
a verified positive result will be subject to discipline, up to and
including immediate termination of employment.
Refusal to submit to a substance
abuse test, whether for drugs or alcohol or both, including altering,
adulterating, diluting or otherwise tampering with or substituting a
specimen sample, is prohibited. Where an individual is found to
have refused to provide a sample; has altered, adulterated, or tampered
with a sample; or fails to provide a satisfactory medical reason for
the dilute state of the sample, the employee will be subject to discipline,
up to and including immediate termination of employment.
Employees may not report for
work while taking prescription medications unless the employee has been
assured by his or her physician that such usage will not impair the
individual’s ability to perform his or her job safely. In such
case, the employee must immediately report the name of the drug, its
possible side effects, and the name of his or her prescribing physician
to The Healing Lodge of the Seven Nations. Once this information is
provided, the manager will be able to determine which functions the
individual may safely perform while taking such medication. Violation
of this policy as well as misuse of any legally prescribed drug may
also subject an employee to disciplinary action, up to and including
immediate termination of employment.
Substance Testing
Job Applicants: All
job applicants are required to submit to a drug test after The Healing
Lodge of the Seven Nations has extended an offer of employment. The
Healing Lodge of the Seven Nations shall use a refusal to submit to
a drug test or a verified positive test as a basis for not hiring the
job applicant. The cost of applicant testing shall be borne by
the applicant.
Post-Accident: Upon
the occurrence of an accident which occurs while on working time, an
employee shall make himself/herself available to proceed to the nearest
specimen collection site as soon as practicable following the accident
to be tested for illegal drugs and alcohol.
Random Testing: Commencing
on May 1, 2003, The Healing Lodge of the Seven Nations shall engage
in random testing for drugs. Generally, random testing involves
the blind and random selection of a predetermined number of employees
for drug testing without notice. Because of the random nature
of selection, it is possible that an employee may be selected for random
testing two or more times while another employee may not be selected
at all over the same number of years. Upon notification to an
employee that such employee has been randomly selected to submit to
a drug test such employee shall, as soon as possible, proceed to the
nearest specimen collection site for such random test.
Reasonable Suspicion (R/S)
Testing: When a supervisor, manager or other designated company
official has reasonable suspicion to believe that an employee is in
violation of one or more prohibitions set forth in this policy, then
the employee will be notified that he or she must undergo a R/S drug
and/or alcohol test. The notified employee must make him/herself
immediately available to proceed to the nearest specimen collection
site.
Return to Duty Testing:
Where an employee has received a positive test result, he or she must
undergo a return-to-duty test and receive a negative result prior to
resuming employment, if the employer, at its discretion, allows such
resumption. The cost of any return to duty test shall be borne entirely
by the employee.
Collection Procedures
Required Samples: Tests
for drugs generally require a urine sample. Tests for Alcohol
generally require a breath sample.
Privacy: The collection
and testing procedure is designed to ensure, to the extent possible,
that individual dignity and privacy are preserved. As such, collection
will generally be performed in an unobserved, unobtrusive manner.
Situations Leading to Observed
Collection: As noted above, generally urine samples will be collected
in a manner preserving individual dignity and privacy to the greatest
degree. This policy will be modified, however, where concern for
sample integrity exists. Such circumstances include, but are not
limited to the existence of a previous adulterated, altered or tampered
with sample; a previous attempt to adulterate, alter or tamper with
a sample; a reasonable suspicion test; a previous positive result; or
a measurement thought to be inconsistent with a fresh voiding.
In such cases, the modified collection will include observed collection
wherein the individual is accompanied by a same sex medical professional
during provision of the sample.
Referral For Evaluation And
Last Chance Agreement
First-time Verified Positive
Test for Alcohol or Marijuana:
At its discretion, The Healing Lodge may not use a first-time verified
positive test for alcohol or marijuana as the basis for termination
of an employee where the employee opts to participate in a last chance
agreement. The last-chance agreement shall require an employee to:
Submit to a substance abuse
professional for evaluation of dependency, and to any alcohol or drug
testing recommended in conjunction with any recommended rehabilitation
program (referral shall be at the cost of the employee, to the extent
such services are not covered by health insurance);
Comply with any treatment
recommendations (treatment shall be at the cost of the employee after
referral by the substance abuse professional, to the extent not covered
by health insurance);
Be subject to follow-up drug
and alcohol testing for up to two years, at a frequency of at least
four times per year, unless entry into treatment was voluntary and not
the result of a verified positive drug or alcohol test;
Meet the same standards of
performance and conduct that are set for other employees; and
Authorize the employer to
receive all relevant information regarding the employee’s progress
and treatment, if applicable.
Treatment Program: When substance
abuse treatment is necessary, employees must use treatment services
approved by the employer which shall include a continuing care component
lasting for up to two years.
Treatment Facility to Monitor
Employee Compliance with Treatment Recommendations: The treatment facility
or program shall monitor the employee’s progress while in treatment,
including the continuing care component, and notify the employer when
an employee is not complying with the program’s treatment recommendations.
Failure to Comply as Cause
for Termination of Employment:
Failure to comply with all the terms of the last-chance agreement normally
will result in termination of employment.
The Healing Lodge may terminate
an individual’s employment for the following reasons:
Refusal to submit to a drug
or alcohol test;
A first verified positive
test result for Cocaine, Opiates, Phencyclidine and Amphetamines.
Refusal to agree or failure
to comply with the conditions of a last-chance agreement;
A second verified positive
drug or alcohol test result;
After the first verified positive
test for alcohol or marijuana, any violation of employer rules pertaining
to alcohol or drugs.
Confidentiality
The Healing Lodge of the Seven
Nations will make all reasonable efforts to maintain confidentiality
in dealing with matters involving an individual employee’s drug test,
test results and employee use of an employee assistance program.
Generally, only those managers, supervisors or other company designated
officials such as the Administrative Director who have a need to know
the information will have access to the same.
Release of information under
other circumstances will be made only by express written authorization
of the individual, entered into knowingly and voluntarily, unless release
is otherwise required by law.
The Healing
Lodge
Subject:
Substance Abuse
Section:
2.9
Adopted:
4-18-2003
Page:
of 5
Reference:
WAC 388-805-200
HUMAN RESOURCES MANUAL