Is Your Workplace Recovery Ready?

There are over 23 million Americans in recovery from substance abuse. Because many individuals choose to experience their recovery privately, it is important for every workplace to establish a culture and systems designed to support those in recovery. Not only are those in recovery a valuable asset to your workplace, but your workplace can serve as a valuable asset to their recovery. Additionally, many accommodations are required by the Americans with Disabilities Act. The most important step any employer can take to generate a recovery ready workplace is to eliminate all drug and alcohol use or distribution. Beyond that, follow these steps to support those in recovery: Provide Time: If an individual asks for time away from their immediate work duties for a recovery or wellness related activity (counseling, meetings, yoga, in-patient care, etc), provide it without any difficulty, consequences or questions asked. They are not asking for “time off.” The time spent at these types of activities will ultimately increase your employee’s productivity, not decrease it. Reduce Stress: Any steps you can take to reduce workplace stress will serve ALL employees, including those in recovery. There are many obvious stress reducing changes such as relaxing deadlines, quotas or work schedules. But there may be some less obvious changes that are unique to each place of employment , such as: increasing parking, adding a gym, or having a daycare. Find out what stressors exist in your workplace and take steps to eliminate them. Support a Clean Culture: Does your company’s social culture revolve around getting a beer after work? Is there alcohol at company functions and parties? It’s very...

New Year’s Policy Purge

Is your Policy Handbook getting a little thick? When I’m asked to rewrite a company’s substance free workplace policy and they provide me with a handbook that is already 40 pages long, I start to feel a little guilty because I know that I am about to add at least a page or two. Then when I find the existing drug and alcohol policy right after the “Microwave and Coffee Machine Policy,” the guilt is quickly replaced by concern. It seems quite likely that the very important policy I am about to write will just get lost in the shuffle. You frequently add new policy, but how often do you purge the old? Here are some simple guidelines to follow when editing down your company policies: Is it a priority? If a policy doesn’t function to directly support the company’s profit, mission or culture, it probably doesn’t rise to “policy” status. Although parking may be of significant practical concern, it may not be policy-worthy. Another example may be a dress code policy. In some businesses, the manner in which the employees dress can very directly affect the company’s profit or culture, but in others it is less important. The first step in prioritizing your policies is to make sure that your business has a clearly defined mission, culture and path to profitability. Is it enforceable? To successfully implement a policy, there has to be explicit language regarding its enforceability. This language includes determining the ownership/responsibility of enforcing the policy and the consequences of not following the policy. Keep in mind that consequences are not necessarily punitive. You may have...

Stop Asking Too Much of HR

Don’t compromise the success of your substance free workplace program by asking too much of Human Resources. Often the most overtaxed and under-appreciated department in a company, human resources should not bear the sole burden of creating and implementing a substance free workplace program. On the other hand, a successful substance free workplace program will benefit HR by reducing disciplinary problems, reducing on the job injuries/accidents/incidents, and reducing employee turnover. Help HR experience the benefits of a substance free workplace without an unnecessary burden by following these guidelines. Outsource Trying to develop and implement a substance free workplace program entirely in-house is unnecessary and often inappropriate. There are aspects of a substance free workplace program that should always be handled by an outside company, including the drug and alcohol testing and any random drug test selections. Most of the other components (policy development, written procedures, supervisor and employee trainings, etc) are easily outsourced, as well. This isn’t to say that HR won’t be integral to the process, but they don’t need to do the time consuming work of putting policy to paper. They also can’t be expected to acquire the expertise necessary to create an effective, practical and legal policy. HR should bring the “big picture” perspective, ensuring that the policies and procedures: 1) reflect the company’s culture and values, 2) respect their employees, 3) fit with day to day operations. Let a substance free workplace professional handle the tedious details. Train the supervisors How often do supervisors answer policy related questions with, “that’s a question for HR?” As little as two hours of supervisor training on the front...

Drug Testing is NOT the Solution

Imagine a school where the students are only told what is going to be on the test and then given the test. They aren’t taught about the material, there isn’t anybody who intervenes if they are struggling with it, and they don’t know where to go for extra help. Would you be surprised if many of them failed the test? This scenario is analogous to a business with a stand-alone drug testing program, and yet many of these businesses are surprised when they aren’t achieving the desired results. Here are a few of the reasons why just implementing drug testing is not a solution. Drug testing may keep drugs out, but it won’t keep employees in. Even if drug testing alone could keep substance abusers out of the workplace, it won’t help keep good employees in. If your drug testing program consists entirely of testing employees and then terminating those who do not pass, you might as well install a revolving door. A zero tolerance drug testing program shuffles off good employees who may have benefited from prevention or early intervention. It’s a disservice to your employees to focus your efforts on catching them when they fail. If an employee fails a drug test, you may have missed the boat, especially if it is a post-accident or reasonable suspicion drug test. Once the accident has happened, or an individual is showing up to work impaired, the safety of the workplace has already been compromised. An effective substance free workplace program will give employees the ability to self-refer and give supervisors the ability to intervene before substance use escalates to...

Does your workplace culture foster a “head in the sand” approach to substance abuse?

Almost all workplaces have some type of substance free workplace policy, but there is frequently a huge gap between the policy on paper and the policy in practice. In the absence of a deliberate workplace culture centered around effectively addressing substance abuse, the default culture supports a “head in the sand” approach. Here are some workplace Culture Red Flags to watch for: Lack of Big Picture Thinking Employees must be trained and encouraged to see the big picture, especially as it pertains to substance abuse. Nobody hesitates to take action if they see somebody about to back a forklift into a large stack of finished product, because the big picture is immediately apparent: injury to the driver, injury to nearby employees, loss of thousands of dollars worth of product, loss of hundreds of man hours. Do all employees know that lack of action regarding substance abuse has the same big picture consequences and requires the same urgent action? Perception of Gray Areas In order for policies and procedures to be utilized effectively, there cannot be any “gray areas.” These opportunities for subjectivity may be written directly into the policy (with phrases such as “up to and including” or “on a case by case basis”) or be generated by selective application. Regardless of their origin, any perceived gray areas will push employees towards inaction. After all, nobody wants to make the effort to report a problem and see nothing happen as a result. Likewise, a supervisor doesn’t want to address an issue if he fears he may lose a valuable employee. It is very difficult to take action if the...