Drug and Alcohol Policy

Introduction

With the national workforce struggling to cope with the cost-of-living crisis, it is essential now that employers are aware of the effect of alcohol and drug misuse on morale, efficiency, and productivity. There are also questions around whether an employee’s private life is the employer’s concern, whether organisations have a right to monitor employees at home, and just how legally responsible is an employer for an employee?

The programme content can be adapted to meet your specific organisational challenges and training needs. The course runs for approximately 6.5 hours and can be adapted for a briefing or half-day session. 

This training programme examines the issues around drug and alcohol misuse in the workplace and explains how employers can implement and maintain effective policies to counter the need to use them.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the programme you will:

• Understand your rights around issues such as random drug and alcohol testing
• Be able to recognise signs of drug misuse among your employees
• Understand your liabilities and duties towards employees

Course Overview

Challenges to the business and the individuals affected - alcohol-related absence from the workplace; the affect on morale, efficiency and productivity; the difference between misuse and dependency; should employees private lives concern employers; the current drugs of choice; recognising the signs of drug misuse; could signs of stress or illness be misjudged.

Your responsibilities as an employer - does your organisation bear responsibility towards the individual; what is Corporate Social Responsibility; policies to have in place; educating employees about the effects of alcohol and drugs; should you have a zero-tolerance approach towards alcohol in the workplace; what about prescription drugs and over-the-counter medicines?; should employees report their colleagues; what if an employee wrongly reports a colleague for substance misuse; will employees seeking assistance for a substance misuse problem have their employment terminated.

Examining the legal considerations - are you obliged to recruit employees with former drug or alcohol issues; are pre-employment health assessments legal; what forms must these assessments take; legal responsibilities towards employees; what if you suspect an employee has illegal substances on your premises; when should you involve the police; is it legal to undertake random drug and alcohol testing on your employees; is it the employer or the employee that is liable if an alcohol-related accident occurs at work?

The practicalities of drug and alcohol policies – best practice for communicating policies; raising awareness in the workplace; responding to alcohol and drug misuse among employees; how closely should you monitor your employees; how to simultaneously take disciplinary action and provide support.

Make an in-house training enquiry 

Click here to fill in our enquiry form or to have a confidential discussion about your requirements, please contact Catherine Ouston our Head of In-house Training on 01983 861133 or email Teamtraining@bfi.co.uk