Pubdate: Fri, 27 Dec 2002
Source: Elkin Tribune, The (NC)
Copyright: 2002, The Tribune, Elkin-Jonesville, NC
Contact:  http://www.elkintribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1967
Author: Carrie Sidener

DRUG-TESTING POLICY ADOPTED

WILKESBORO - Following the lead of private businesses and other county 
governments, Wilkes County now has a policy for testing its employees for 
drug abuse.

Wilkes County commissioners voted unanimously last week to enact a drug 
testing policy for all new employees and those involved in car accidents or 
employees that are suspected of drug abuse.

County manager Gary Page said this is the first drug testing policy Wilkes 
has enacted, following some of its private business counterparts that have 
already made new hire drug testing standard procedure.

The county first started looking at the possibility of a drug testing 
policy in August after the county's insurer, Selective Insurance, of 
Charlotte, requested a policy be put in place to prevent insurance rates 
from increasing.

"The purpose of this policy is to maintain a drug- and alcohol-free 
workplace and to provide procedures for conducting screening of job 
applicants and employees for the use of illegal drugs and the improper use 
of prescription drugs," the policy states. "While it is inappropriate for 
the county to intrude into the private lives of its employees, employees 
are expected and required to be in a condition to safely and effectively 
perform their duties throughout the workday."

Page said an increase in insurance claims from all its clients prompted the 
county's insurer to request drug testing.

"Since Sept. 11 and various increases in workers compensation insurance, 
our insurance carrier is pressuring us to enact a drug and alcohol testing 
policy," he said. "This policy is derived from looking at four other 
counties' policies. It is a pretty in-depth and technical policy.

"Drug testing is reasonably commonplace," he said. "Prior to now, the only 
drug testing we did was on law enforcement. This is for all other county 
employees like clerical and EMS and anyone else that works for the county. 
They should be drug tested also."

The drug testing policy will be effective Jan. 15.

"This is probably a sound decision to delete random drug testing (from the 
policy)," County Attorney Tony Triplett said. "It is pretty thorough."

The policy outlines that the drug testing will examine a person's bodily 
fluids for the presence of amphetamines, barbiturates, cannabinoids, 
cocaine, opiates, phencyclidine and any other drugs.

"The drug testing is required of our workers compensation insurance so that 
we have complete coverage," Page said. "The idea is to screen anyone with a 
substance abuse problem from coming to work for the county to begin with."

The policy requires that newly hired people will voluntarily submit 
themselves to drug testing before they begin work as a condition of hire.

"At this time, we are not going to do random drug testing," Page said. "It 
is something that still has some legal ramifications. For now, this is just 
new employee and accident screening."

Existing employees can also be tested if there is reasonable suspicion of 
drug abuse. The policy defines reasonable suspicion as "slurred speech, the 
odor of the drug, inability to walk in a straight line, an accident 
resulting in property damage or injury, physical or verbal altercations and 
unusual behavior among other things."

Existing employees can also be tested if they are involved in a car 
accident that results in a vehicle being towed from the scene. A county 
employee who performed maintenance on a vehicle that was involved in an 
accident can also be drug tested.

An employee with a safety sensitive position is not allowed to show a drug 
or alcohol concentration of more than 0.00. Other employees are allowed to 
have a tolerance of up to 0.04. Safety sensitive positions are jobs like 
garage workers, emergency workers and others where people's lives may 
depend on the employee's job.

"We can reprimand or terminate employees that test positive," Page said. 
"We can reprimand and provide counsel if they are not terminated."

The decision of punishment is left up to the employee's supervisor.

An employee not fired for having a positive drug test will receive a 
five-day suspension without pay, 180-day performance probation and be 
referred to a substance abuse professional. If the employee is fired for a 
positive drug test, they can be considered for re-hire in two years.

If an employee tests positive for drugs or alcohol and is dismissed from 
work for a period of time, they must also submit to a drug test once they 
return to work. They must also submit to a follow-up test within the first 
12 months of the return to work.

"This is to screen out potential bad employees and to screen out employees 
that could cause a liability to the county as a result of a workers 
compensation claim being paid out," Page said.
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