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Drug testing employees? Make sure you’ve got a policy in place John Salter / Thursday, April 6, 2017 SmartCompany You suspect one of your staff members is regularly turning up to work affected by their drug intake. Or there’s been an incident at work, and an investigation has uncovered that the staff member involved was impaired by alcohol at the time. What do you do? For many SMEs, their initial reaction will be to discipline and perhaps dismiss the employee. But before you go ahead and make any rash decisions, you need to understand exactly where you stand legally if you want to minimise the chance that an unfair dismissal or other relevant claim is brought against you. The case of the Sydney ferry driver One of the most notorious unfair dismissal cases in Australia involving drug and alcohol use was that of a Sydney ferry captain who tested positive to cannabis in 2013, after being called in to work on a day off to cover an unexpected absen

Toll awarded $18,000 from drug-test faking employee by Victoria Bruce HC Online Logistics giant Toll Holdings has scored a win from the Fair Work Commission as a former employee has been ordered to pay the company $18,000 after falsifying drug test results to support an unfair dismissal claim. The commissioner ordered the former Toll Holdings employee, who was fired in June 2015 after a positive drug test, to pay the company $18,000 in compensation, AFR reported. The employee had tested positive for amphetamine and methamphetamine in his system after a workplace drug test, yet before his dismissal the worker told Toll urine sample tested by a doctor had showed up negative to the drugs. But at subsequent proceedings to hear the worker's unfair dismissal claim, the doctor gave evidence that the test had been "manipulated", and the original test showed the former employee had tested positive.   Read the full article here. Comment: It

Good article by Fay Calderone Partner DIBBSBARKER Fast Fact Alcohol and other drugs cost Australian workplaces an estimated $6bn per year in lost productivity. Recent research has estimated that 2.5 million days are lost annually due to alcohol and other drug use. Persons Conducting Business or Undertaking (PCBUs) have an onerous duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers and others in their workplace under WHS laws. This includes the provision of a safe work environment, information, instruction, training and supervision in relation to WHS that extends to being under the influence of drugs or alcohol at work. Workers also have an obligation under WHS laws to protect their own health safety and that of others in the workplace. As such, showing up to work under the influence may be a breach by the worker of their WHS obligations as it is of the PCBU that failed to prevent it. It is also considered "serious miscond

The new fitness for work amendments under the Building Code 2013 will commence on Friday, 16 October. Master Builders Australia welcomes the phased approach to implementing the drug and alcohol fitness for work amendments for the building and construction industry under the Building Code 2013. The new fitness for work amendments under the Building Code 2013 will commence on Friday, 16 October. This will require contractors to have a comprehensive policy for managing drug and alcohol issues in the workplace which includes mandatory drug and alcohol testing on Commonwealth funded projects. Fair Work Building and Construction will be responsible for monitoring compliance and will have a three stage approach to auditing the drug and alcohol testing requirements. FWBC will initially help industry understand the implications of the policy through education. The second stage will consist of audits with a view to providing feedback on their compliance with the requirements

New drug and alcohol tests for building sites In an attempt to improve workplace safety standards on construction sites, the Federal Government has announced plans to introduce compulsory drug and alcohol testing on building sites. Mr Abetz on Friday introduced amendments to the Building Code to improve workplace safety standards on construction sites. Fair Work Building and Construction will be responsible for auditing contractors to ensure they have a fitness for work policy in place within 28 days. "It is essential that workers on construction sites do not present a risk to themselves, their co-workers, and the public by having drugs and alcohol in their systems," Senator Abetz said. "Safety is a paramount consideration on construction sites. It is simply an unacceptable risk to the health and safety of employees and the public to have workers affected by drugs or alcohol on construction sites." For further information and to access th

Privacy Intrusions and When Drug Testing in Australia National Law Review 19 May 2015 There has been a long running battle in Australia about whether an employer, when testing for drug use, can ask employees to provide a urine sample. Many unions have resisted the introduction of urine testing, arguing that saliva testing is sufficient and, as such, the process of sampling urine is an unjustified invasion of privacy. Employers, however, want to have both methods available, arguing that saliva testing has recognised limitations. Last month, the Fair Work Commission ( Commission ) sided with an employer by granting them the right to perform both saliva and urine testing on its employees for drug use. More...........

Influx of deadly synthetic drugs sets off alarm bells Rory Callinan, Investigative journalist, The Age Academics and law enforcement officers have expressed growing alarm about the tide of synthetic drugs that have claimed five lives, including three students, in 14 months. Amid a proliferation of drugs designed by sophisticated overseas laboratories to mimic LSD, cannabis and methamphetamines, one academic forecasts worse is to come. Law officials also point out the difficulties in outlawing the drugs when laboratories regularly change the chemical composition to avoid bans. The acting chief executive of the Australian Crime Commission, Paul Jevtovic, says: ''The reality is we can't keep up. The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction has found that, since 2011, we are seeing a new drug in this category every week.'' Governments, including Victoria's, have been trying to outlaw the trade by banning any substa