Pubdate: Thu, 22 Jun 2006
Source: Mohave Valley Daily News (AZ)
Copyright: 2006 Mohave Valley News
Contact:  http://www.mohavedailynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3625
Author: Neil Young
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)

BUSINESSES HELPED IN FIGHT VS. DRUG ABUSE

BULLHEAD CITY - It's easy for a small business owner to feel 
overwhelmed by drug-abusing employees.

There is help for the business owner, and it's free. The assistance 
is provided by the non-profit organization "Drugs Don't Work in 
Arizona" (DDWA).

DDWA's Advisory Board includes such Arizona notables as Senator Jon 
Kyl and sports franchise owner Jerry Colangelo.

A seven-hour workshop was hosted Wednesday by DDWA training 
facilitator Tom Childers and held in the Bullhead Area Chamber of 
Commerce auditorium.

The United States has the largest illegal drug-using population in 
the world, according to Childers.

Foreign sources are not the problem, he said, since the U.S. leads 
the world in the manufacture of LSD, PCP, and meth. The U.S. is the 
number one world supplier for marijuana.

With 6 percent of the world's population, the U.S. makes up ? percent 
of the world's market for dope," Childers said.

Only 20 percent of illegal drugs are consumed by hard-core addicts, 
he said. The casual or recreational drug user makes up the other 80 percent.

Add abuse of legal substances, such as prescription drugs and alcohol 
and it gets worse, Childers said.

Seven of ten of those users are employed and there are more 
drug-using workers in Arizona than in places like Los Angeles and New 
York, he said.

"You'd be surprised how many drug users you have working for you," 
Childers told the dozen or so small business owners.

Childers pointed out how drug abusers cost employers money - that 
they have almost double the average absentee rate. They use 3 times 
more health insurance benefits. They cost an employer an average of 
$7,000 annually, so, if a business has 10 drug abusers, they'll lose 
$70,000 a year.

The good news is, "The State of Arizona stands behind you and 
supports you," Childers said, based on laws passed by the legislature 
in the 1990s.

A 1994 Arizona law gives businesses legal protection against 
drug-abusing workers, if the employers comply with the law.

It provides them with protection from civil liability when taking 
action based on positive drug test results.

The law even protects employers who take action against workers based 
on false positives, unless the employer "knew or clearly should have 
known that the test result was in error and ignored the true test result."

Businesses may not be liable for defamation, libel or slander on the 
basis of the disclosure of test results if they follow the letter of the law.

Under the law, employees who test positive or who refuse to undergo 
testing, and who are discharged as a result, have engaged in "willful 
misconduct," which generally disqualifies the worker from receiving 
unemployment compensation benefits.

Under legislation passed in 1999, workmen's compensation was denied 
to people injured on the job due to their drug abuse.

That law was ruled unconstitutional in 2005, since the Arizona 
constitution guarantees workmen's comp, according to Childers.

A ballot measure should fix that problem in 2007, he said.

With laws making it easier to fire drug abusers, denying them 
unemployment benefits and, in the future, workman's comp, "the power 
of the paycheck" is convincing many drug users to give up their 
habit, according to Childers.

He emphasized that employers must closely adhere to the law. "You're 
not breaking the law necessarily if you go outside of it, but you 
don't get the benefits (protections)."

The law allows drug testing for several reasons. Employers can give a 
prospective job applicant a pre-employment test, but the legislation 
does not permit testing for alcohol use. That's forbidden by the 
Americans With Disabilities Act.

Businesses can test for a "reasonable suspicion" - that an employee 
may be affected by drug or alcohol use and it may adversely affect the job.

Post-accident testing is permitted. If a forklift operator struck 
another worker, for example, the employer could legally test both the 
operator and the victim.

And the law allows for random testing for "the maintenance of safety, 
productivity, quality or security," which is "a loophole and meant to 
be one," Childers said.

Many businesses shy away from random testing because they think it 
will kill employee morale, he said.

In regards to drug testing, employers can terminate workers for three 
reasons - a positive test, refusal to submit to a test or refusal to 
cooperate with the testing process, by ingesting a substance to try 
to alter the test results.

The employer's drug policy must be put in writing and is required to 
include all compensated employees, from the janitor to the CEO.

Businesses are given desecration to test some employees more often, 
like assembly line workers heavy equipment operators and truck drivers.

Employers can only use certified labs for testing and must take steps 
to prevent misidentification of or tampering with specimens.

Test subjects must have an opportunity to provide information 
relevant to the test.

Employers need to provide training for supervisors and employee 
education. Supervisors are taught how to keep written records of what 
they see and how to speak to a potential drug abuser to address the 
problem without provoking a lawsuit.

Childers closed the class with an illustration of just how costly a 
drug-abusing worker can be. An airline employee, who had a habit of 
sharing a "joint" with her boyfriend at lunch, forgot to perform a simple task.

That mistake threw the airline's reservation system into chaos for 
three days, costing them $19 million.

More information is available from DDWA by calling 800-380-DDWA (3392).
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake