Alcohol testing in the workplace

yak.h'cir

yak.h'cir

yak.h'cir

Soldato
Joined
26 Aug 2003
Posts
4,517
Location
The North
At my current place of work they have started to test peoples alcohol levels. Every week two or three people are picked at random to be tested and they are very fond of threatening its use.

My workplace has a staff of about 50 people, all aged between 18 and 25 and we all work 7 days a week on a part time basis. We are all activity supervisors taking groups of international students aged 10-18 to various attractions.

We've been told that if anyone tests positive for alcohol in their system they'll be sacked.

Now whilst i understand that its definetly not a good idea to be drunk whilst looking after children, and i would certainly have words with anyone who was I think this is a little too far.

I would agree that if anyone appeared hungover/unfit for work be tested but not anyone at random. I think its unreasionble to expect everyone to stop going out having a couple of drinks to unwind. Especially when we all work 7 days a week for them!

Was interested in what other peoples thoughts were on this\if anyone knows of the legal implications of what they are doing. Can they just test people at random? Do teachers in school undergo the same treatment?
 
I reckon if you've been given advanced notice, and there's valid reason for you to not be under the influence, then its perfectly fair.
 
Takes about an hour for one drink to work its way out of your system. As long as you're not binge drinking the night before work, or having a couple pints during lunch, there should be no problem.
 
yak.h'cir said:
Do teachers in school undergo the same treatment?
Click to expand...

I don't know but I'm pretty sure that at least one of the teachers at my high school would have failed any breath tests, he couldn't handle the kids in his class, it wasn't helped by the fact that he was always given the kids in the lower sets who often wouldn't pay any attention.

As for your situation, you have been given advanced warning, there does seem to be a good enough reason. Although I'd object to alcohol testing on the basis that it assumes I am not professional enough to separate my private and working life but then again I'm not in a job where I am dealing with kids regularly nor do I expect to be. I can understand why employers could/would choose to do it for almost any job though and since they are paying you for your time/effort they do have a certain amount of right to expect your full attention to be on the job.

It sounds harsh to say that no alcohol is allowed in the bloodstream because it might be from the night before and have no impact on your ability to do the job but then again I do have a few mates who go into work with hangovers so they are barely able to work properly so there must be some sort of happy medium.
 
Raist said:
Takes about an hour for one drink to work its way out of your system. As long as you're not binge drinking the night before work, or having a couple pints during lunch, there should be no problem.
Click to expand...

But its always on your mind if your going out, you dont want to risk just a little bit staying in your system and getting you the sack.

I rarely have more then 4 drinks on an evening so its unlikely to be a problem for me, I just object to being dragged off and tested in front of everyone being made to feel like a criminal.

They should trust us enough to believe that we can excercise our own judgement and not drink excessively before work, and then only test when they've got reason to believe we are still under the infulence.
 
It sounds like your in a position of trust, since they've entrusted some kids into your care. Which makes it weird that they'd trust you there, yet not trust you to decide for yourself if your in a fit state for work. I couldn't work under that precedent, so I'd be looking elsewhere :p
 
Raist said:
Takes about an hour for one drink to work its way out of your system. As long as you're not binge drinking the night before work, or having a couple pints during lunch, there should be no problem.
Click to expand...

Depends on the size of the drink ;)

A pub measure of whisky should clear your system in 1 hour - a Bigstan measure of whisky, on the other hand, would take most of the day :D

On a serious note, anybody being under the influence of any sort of drug at work is bad - especially people who are responsible for the safety and well-being of others (which, in a broad health and safety context, includes pretty much everybody).

It's not unreasonable to ask that one is sensible regarding the effects of alcohol - especially when working with minors.

Stan :)
 
Is it in your contract or have they altered your contract to enable them to randomly test you? If its not in your contract tell them to goto hell tbh. If it has been added to your contract then its probably too late to complain about it now. If you signed up for it in your contract when you joined them then its just tough luck you knew what you were getting into. For the record I recently saw a TV program which stated that its takes the "average" person 1 hour to lose one unit of alcohol, so 1 pint would take 2 hours as its two units of alcohol. A single shot would take an hour.
 
I agree its completely reasonable to expect us to come to work sober! I wouldnt agree with anyone working with in this job who is under the influence. I just dont agree with the random testing. I think we should only be tested when we give them reason to think we are under the influence.

I was just hoping some legal type person would have some info about rules regarding the legality of the random testing...

Might be also of note that we're often asked to work as much as 80/90 hours a week, one week last year I worked 104 hours. This obviously means that some days you're quite tired and no one bats an eyelid. Now I would have thought that this would lead to a similar risk as coming to work drunk. Just seems to be a double standard really! I cant help but think its just the managers annoyed that no one likes him and he doesnt get invited out... Might be why he makes a point of the checks after peoples birthdays etc...
 
FordPrefect said:
Is it in your contract or have they altered your contract to enable them to randomly test you? If its not in your contract tell them to goto hell tbh. If it has been added to your contract then its probably too late to complain about it now. If you signed up for it in your contract when you joined them then its just tough luck you knew what you were getting into. For the record I recently saw a TV program which stated that its takes the "average" person 1 hour to lose one unit of alcohol, so 1 pint would take 2 hours as its two units of alcohol. A single shot would take an hour.
Click to expand...

Yeah it was in the contract. If you didnt agree to it you didnt get the job. Its not a big enough problem for me that I'd resign over it.

We've got a staff meeting on wednesday and I wanted to raise this as an issue so thought I'd get some other points of view on here. I'm sure all that will come of it will be that i'm just going to get labelled as the work alcoholic and get tested all the time for raising the issue.. :)
 
Contract or not you can refuse to be tested , in the same way that if you are stopped by the police for suspected drink driving you cannot be forced to take a breathalyser or a blood test. Any forced action would be deemed as assualt on you.

But by denying you are virtually admitting guilt of some sort.

Cheers,

Mark
 
Last edited:
mrdbristol said:
Contract or not you can refuse to be tested , in the same way that if you are stopped by the police for suspected drink driving you cannot be forced to take a breathalyser or a blood test. Any forced action would be deemed as assualt on you.

But by denying you are virtually admitting guilt of some sort.

Cheers,

Mark
Click to expand...

Of course you can refuse to be tested.... But they can refuse to keep employing you if you don't honour your end of the agreed contract....

If testing was part of the contract, and you refuse, you breach your contract....
 
Dolph said:
Of course you can refuse to be tested.... But they can refuse to keep employing you if you don't honour your end of the agreed contract....

If testing was part of the contract, and you refuse, you breach your contract....
Click to expand...
if its not but they want you to think it is however.......
tbh, I'd be annoyed if I couldn't EVER go out (how long does it take for 100% of the alcohol to leave your system? how much would you have had to drink the night before to get fired?) and I doubt that anyone would want to work in an enviornment that forced this on the empolyees
 
Dolph said:
Of course you can refuse to be tested.... But they can refuse to keep employing you if you don't honour your end of the agreed contract....

If testing was part of the contract, and you refuse, you breach your contract....
Click to expand...

I was refering to " on the spot " testing.

Unless the company you work for has legally approved testing facilities and sterile working areas , any result can and will be argued .

Did your contract stipulate "zero alcohol levels in bloodstream" ?

I would find this very hard to believe.

And agree with you that they are being totally unreasonable.

Cheers,

Mark
 
I can be tested at random for drugs and alcohol at work, and we have pretty strict rules as to how much we can and can't have with regards to alcohol.

None consumed at work, none in the 8 hours before starting a shift, and only 7 units before that.

Which means if I start work at 11PM, I can't touch a drop of alcohol after 3PM that day.

I do have a pretty safety critical job though, so it's understandable.
 
I'm no lawyer but my opinion is...

I'd recommend asking to see a copy of your contract of employment. If it states that you will be tested then you have agreed to it. If it does not state that you will be tested then they have no right to test you. The point in question is not being drunk at work but whether they have the right to demand a test. You also need to understand what level of alcohol will be tested for (e.g. are you allowed to have a trace of it in your bloodstream or none at all?)

If your contract of employment does not state that they will randomly test you, but they are trying to impose new terms on your contract, you have every right to reject their request to change the terms.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom