RISE IN USE OF DRUG TESTS TO SACK STAFF WITHOUT REDUNDANCY PAY

Employers are increasingly using drug testing to get rid of staff
without having to make redundancy payouts, as a way of -cutting costs
during the recession, a charity has said.

Release, which focuses on drugs, the law and human rights, reported a
four-fold increase in calls to its drugs team about problems with
workplace testing in the first three months of 2009 compared with the
same period last year.

In the first quarter of 2008, the team received 493 calls, with just
31 (6.2%) related to testing at work. In the first three months of
this year, 548 calls were received with 145 (26.4%) about this issue.

In many cases callers have been getting in touch in a state of
distress, having been tested for the first time after years in the
same job. Often a programme of voluntary redundancies was announced,
followed by workplace medicals for the remaining staff, including a drug test.

Sacking employees who test positive for illicit drugs allows
employers to avoid making redundancy payouts. Cannabis, which can
remain detectable for several weeks after use, is the substance
causing the biggest problems for employees.

While drug testing in the workplace has been routine for many years
in safety critical jobs, such as driving and machine operation,
Release reports that many calls are coming from sectors they had
comparatively few dealings with before such as office work, banking
and commerce.

Previously the charity received regular calls from employers about
how best to support staff with drug problems. These calls have
dwindled to almost zero.

The expansion of drug testing into non-traditional areas could breach
employees' human rights and entitlement to a private life, while
offering few enhancements to workplace performance, Release said.

Forty per cent of the workforce under 40 have used illicit drugs,
according to Frank, the government's drug awareness campaign. It is
unclear how many users are impaired by drugs during working hours.

Frank's literature states that while some workplaces may benefit from
drug testing there are also many drawbacks, such as a negative impact
on employer/employee relations.

The independent inquiry into drug testing at work in 2004 said "good
management, education and support for staff is more useful, effective
and less costly [than drug testing] in dealing with drug problems".

Concateno, a group of companies that between them have approximately
60% of the UK workplace drug testing market, reported a 13.2%
increase in testing between 2007 and 2008. In 2007, 159,000 workplace
drug tests were carried out and in 2008, 180,000 tests were done.