You might find the Railway methodology useful http://www.rgsonline.co....s/GEGN8570%20Iss%201.pdf

Having a policy is the right way to go, however without one it is really difficult. If no policy I would refer the matter to HR. If as I suspect it is a small company then they will be looking for some real help, so get together with the MD and thrash this one out, but first get as much info as you can from the WEB.

Agree with all the previous posts, a drug and alcohol policy is essential here. Just some food for though around the "drug situation" that your client has asked for advice on. Is the drug a controlled drug - class A,B,C? (many prescription drugs fall under the misuse of drugs act) Remember both alcohol and tobacco are drugs and cause much more harm than all the other drugs put together Is the drug use outside the workplace? This would not normally be grounds for action. A huge number of people use drugs in their own time. Unless it can be proved it impacts on the persons ability to do the job or if it brings the employer into disrepute or is expressely forbidden eg Police Officers, oil and gas industry etc. then it is really difficult to bring action If the drug use is at the workplace itself this might be seen as gross misconduct. But you still need to consider just what the drug use is. e.g is it smoking crack cocaine or taking a strong painkiller eg. dihydocodeine at work. They seem totally different, but are both drug use and both can cause impairment. This is where a policy can help to define "drug use/misuse/abuse". I used to work in an NHS drug/alcohol role and gave advice to employers developing a drug policy and would be happy to send you some guidance I wrote on this subject, though it might be too late for that. Equally I am happy to advise futher but would need more information on just what the "drug situation" is.

Be careful! If they are looking to deal with this via disciplinary channels then the lack of a policy is going to leave the company horribly exposed to issues down the road should this individual choose to 'make waves.' If they are looking to deal with this as a welfare issue - IE they want to help the employee by providing him/her with qualified medical support to assist them to 'deal with their problem,' then an informal approach may be ok (I still wouldn't) but, if it were me, I'd be inclined to advise them to introduce a D&A policy as a matter of urgency and then, and only then, look to deal with the suspected drug user. All kinds of issues with employment law and human rights issues if they try to 'force' a test in the absence of an express policy statement.