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What does 'for cause' mean in relation to a drugs alcohol policy?
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#1 Posted : 20 May 2008 22:29:00(UTC)
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Posted By Halesowen Baggie
Ive just read a policy that a company want to introduce.
The company want to start random drug & alcohol tests for employees!
'For cause' seems to have been mentioned a lot in the document.

Also
1.Am I right in saying that the company cannot carry out testing if it is not part of the employees contract. (existing employees).
2.The company has to show that a benefit from testing, they cant just say it seems like a good idea?
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#2 Posted : 20 May 2008 23:29:00(UTC)
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Posted By Mike Miller
I know it is something they use in the rail industry regularly regarding post incident testing? have a look at this link it may be useful:
http://www.bupa.co.uk/we...ealth/drug_alcohol.asp#3

Regards

Mike
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#3 Posted : 21 May 2008 09:11:00(UTC)
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Posted By Raymond Rapp
'For cause' is a reference to 'where there is cause.' In other words, in the event that someone is suspected of being under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or where an accident or incident has taken place and there is a suspicion that drugs or alcohol may be involved.

Ray
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#4 Posted : 21 May 2008 13:54:00(UTC)
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Posted By Colin Reeves
I suspect it can be summed up as in a policy from a company I used to work for:-

"Immediately following an accident, the accident investigator may in certain circumstances, consider it prudent to offer one or more persons involved in the incident a breathalyser test as in para XXX above, to confirm that the person(s) was not in breach of the Company Alcohol and Drug Policy at the time of the incident. If so, the investigator will use the Pro-Forma at para YYY."

Colin
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#5 Posted : 21 May 2008 14:02:00(UTC)
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Posted By John Fitzmaurice
Ray was spot on with his definition. The term is mainly used on the railway where they also use pre-employment and random testing.
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#6 Posted : 21 May 2008 15:04:00(UTC)
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Posted By Colin Reeves
John

A slight variation - the section I posted did allow for testing even when there was no suspicion. When there was a collision between vehicles, our employee was always offered the breathalyser so the other party could not, at a later stage, say "ah, well he was drunk".

Colin
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