Alcohol and Drug Dependency

It's never acceptable to attend work under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs and you should never consume them on our premises or if you are required to drive on company business.

There may be times when you need to take prescription drugs or patent remedies, sometimes they can affect your work so you need to make sure anything you take is safe. If you are unsure about prescribed medication, please check with your GP or pharmacist if you can expect any side effects that may impact your work and let your manager know if you are concerned or if we need to make any adjustments for you.

Psychoactive substances (known as "legal highs") are now illegal and must not be used or brought into work.

We want to help you deal with your dependency and we'll aim to assist you in as compassionate and constructive a way as possible, so if you're worried, please speak to your manager.

Where your use of alcohol/drugs becomes habitual to the point it impairs your ability to perform your duties, affects your attendance, or endangers you or someone else, we consider you have a dependency. Where this happens, we'll offer you the same opportunity for support and treatment as we would any other illness.

We'd always recommend speaking to your GP as a starting point. We can also signpost you to other methods of support.

Any reasonable absence for advice and treatment for a dependency will be treated as sick leave (but not subject to our absence triggers), but you do need to keep us informed of your progress and make a genuine attempt to overcome your dependency. We'll keep everything confidential at all times.

If your dependency results in poor behaviour or work performance, we may suspend any disciplinary action whilst you get help, but if you refuse or discontinue treatment, we may then instigate disciplinary proceedings, which could result in termination of your employment. This also applies if your behaviour or performance doesn't improve.

Should you endanger someone else by behaving or undertaking work inappropriately, we'll have to take corrective action. We'll take your dependency into consideration, but this doesn't excuse you from the consequences of your actions.

If you're worried about a team mate, please encourage them to talk to their manager or area manager, or contact HR in confidence so we can support them.

We may decide to conduct random checks or tests if this would be a proportionate response to an established risk. We may do tests when you enter, leave or during work.

Request to undergo tests should not be seen as us implying suspicion and we'll always ask for your consent. You do have the right to refuse, but we may construe this as a breach of contract on your part and regard it as if you produced a positive result.

If we do find you in possession of, or impaired by, alcohol/drugs this is extremely serious and could lead to a gross misconduct disciplinary process.

Tests will be carried out using reliable equipment and methodology and with regard to your dignity and privacy. The process will be carried out in confidence, where possible.

Part of our random checks may involve asking you to remove the contents of your pockets, bags, vehicle, etc. and we do reserve the right to involve the police at any stage.

We'll advise you of the result of any test or check. If your test is positive, you'll be invited to an investigation meeting in line with our disciplinary process. The outcome of this will always depend on individual circumstances, but may include:

• your agreement to commence treatment, rehabilitation or counselling (this may apply where safety wasn't compromised but you recognise you have a problem)

• an appropriate level of warning (this may apply where individual circumstances didn't compromise safety and the outcome wasn't serious)

• dismissal (this would normally apply where circumstances seriously compromised safety, operational activity or our professional reputation)

Where we don't dismiss, we may also decide to retest without notice on one or more occasions.