Addiction & ADA (When to Call Us)
Drug addiction and alcoholism can be an ADA issue. Denying a person employment because of past drug use is a sticky issue, particularly if they’re currently in treatment for it. While one does have to make reasonable accommodation for persons with drug or alcohol addictions, that doesn’t mean that you need to allow a person to work under the influence or accept substandard performance. However, there are proper procedures for handling such issues.
We’d recommend expert HR help in the following instances:
- You suspect an employee is under the influence;
- An employee’s work performance may be suffering due to current or past use;
- An employee requests time off for treatment;
- You’ve discovered past use history on background checks and are hesitant to hire the person because of the history;
- You’d like to create a drug testing policy for your workplace.
See the following ADA guidelines: http://www.ada.gov/copsq7a.htm
Or, just call us.