Human Resource Blog

Drug Free Policy in Utah

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One of our best employees has recently had extensive dental work. At times, she takes pain killers prescribed by her dentist, at work. We are a Utah drug-free workplace. Is there any way to avoid firing her?

Don’t worry. You don’t have to fire the employee. Drug-free workplace policies are meant to stop employees from using illegal drugs like cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and the like. They’re also meant to curb workplace abuse of some prescription drugs like amphetamines and Oxycontin.

Your worker, on the other hand, is taking medication to control her pain or to ease the inflammation. Compare it to other cases. You wouldn’t fire a diabetic employee for using insulin, or the worker with high blood pressure from using his medication. You wouldn’t stop a worker from using aspirin for a headache. And you wouldn’t fire an employee if she took her birth control pill during her break or at her desk.

What do all these situations have in common? Every one of these workers has a legitimate medical reason for taking the drugs they do.

As you may know, firing employees for taking their drugs in these situations could land an employer in legal trouble. Those workers could sue under the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA.

So the bottom line is, the drug-free workplace is meant to prohibit the abuse of legal drugs or the use of illegal drugs at work. It’s as simple as that.

Keep in mind that a good drug-free workplace policy is fair. It should be clearly understood by all staff, both supervisors and employees. It must be enforced uniformly.

Is firing an employee whom you’ve described as one of your best, a fair use of the policy? No. 

You could request her to bring a note from her doctor requiring that she take her medications. If you do, however, fairness requires you ask other employees to do the same.

Incidentally, confidentiality comes into play here. You need not know exactly what her condition is. And if you do know, you cannot tell anyone else. It’s covered by the HIPAA.