ABSTRACT
A recent independent inquiry into workplace drug testing concluded that employers have a legitimate interest in drug and alcohol use amongst their employees in a restricted set of circumstances only.
The suggested circumstances were:
• where employees are engaging in illegal activities in the workplace; • where employees are actually intoxicated during work hours; • where drug or alcohol use is having a demonstrable negative impact on employees’
performance; • where the nature of the work is such that any responsible employer would be expected
to take reasonable steps to minimise the risk of accident; • where the nature of the work is such that the public is entitled to expect a higher than
average standard of behaviour from employees and/or there is a risk of vulnerability to corruption (for example in the police or prison service).
