Care home manager awarded €40,000after firm demanded hair-strand drugs test

WRC found that the demand for the test, the refusal to let him work, and the withholding of his wages were fundamental breaches of contract.

The WRC found the man was constructively dismissed after a company director became convinced he was using drugs.

The manager of a residential care home has been awarded €40,000 by the Workplace Relations Commission after he was placed on unpaid leave after refusing to take a hair-strand drug test.

The WRC found the man was constructively dismissed after a company director became convinced he was using drugs. Adjudication officer Aideen Collard said the director had made “repeated unsubstantiated allegations” of drug misuse without ever starting an investigation.