Drink and drugs warning for employers

EMPLOYERS could be held liable for actions of any employees under the influence of drugs or alcohol, if they don’t have proper drug policies, a conference heard yesterday.

Companies could face fines of up to €3 million or imprisonment of up to two years for serious breaches by management of their responsibilities in this area.

Under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, directors and senior managers carry particular responsibilities if it can be shown an offence committed by their workers is attributable to “neglect, connivance, consent or authorisation” on their part.

The act also obliges employees not to report to work in an unfit state due to the consumption of drugs or alcohol. Details of the law were discussed at a conference organised by Merchants Quay Ireland (MQI) yesterday, with input from employers group IBEC, Landwell employment law specialists and the ESB.

“Under new Health and Safety requirements if employers don’t have policy and there is an accident they could be held liable,” said MQI director Tony Geoghegan. “The employer can be held liable for contributing to the problem if it was deemed workplace stress was a factor or the employer knew about the drug or alcohol problem and did not intervene. It could be seen as accepting it or condoning it.”

Colleen Cleary of Landwell Solicitors said the Health and Safety Authority could publish the names and addresses of businesses which had been penalised by the courts for breaches of health and safety legislation.

In relation to drug testing, she said, under the European Convention of Human Rights, any invasion of privacy had to be necessary and proportionate. Workers had freely to consent to testing and employers could face a criminal prosecution if there wasn’t consent.

Mr Geoghegan said good drug polices benefited the employer, in terms of good morale in the workforce, a decrease in absenteeism and increased productivity.

“It also benefits the employee who is experiencing difficulties with drugs or alcohol, who can link in, in a non-fearful way, with support, thereby ensuring difficulties don’t escalate.”

He said support is not just for those labelled as alcoholics or drug addicts.

“Throughout their whole working life, a number of people are going to experience problems at some stage. There might be stress in the workplace or some other issue in their lives.

“All the prevalence studies show a proportion of the population is going to experiment with drugs or use them on a recreational basis and that a percentage will experience difficulties.”

He said employers could not just sack an employee, unless their behaviour constituted “gross negligence”. Employers had to raise their concerns with the employee and offer some support.