Make every effort to observe reasonable employee expectations of privacy and confidentiality. Provide timely and complete notification to employees who test and retest positive for drugs, informing them of the test results and what they mean. All workplace substance abuse prevention policies should include consequences for violations of the policy. Some employers terminate violators, others suspend them, and still others offer rehabilitation for employees whose violations do not include serious misconduct such as violent behavior, trafficking or possession of large amounts of drugs. Most employers allow for voluntary self-referral to rehabilitation, not related to an employee being detected as being in violation of the policy.
Some states require employers to offer violators rehabilitation rather than termination.
It is important to learn what requirements, if any, exist in your state. It is also important for an employer to recognize that the identification of a drug problem is only the first step in a long process that optimistically should end in rehabilitation of the employee. These programs should be state or nationally certified and should include medical monitoring, treatment, re-testing, and counseling. Provide referrals to local counseling and treatment centers for employees with substance abuse problems as an alternative to, or as a supplement for, company EAPs. Make such programs available only to those employees who acknowledge the existence of a substance abuse problem and demonstrate a desire to deal with their problem.