Smoking policies, drugs and alcohol abuse

Dealing with drug abuse

Drug misuse can be a serious problem not only for the misuser but also for the business where they work and, sometimes for their co-workers. You have a clear duty to protect your employees' health, safety and welfare, so you might be liable to charges if you let an employee's drug use place themselves or others at risk.

As well as improving safety, tackling drug misuse - or preventing it in the first place - also brings other business benefits, such as maintaining productivity levels and avoiding days being lost to illness.

Drug use is a very sensitive area and short of seeing someone taking drugs it can be difficult to know when there's a problem. Some of the signs of possible drug misuse include:

• unusually erratic behaviour
• mood swings
• poor time-keeping
• increased sickness absence
• worsening attitude to work and colleagues
• reduced productivity

It's important to bear in mind that these factors might have a range of causes. They don't prove that someone is misusing drugs.

If an employee's behaviour is proving disruptive a confidential conversation may be the best way of identifying the underlying problems, whether drug-related or not.

There are clear instances where disciplinary action may be an appropriate response to drug misuse - if the safety of your workplace is threatened, for example.

But where possible be supportive towards employees with drug problems. Often the best course of action is to refer them to appropriate counselling and support services. For information on these services, see the page in this guide on counselling and support.

You can read about drug misuse on the Acas website. You can also download a guide on drug misuse at work from the HSE website (PDF).

Subjects covered in this guide

• Introduction
• Define policies on smoking, drugs and alcohol abuse
• Smoking policies
• Dealing with alcohol abuse
• Dealing with drug abuse
• Manage stress effectively
• Counselling and support
• Checklist: what your smoking, drug and alcohol abuse policies should cover
• Discipline, grievance and dismissal procedures

 Print This Page

Source - Business Link; Crown Copyright.