HR professionals call for drug and alcohol testing legislation

Growing numbers of HR and personnel managers are calling for legislation to allow them to test employees for drugs and alcohol.

A survey by law firm DMH revealed that 49 percent of managers believe that new laws should be introduced to allow them to more effectively combat drink and drugs problems amongst employees.

Among construction and manufacturing employers, which face the greatest number of alcohol-related problems, the figure was closer to 80 percent.

About 10 percent of employers involved in the research are already engaged in negotiations with staff over testing, which could help to reduce the £2bn lost to alcohol related absence and £800,000 lost to drugs per year.

However, such negotiations could prove unnecessary if legislation is passed granting companies the legal right to test all their employees without needing union consent. 

DMH Partner Simon Bell said, “Human resources personnel managers evidently feel that they are in a difficult position. Clearly employers face a problem and they want some help from the law.

“We are facing an increasing number of cases linked to alcohol and drug abuse. The results of this survey show that this is a real problem for businesses, particularly in the manufacturing and construction industry.”

By Robert De La Poer