City Changes Policy on Drug Testing
December 1st, 2006 by ddetox
The city of Huntington has altered its random drug-testing policy to ensure that employees take the test on their scheduled day. Personnel Director Sherry Lewis said Wednesday that the city’s safety director, Bill Perdue, now escorts all employees to the testing facility. The procedure was implemented earlier this month.
Prior to the change, supervisors were in charge of notifying employees on the day they were scheduled to take a drug test. However, there were several instances in which employees did not take the drug test until one or two days after they were notified, Lewis said.
The city has a zero-tolerance drug and alcohol policy. Failure to take a drug test is considered a “refusal to test” and also is grounds for immediate dismissal. No employees have been terminated for failing to take a drug test on their scheduled day, she said.
“There were numerous cases in which there was an apparent lack of communication between the employee and their supervisor,” she said. “I would receive the testing list and notify the employees’ supervisors, but the supervisors would fail to notify the employees. That was the biggest problem we were running into.”
Lewis said the “lack of communication” was occurring in several departments, not one in particular. “We feel this new policy is the most effective way to address this”. “It’s also the most fair and equitable way for employees.”
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