How to Support Your Employees During A Workplace Drug Test

As an employer, you have a duty to maintain a safe working environment for your staff. This entails managing and accessing staff misconduct, including the use of illegal drugs and alcohol abuse.

Providing you have developed a detailed and strong drugs and alcohol policy communicated and understood by your employees; it is completely legal to ask your employees to undergo drug and alcohol testing. While it is in both yours and your employees’ best interests to keep your organisation free from substance abuse, your staff may feel uncomfortable with the prospect of undergoing drug testing, amidst dealing with their own personal issues.

Here, we will discuss the range of strategies that workplaces can employ as responses to alcohol and other substance issues within the workplace.

Workplace strategies for tackling substance issues & supporting your team

If you’ve made the decision to implement drug testing for employees at your organisation, it’s best to take an end-to-end approach that offers your employees the support that they need. From counselling to medical support and tailored employee support programmes, there’s several strategies and resources your company can provide. 

If members of your staff have never experienced drug or alcohol testing in the working environment, the chances are they could feel uncomfortable.

To combat this, there are several offerings you can provide them with, such as: 

• An Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is a voluntary, work-based program that offers free and confidential counselling, referrals, and follow-up services to members of staff with personal and work-related problems. This can address several matters that affect mental and emotional well-being, including substance abuse, grief, family issues, anxiety and psychological disorders.
• There is a range of counselling and medical treatment options that organisations can offer to their employees. Whether it be through an EAP or access to non-profit and private services, counselling treatments are a vital response to alcohol and drug-related impacts in the workplace, as they facilitate the rehabilitation of employees with substance issues.
• Workplace education and training can be utilised to raise awareness of alcohol and other drug related issues in the workplace and can be an effective way of changing existing attitudes and behaviours when it comes to drugs and alcohol.
• If you’d like to support your staff and end the stigma attached to drug testing, your business could benefit from offering a health promotion programme. Instead of focussing specifically on drugs or alcohol, this strategy focuses on boosting the overall health and wellbeing of employees.

Receive quality drug and alcohol testing or training from MediNat

Whether you are looking to work with a nationally accredited onsite workplace drug and

alcohol testing service or are hoping to receive a range of drug testing kits, MediNat is committed to providing organisations throughout the whole of Australia with exceptional services at competitive prices. From testing accessories to urine drug test kits, MediNat is proud to have developed some of the most comprehensive products available on the Australian market today.

If you’d like to know more, simply contact our team of trained staff on info@medinat.com.au for more information.