Is urine drug testing allowed?
Fair Work Australia ('FWA') recently handed down a
decision regarding a dispute between Endeavour Energy and the
Unions (CEPU NSW, USU, APE SMA) concerning the introduction of a
drug and alcohol policy and procedure.
The parties agreed that the establishment of a formal drug and
alcohol policy used to identify an employee's fitness for
duty was necessary. Some of the disagreements were centred around
the following:
- The type of drug testing to be used
- The 'cut-off' or acceptable threshold level for
Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) levels.
The decision
BAC issues
FWA determined in relation to the BAC limit issues that a
'one size fits all' approach was not necessary. It was
held to be unreasonable to impose a 0.02% BAC on all employees
across the board – that level should only apply to
employees identified as undertaking 'high risk
activities'. All other employees should be subject to 0.05%
mg/ 100ml BAC.
