REV:04/14/03
SCOPE: This procedure covers the
implementation of Trinity Forge's drug-free,
alcohol-free workplace policy.
Since in our working environment,
employees who engage in the use, sale, or distribution of
drugs and/or alcohol constitute a danger to their fellow
employees, the company is implementing the following
drug/alcohol policy. All applicants must pass a drug
screening test before becoming eligible for employment
and current employees must comply with the policy as a
condition for continued employment. It is prohibited to
possess, buy, sell, or distribute illegal drugs or
alcohol on company premises. A confirmed positive test
that alcohol or an illegal substance is in your system
while you are on the job is a violation of the
company's drug and alcohol policy. Likewise, a
confirmed positive test that you have used illegal drugs
during your employment with Trinity Forge is a violation
of the policy. If you are found in possession of alcohol
or illegal drugs on company premises, you will be
suspended immediately for two weeks and you may be turned
over to the authorities. Reinstatement will only be
considered after careful review of each individual
case.
This policy does not alter the
"Employment At Will" nature of employment at
Trinity Forge, Inc.
WHEN DRUG TESTING IS
PERFORMED
- All applicants for employment are
tested by hair or nail sampling. The Human
Resources Manager may waive this requirement for
returning former employees who have been actively
employed at Trinity Forge within the past six months
and who have no record of having ever violated the
company drug policy.
- All employees are subject to random
hair/nail testing as well as occasional urine
testing.
- Any employee involved in an accident
which requires outside medical attention is tested. The
injured employee is typically tested by urine sampling
while at the medical facility, but if that testing is
not performed, he/she is tested afterwards by hair/nail
sampling. Other employees involved in the circumstances
that lead to the accident are also tested by
urine/hair/nail sampling
- If a supervisor or other manager
suspects an employee of being under the influence of
drugs, he/she reports that employee to the Human
Resources Manager. If the Human Resource Manager
agrees, the employee is taken to a medical facility and
is tested as appropriate for the suspected
substance.
- If a supervisor or other manager
suspects an employee of being under the influence of
alcohol, he/she reports that employee to the Human
Resources Manager. If the Human Resources Manager
agrees, the employee is taken to a medical facility and
tested as appropriate.
- Second shift supervisors who suspect
an employee to be under the influence of alcohol must
seek out a supervisor from the other division, and if
both agree, then the employee is taken to the Emergency
Room at Huguley and tested as
appropriate.
HOW DRUG TESTING IS
PERFORMED
Hair/nail testing
involves removing a small
sample of a person's hair (a clump about 1/8" in
diameter and at least 1.5" long ) or clippings of
the fingernails, then sending the sample to a specialized
laboratory for processing to determine whether any of a
list of drugs was abused during the time the hair/nail
sample was growing. Where the employee has sufficient
head hair to provide the sampling, the Accounting Manager
or the Human Resources Manager removes the hair sample.
Where head hair is not sufficient for testing,
fingernails may be substituted. For reference, a typical
hair sample represents a time period covering roughly one
to fourteen weeks prior to the sampling date. Bodily hair
or nails may grow at a different rate from head hair and
thus may represent a different time frame. A person who
at time of sampling is found to have failed to maintain
enough hair or nails for sampling will be treated as if
he/she had received a positive testing result, unless
there are medical reasons for the lack of hair certified
by the company doctor.
Urine testing involves giving a
specimen at a medical facility exactly as is done as part
of a physical exam. The specimen is then tested for a
list of drugs. This type of test is fairly easily
bluffed. Trinity Forge only utilizes urine-only testing
for employees injured on the job, and then only if the
sample is taken at the medical facility immediately after
the accident and if the employee is not suspected of
being under the influence of alcohol.
HOW AN EMPLOYEE IS SELECTED FOR RANDOM
TESTING
A random drug testing cycle is
performed each week based on the previous week's
closing Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) as published
in the Wall Street Journal. The methodology for
converting the DJIA into the details of the week's
testing is provided by the Drug Testing Plan. This plan
is a document, updated once a year to prevent its
becoming "predictable," comprised of a formula
and a computer-generated random number list. The
President generates the Drug Testing Plan, approves it
for use over a certain future date range, and provides it
to the Controller (or Accounting Manager) prior to the
stock market closing yielding the first DJIA to be
matched to the plan. The plan's formula directs how
the number of people to be tested and the types of
testing to be performed is to be determined from the
units digit of the DJIA. The random number list
identifies up to ten "people" (specifically
which line numbers of a current alphabetical list of
employees) to be tested for each of the 100 possible
combination of digits to the right of the decimal point
in the DJIA. The Accounting Manager takes the plan each
week, compares it to the previous week's closing DJIA
and a current alphabetical roster of employees, produces
a Drug Test List and presents it to the Human Resource
Manager. The Human Resource Manager adds any
"supervisor suspicion" employees to the Drug
Test List. Any employee selected for random hair/nail
testing who has already received a hair/nail test within
the last 90 days is removed from the list. Each employee
on the list (except for those off premises for the entire
week the Drug Test List is provided) is taken for
sampling that week or the following week at the Human
Resource Manager's convenience. An employee may not
be notified that testing is to take place until it is
time to go for taking the sample.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN AN EMPLOYEE TESTS
POSITIVE
The following is a description of the
typical procedures for handling drug- and alcohol-related
violations of company policy and in no way restricts the
employment-at-will relationship between Trinity Forge and
its employees ... any employee may be terminated at any
time at the discretion of the company. "Testing
positive" refers to receiving a positive test result
for an illegal drug or judgment-impairing drug for which
there is no documented medical explanation. "Prior
incident" refers to a previous occasion of testing
positive or of being identified through some other means
of investigation as a drug user or trafficker or
on-the-job alcohol abuser. Having voluntarily come
forward to admit drug use is not considered a prior
incident. When a job applicant tests positive, the hiring
process ceases immediately. When an employee in his/her
90-day probationary period tests positive, employment is
terminated immediately. In neither case may the
individual be considered for re-hire within less than one
year. When an employee with more than 90 days service and
with no prior incident tests positive, he/she is
suspended for two weeks without pay. At the end of that
period before becoming eligible to return to work, he/she
must test negative on a urine test performed by the
company doctor at the employee's expense. If the
employee tests positive on that test, he/she is
immediately terminated and may not be considered for
re-hire within less than one year; otherwise, if the
employee tests negative, for six months after returning
to work, he/she is tested at his/her expense whenever
specified by the Human Resource Manager. Hair/nail
testing is not used until the employee has been back at
work for at least 90 days. When an employee tests
positive with a prior incident on record, he/she is
placed in indefinite suspension for at least 90 days.
Before being considered for reinstatement, the employee
must provide evidence that he/she has successfully
pursued a rehabilitation program and the President must
approve such evidence and program. Additionally, before
returning, the employee must test negative on a hair/nail
test. Thereafter for the remainder of his/her employment
with Trinity Forge, the employee is tested at his/her
expense whenever specified by the Human Resource Manager.
When an employee tests positive after having previously
been terminated or placed on indefinite suspension for
drug- or alcohol-related reasons, he/she is terminated
immediately and under no circumstances may be considered
for re-hire within less than one year, and then only with
evidence of rehabilitation and the approval of the
President. Anyone identified as a drug trafficker through
evidence convincing to senior management is immediately
terminated and may not be considered for re-hire for at
least one year, and then only with evidence of
rehabilitation and the approval of the
President.
WHAT AN EMPLOYEE MUST DO AFTER USING
DRUGS (the amnesty program)
If an employee uses drugs in violation
of company policy, he/she must voluntarily report this
fact to the Human Resource Manager or any senior manager
before the employee is involved in an accident or told
that he/she is to be tested. An employee who comes thus
forward is given time off without pay until the effects
of such usage have passed and the employee may safely
return to work, then the employee is waived from
hair/nail testing for 90 days, after which there is a
mandatory test at the employee's expense to verify
that he/she has remained drug free during this period. An
employee who has returned from a suspension within the
last 120 days, or who has voluntarily come forward
previously more than once, may only enter this
"amnesty" program with the approval of the
President. If an employee requests a leave of absence to
pursue a drug or alcohol rehabilitation program, the
leave is granted unless the employee is on probation or
already in the process of being terminated. Before such
employee may return to work, he/she must show evidence of
successfully progressing in a rehabilitation program and
the administrators of that program must stipulate that in
their opinion the employee is ready to return to work.
This amnesty program will be rescinded for any employee
who, in the judgment of the President, is not utilizing
it in a good faith effort to get off
drugs.
|
