Legal drug use, fire employee or not
HRockets
33 Posts
A fellow dept head has asked me this question: If an employee travels to Amsterdam for a vacation and uses illegal drugs, which are legal in Amsterdam, then returns to the United States and is involved in an accident while at work and tests positive for illegal drugs, would the employee be fired? The personnel policy states that employees are tested for illegal drugs upon the event of an accident and if illegal drugs are found in the employee system, the employee will be fired. The dept. head says that the drug was legal in Amsterdam, therefore the employee cannot be fired. I say, the place of employment is in the US and once the employee returns to the US with the illegal drugs in his system, then he can be fired. What do you think?
Comments
By the way you may want to post this in the law thread for more responses.
I have had one person state that if the accident was not caused by the influence of drugs then he would not fire the ee. I say if you use drugs you are outta here!
Employees are required to report to work each day in an appropriate mental and physical condition, free of any illegal drugs/alcohol and capable of fulfilling their daily duties. The unlawful manufacture, distribution, dispensing, possessing, or use/abuse of a controlled substance and/or alcohol during workplace hours or while involved in any agency activity is strictly prohibited. The term controlled substance includes prescribed drugs not legally obtained, prescribed drugs not being used for prescribed purposes, and prescribed drugs being used by a person other then the prescription holder.
Geno