People Matters – with HRAnywhere

Written and provided by FTMA’s HR Partner, HRAnywhere

Under Occupational health and safety (OHS) laws, employers are obligated to provide and maintain a safe and healthy work environment for their employees, as far as reasonability practicable. With this in mind, is an employer responsible for an employee who comes to work impaired by drugs or alcohol? In short – yes.

Employees unfit for work as a result of alcohol or other drug use put themselves and other people at the workplace at risk of harm. This is because alcohol or drugs can impact a worker’s ability to exercise judgement, coordination, motor control, concentration and alertness. Further to this, co-workers will just cover up unsafe work practices and wont report incidents.

As such, it is encouraged for every workplace to have a policy on drugs and alcohol as a bare minimum. FTMA has a template in the HR library for members to use as a guide. It is important to clearly outline business expectations around the use of alcohol and drugs; and also what steps the business will take if there is a potential policy breach. When implementing this policy, it is also important to follow consultation requirement’s required under OHS legislation.

For further advice, contact the HRAnywhere team on 1300 208 828 or info@hranywhere.com.au.