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(A) An applicant or employee whose drug or alcohol test is reported positive will be offered the opportunity of a meeting to offer an explanation. The purpose of the meeting will be to determine if there is any reason that a positive finding could have resulted from some cause other than drug or alcohol use. The city, through its health and/or human resources officials, will judge whether an offered explanation merits further inquiry.
(B) An employee whose drug or alcohol test is reported positive will be offered the opportunity to:
(1) Obtain and independently test, at the employee’s expense, the remaining portion of the urine specimen that yielded the positive result; and
(2) Obtain the written test result and present it to an independent medical review at the employee’s expense.
(C) The employee may use the city’s medical benefits, to the extent that coverage may apply, for meeting the costs described in division (B) above.
(D) During the period of an appeal and any resulting inquiries, the preemployment selection process for an applicant will be placed on hold, and the employment status of an employee may be suspended. An employee who is suspended pending appeal will be permitted to use any available annual leave in order to remain in an active pay status. If the employee has no annual leave or chooses not to use it, the suspension will be without pay.
(1998 Code, § 2-110)
(A) Rehabilitation assistance in lieu of discharge may be offered to:
(1) Any employee who has requested rehabilitation assistance; provided that, the request is unrelated to an identification of the employee as a violator of this policy; and/or
(2) Any employee who has violated this policy; provided that, the violation does not involve selling or transferring illegal drugs or serious misconduct.
(B) An employee who is in rehabilitation will be suspended; except that, when indicated by the circumstances of the case and the written recommendation of a licensed physician or recognized rehabilitation professional, an employee may be permitted to work while undergoing rehabilitation on an outside-of-work basis. The written recommendation must include a statement to the effect that the employee’s presence in the workplace will not constitute a safety hazard to the employee, co-workers or others. An employee who is suspended while undergoing rehabilitation and who is not permitted to work will be permitted to use any available leave in order to remain in an active pay status. If the employee has no annual leave or chooses not to use it, the suspension will be without pay.
(C) An employee whose rehabilitation therapy involves drug maintenance, hospitalization or detoxification will not be considered for the exception from suspension described in division (B) above. An employee who is suspended under this section will be permitted to use any available leave in order to remain in an active pay status. If the employee has no annual leave or chooses not to use it, the suspension will be without pay.
(D) An employee who is in rehabilitation or who has completed rehabilitation will be allowed to return to work upon presentation of a written release signed by a licensed physician or recognized rehabilitation professional. The release must include a statement to the effect that the employee’s presence in the workplace will not constitute a safety hazard to the employee, co-workers or others.
(E) Rehabilitation assistance given by the city will be:
(1) Limited to those medical benefits that may be available in the employee’s medical benefits plan;
(2) Obtained through a rehabilitation program that has been approved by the city; and
(3) Obtained by the employee during times that will not conflict with the employee’s work time; except that, the employee may use any available sick leave or annual leave to be absent from the job with pay.
(F) The city will provide to any employee, upon request and at no cost to the employee, information concerning local resources that are available for the treatment of drug and alcohol related problems.
(1998 Code, § 2-111)
(A) The city may conduct unannounced general inspections and searches for drugs or alcohol on city premises or in city vehicles or equipment wherever located. Employees are expected to cooperate.
(B) An employee’s consent to a search is required as a condition of employment, and the employee’s refusal to consent may result in disciplinary action, including discharge, even for a first refusal.
(C) Illegal drugs, drugs believed to be illegal and drug paraphernalia found on city property will be turned over to the appropriate law enforcement agency and full cooperation given to any subsequent investigation. A substance which cannot be identified as an illegal drug by a layman’s examination will be turned over to a forensic laboratory for scientific analysis.
(D) If an employee is the subject of a drug-related investigation by the city or by a law enforcement agency, the employee may be suspended pending completion of the investigation.
(1998 Code, § 2-112)
All information relating to drug or alcohol testing or the identification of persons as users of drugs and alcohol will be protected by the city as confidential unless otherwise required by law or by overriding public health and safety concerns, or authorized in writing by the person in question.
(1998 Code, § 2-113)