Many private and non-Federal public sector employers are currently seeking advice and guidance in developing and implementing programs for achieving a drug-free workplace.

They are taking action because they have been stimulated by the realities of life in late 20th Century America:  In spite of miraculous medical advances creating the possibility for good health and long life for more people than ever before, those possibilities are tragically wiped out in the individual lives crippled or destroyed mentally or physically by the use and effect of drugs. Those possibilities are stifled in families, communities, schools, and workplaces as individual drug use weaves its way into the fabric of society.  Employers find themselves in a global marketplace while recognizing that this nation's rate of drug use is among the highest of any nation bringing goods and services into that marketplace.

Employers have also been stimulated by Federal leadership and incentives, initially articulated in 1986 when President Reagan issued Executive Order 12564 to the Federal Government — the nation's largest employer — requiring that it establish and maintain drug-free workplaces.  The Congress set terms for implementation of that order in Pub. L. 100-71. There followed in late 1988 regulations from the Departments of Transportation and Defense and new legislation, the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988, all of which require or hold out incentives for implementation of drug-free workplace provisions.

To employers stimulated to act on their own or to those acting in response to a Federal requirement or incentive, this publication offers a model drug-free workplace plan to use as a compass, though not necessarily to set an exact course. The model plan points to the essential five elements set out in Executive Order 12564:

1. Development of a comprehensive written policy
2. Supervisory training
3. Employee education
4. Availability of employee assistance programs
5. Identification of illegal drug users, including drug testing on a controlled and carefully monitored basis.

The model plan's foundation is a policy which offers a helping hand while clearly communicating that use of illegal drugs will not be tolerated. Publication of the model offers non-Federal employers the benefit of the Federal experience. Just as application of this model within the Federal sector was affected by the uniqueness of each Federal Agency, its application outside the Federal context must be flexible enough to accommodate the needs of the great variety of employers, work sites, and workforce characteristics which constitute the private and non-Federal public American workplace. Because of the need for flexible application of this model, because laws that affect the workplace may vary by State and locality, and because of the complexity of certain components of a comprehensive plan, e.g., the drug testing component, employers may want to consult with legal counsel prior to plan implementation.
 

This model plan was developed by a Federal interagency coordinating group composed of representatives of the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Personnel Management, and Department of Justice and distributed to Federal agencies by the National Drug Policy Board to provide a prototype for developing a drug-free workplace plan appropriate to each Agency's own mission and work force.

There has been very little editing of the plan as distributed to Federal agencies. For the Federal audience, the use of the term "Agency" throughout invited substitution of the specific agency name. Private sector employers should substitute the name of their business in most instances. The model plan contains references to Federal authorities which do not impose requirements on private employers. While those references are retained for the purpose of reflecting the policies behind provisions of the Federal model plan, it is expected that private sector employers will modify the plan when they intend to preserve the principle without referencing Federal law or regulations.

Selected source documents for the Federal Drug-Free Workplace Program are published as Appendices: Appendix A is Executive Order 12564; Appendix B is section 503 of Pub. L. 100-71; and Appendix C is the Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace Drug Testing Programs which include scientific and technical requirements and provisions for certification of laboratories engaged in urine drug testing for Federal Agencies. They are published along with the model in order to provide a framework for the existing application of the model.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse is making this model available, both for employers just initiating a program and for those who may be re-examining provisions of an on-going program, in the belief that the fight against illegal drugs in the workplace is critical to the Nation's war against drug use. This model, with its five essential elements, is worthy of careful consideration as employers chart or alter their course.
 

 Charles R. Schuster, Ph.D.
 Director,  National Institute on Drug Abuse

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