Can I be Sacked for Taking Drugs Outside of Work?

Kate Moss was dropped as the ‘face’ of designers Chanel and Burberry and fashion retailer H&M after a newspaper published pictures of her allegedly taking cocaine.

It is likely that the supermodel lost these lucrative contracts because they contained a clause that stated she should be healthy, wholesome and sound. The newspaper photos apparently showed her breaching this term.

It is common for models, sport stars and other celebrities to have a ‘moral clause’ in employment and endorsement contracts that stipulates what is and what is not acceptable behaviour in their private lives. If they breach it, they can be sacked.

But what if a person working in a run-of-the-mill job is taking drugs? Most regular employment contracts do not include a moral clause, but drugs and the workplace is an increasingly contentious issue.

At least four million 16- to 59-year-olds take illegal drugs regularly, according to the 2003-2004 British Crime Survey. But unless an employee is caught in the act of taking illegal drugs at work, dismissal is not straightforward.

The issue is mired in a plethora of health and safety, data protection and human rights legislation. For example, if a case of unfair dismissal is brought before an employment tribunal, it is up to the employer to prove that drugs had a detrimental effect on the employee’s ability to do the job.

Even if the employee was convicted of a drug offence, it is the employer who would have to prove that dismissal was justified.

The type of work you do will affect in large part how strict the rules on drugs in your workplace are. Certain sectors such as transport, aviation, engineering and mining have rules concerning substance abuse spelt out very clearly in employment contracts.

Mandatory drug testing of employees is still illegal in the UK. While there has been a lot of publicity about drugs testing of employees, only 4% of companies test employees, and those employees must give their consent. This is in stark contrast to the USA, where 50% of large companies have drugs testing programmes, and workers can be forced to provide samples of saliva or urine.

A survey in 2004 for the social research and development charity the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the charity DrugScope found that the correlation between drugs in the workplace and accidents at work was inconclusive.

“There is a lack of evidence for a strong link between drug use and accidents in safety-critical industries,” the report stated. However, it went on to warn that “drug and alcohol-induced intoxication will be a source of risk in such environments”.

The report also stated that other factors could have a greater impact on safety, productivity and performance at work - including bad working conditions, problems with sleep and general health, excessive workloads, and work-related stress.

In addition, alcohol abuse is probably a greater cause for concern in the workplace than the taking of illicit drugs.

For further reading see the following sites:

19/10/2005

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Can I be Sacked for Taking Drugs Outside of Work?

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