The national average for a failed drug test is between 4-6%. While some of the excuses are indeed legitimate, more times than not, the excuses while feeble, can be very humorous. Here is a list of some of the excuses we have heard over the years:

• It was the cookies I ate at a party, I think it was medical marijuana.
• I buy hemp oil and make salad dressing with it.
• I take these supplements from the health food store.
• I kissed a girl who had just used cocaine.
• I ate a bunch of poppy seed muffins.
• I thought we were going to do the drug test next week.
• Impossible! I bought some stuff on line that was guaranteed to make me pass the test.
• I used to smoke pot back in the day but I am really fat so I hear it stays in your system for a really long time.
• I thought I would be positive for pot, not meth!
• I got it in Canada and it’s legal there.
• All of my friends were smoking in a small car, it must be second hand smoke.
• I have to light my wife’s joints for her because she uses medical marijuana and she is too sick to do it herself.
• I was at a party and everyone was smoking pot around me.
• I thought it only takes a week to get out of your system.
• Someone must have put something in my drink, I swear I would never use drugs.
• I take my friend’s pain meds when I have a migraine.

While these excuses may be funny, drug use at work is a serious issue. Employees who are under the influence of mind altering substances can cost employers significant amounts of money in accidents, injuries, errors, absenteeism, tardiness, poor performance and more.
The EAP can help.
Rather than listening to an employee’s story about why his or her drug test was positive, refer the employee to us for a comprehensive assessment and return to work plan. Our goal is to help employees keep their jobs, while remaining drug free and to assist employers in maintaining a safe, healthy and productive workplace.

One of the Human Resource Managers I work with as an EAP provider, is a gifted author and a woman who is also a recovering alcoholic. Amy Hatvany’s new book, Best Kept Secret is being released on June 7, 2011. The book tells the story of Cadence, a recently separated mother of a five year old boy who struggles with a painful divorce and making ends meet. Cadence descends into alcoholism and loses custody of her son in the process. This book tells a heartbreaking story of a women’s alcoholism and path of recovery. For many alcoholics, giving up their painful secret is the first step towards recovery. I asked Ms. Hatvany the following questions:

1. What made you decide to write the book?

I began writing the story as a direct result of my own emotional experiences as a professional woman, mother and recovering alcoholic. While the characters and plot are fiction, Cadence’s emotional turmoil during her decent into addiction and her journey back toward sobriety are largely based on what I went through. As I worked on the emotional side of getting sober, it became clear to me that there is a special, intense kind of shame that accompanies being a woman who was drunk in front of her children. It’s that shame that forces so many of us to keep our addiction secret, for fear of what might happen if we tell someone the truth. We are terrified of the stigma and possible consequences, but keeping this secret, can have devastating – even deadly – results.

2. How does it relate to your own life and that of other professional women you know?

I think as women in our culture – whether or not we are mothers – we are certainly driven by perfectionism. We are told we can do it all, be it all, have it all. Of course, we can’t – at least, not “perfectly” – so I wanted to portray how as a result, many women experience profound levels of shame and self-loathing, even as we smile brightly and tell ourselves that we can’t expect to always be perfect at everything in our lives. But deep down, perhaps subconsciously, I think we still believe that we “should” be. So we reach for behaviors that drown our shame out, at least temporarily. And then we become ashamed of the behavior and the vicious cycle emerges. I’m not just talking about alcohol, here. Eating disorders, shopping, gambling, sex – even our careers can serve as an escape from the pressure.

3. How is alcoholism perceived in the workplace?

Unfortunately, I think it’s perceived the same way the world perceives it: as some kind of moral failing. I believe the key misconception is that the alcohol itself is the problem, when really, drinking is really just the symptom of much deeper physiological, and emotional issues. Simply stopping drinking is not going to resolve a person’s problems. There is a saying in recovery, that when you remove the alcohol from the alcoholic, you are left with”ick”. Certainly an alcoholic needs to heal from the physical side of addiction, but learning how to sift through the “ick” – negative thinking patterns, emotional reactivity, etc, – is the true work of recovery.

4. HR Managers deal with performance and personal issues with their employees every day. How does this impact an HR manager who may be going through her own issues?

I’d have to say that being in recovery has certainly made my job in HR easier! I used to be a bit of an emotional “sponge” but I have learned healthy ways to set boundaries and not absorb the chaos that can surround me on any given day in my job. I can’s speak for any other HR professional, but for me, I have gathered so many tools to manage my own performance or personal issues, and I’ve found that sharing some of these tools – which are universal, not recovery specific – has been greatly appreciated by many of the people I work with. I think in order to be an effective HR manager, I need to be aware of my own baggage, so I can hopefully keep it from coloring my interactions with employees. Of course, my generally cheery, positive outlook can irritate the heck out of people too, but it helps me immensely to understand their response is not about me.

5. What is the best way in your opinion for an employer to deal with an employee who is suspected of having an alcohol problem, from the recovered person’s perspective?

That’s a tough question, because as a professional, I know I need to manage it – from a performance level. Monitor the employee’s attendance patterns, lack of productivity, etc., and discipline as necessary. We all know the dangers of labelling anyone as an alcoholic, or even intimating that they might be one, so clearly, I don’t recommend that. But if an employee comes to you and communicates they are afraid they might have a problem with alcohol, I would certainly refer them to your EAP for help and guidance. I would let them know if your health plan covers treatment for substance abuse. I would recommend finding ways to educate your management team about the disease of alcoholism. But at the end of the day, if an employee refuses to seek help, and his or her performance continues to decline, sometimes the best thing to do is follow your progressive discipline procedures based on a well-documented case for not being able to perform their job, and terminate. Nursing an active alcoholic along, making concessions and exceptions and excuses doesn’t do them any favors. It only enables their disease to destroy them more quickly.

6. What message do you hope this book will leave your readers with?

Overall, I hope that women, especially, are able to see the similarities they share with Cadence, rather than the differences. I hope that the story widens the readers’ understanding and compassion, and perhaps makes them re-evaluate any preconceptions they might hold about women who suffer from alcoholism and mothers who don’t have primary custody of their children. I also hope that any woman in the throes of active addiction sees herself in Cadence’s story and finds the courage it takes to reach out for help.
For me, that’s the inherent beauty of books – each person will walk away with something different from a story. My hope as an author is that readers will find a need met perhaps one they weren’t aware they had to fill.

I highly recommend Best Kept Secret. It is a wonderfully well written and heart wrenching story that portrays the struggles that women alcoholics face, especially if they are also mothers.

To purchase a copy visit Amazon.com or www.amyhatvany.com

Employers who don’t drug or alcohol test cannot prove that an employee’s injury was caused by his intoxication if a drug test is not offered.
In the case of McKinley v. Klein Steel, Inc., No. 09-CA-930 (La.Ct. App. 03.23.10), the Louisiana Court of Appeal upheld the award of temporary total disability benefits, attorney’s fees and penalties.

The summary: while carrying a stair railing at work, the employee stumbled and hit his head. The employer sent him to a nearby hospital where he was treated for a scalp laceration and released without a drug test and the employer made no effort to have him tested. He later underwent two spinal surgeries as a result of the accident. The employer’s insurer refused to pay workers’ compensation benefits, claiming the employee was intoxicated at the time of the accident, that he refused a drug test and provided false information to the hospital. The Court of Appeals upheld the award of benefits, finding that the employer failed to reasonably controvert the claim. It also awarded the employee penalties and attorney’s fees.

The court explained that a presumtion of intoxication arises when an employee affirmatively refuses a drug test. But because the hospital never offered a drug test, and one was never required by the employer, there was no opportunity for the employee to refuse one, nor was any other evidence of intoxication presented. The court also rejected the contention that the employee gave false information to the hospital to prevent them from verifying his workers’ compensation status. The employee correctly identified his employer to hospital staff but gave the incorrect contact name and number for the employer, being unaware that the individual no longer worked for the employer. Source: www.riskandinsurance.com

This court case emphasizes how important it is to have a drug testing policy which also includes post accident testing. If the employer could prove the employee was in fact intoxicated, they would have saved a lot of money.

During the dot.com boom of the mid-90′s, companies were growing so quickly, they couldn’t hire enough people fast enough. In order to recruit and retain good employees who were required to work long hours, they would provide as many perks as they could. The most popular perk was free alcohol provided on company time. Many companies would host happy hour Fridays or allow employees to drink at work after 4 pm. Some employers provided kegs and beer fridges and allowed employees free access to alcohol while at work. As the dot.com boom became a bust, most companies began to tighten their wallets which resulted in the bar being closed at most workplaces.
While the economy is still very slow to recover and recruiters can take their pick of candidates, there appears to be a resurgance of alcohol being provided freely in the workplace. An article in the Seattle Times last month, featured tech companies like Yelp, providing beer kegs and beer fridges. These employers rationalize that they are growing, vibrant companies with a young workforce. Their employees are required to work long hours, sometimes well into the evening so they want them to feel at home at work. While they don’t actively monitor how much an individual drinks, some companies use an ipad app that logs every ounce they drink.

As an employee assistance counselor, I see serious problems when employers provide alcohol to their employees on company time on company property, for a number of reasons. The first concern is employer liability. If an employee drives from their place of employment while intoxicated, the employer may be liable. When employees drink, their inhibitions are reduced, so they will say and do things they may never do while not under the influence. These behaviors may lead to sexual harassment or discrimination claims from other co-workers and again, the employer may be liable. Women are at greater risk for sexual harassment at offices where heavy drinking is the norm, according to a 2004 Cornell University study. The report, sponsored by the National Institute on Alcoholism, found harassment incidents increased more than twofold for each additional alcoholic beverage consumed by male co-workers.

The second liability concern for employers is underage drinking. Some employers hire individuals who are under the legal drinking age but if others are drinking, it can be hard on the under age employee to fit in with the company culture. Unless employers are carding all employees before allowing them to drink at work, they cannot be sure they are not serving alcohol to minors.
The third concern is that when a person drinks alcohol, their judgment and productivity will be impaired. An employer cannot determine impairment based on how many drinks a person has had. Women and men metabolize alcohol differently and other factors include a person’s size and body weight and how much they have eaten. How productive can someone be if they have had two or three beers?
Finally, alcoholism is a major social and health concern in our society. Some employees cannot drink in moderation or control themselves after drinking. 10 percent of American adults are alcoholics. For these people, it is a struggle to face every day without alcohol and often the 8 hours a day they spend at work is the easiest part of their day to get though. If alcohol is served at work too, then they are constantly faced with the temptation to drink at work as well. Before employers decide to provide alcohol to their employees, they should consider the legal and social ramifications.
There are many other perks that make better business sense. Examples are concierge services that make things easier on employees who work long hours, wellness and worklife services to help employees balance work and family and employee assistance services.

For information on how you can provide personalized, professional EAP services, call Fully Effective Employees at 425-454-3003 or 1-800-648-5834.

National Workplace Wellness Week is April 5-11, 2011. It’s a good time for employers to assess the health of their workforce and make plans to improve it. “Workplace wellness programs are critical to improving employee health, increasing productivity, reducing absenteeism and lowering health care costs,” says Dr. Craig Thorne, spokesperson for the American Heart Association.

Medical research reports that 145 million American adults are overweight and 74 million are obese, making more than a third of the working-age population at risk for chronic illness. Obesity-related health conditions cost employers about $30 billion per year, according to some studies.

Wednesday has been marked as “Walking Day,” and the groups are encouraging employers to take advantage of free wellness programs, such as Start! and National Start! Walking Day. The programs push employees to walk before, during and after work.

“Getting your employees to walk briskly for just 30 minutes a day can help lower chronic disease risk factors, such as high blood pressure,” says Thorne. “Educating them about basic cardiovascular disease prevention and developing health education programs that focus on lifestyle behavior change is a huge investment that will increase any company’s bottom line,” he adds.

Companies that create opportunities for employees to improve their health while on the job create a culture of wellness that unltimtely generates the best results. Employers who promote and support wellness, tend to have successful programs. While it is difficult to measure a wellness program stictly on the bottom line but it can be evaluated by the cost of health care and absenteeism. Some employers are finding that a successful program can allow them to move to a high-deductible health insurance plan which can significantly cut their annual health premiums. Under these plans, employers can help pay the deductibles and still save money. Some companies allow employees to earn points for participating in healthy activities which can be used to reduce their share in annual health insurance costs.

The Healthy Workforce Act (S.803/H.R.1897) is a bill to improve the health of America’s workforce which would provide a tax credit to businesses to supprt comprehensive workplace wellness programs. It would provide employers with the means to implement evidence-based strategies for improving the health of workers by addressing causes of chronic disease including obesity, physical inactivity and tobacco use.

If you would like to implement a wellness program for your company, we have a very low cost on-line program or a very comprehensive program tailored to fit your company’s needs.
Contact us at audreyr@fee-eap.com

For years, employee assistance programs have been a partner of human resource professionals and our roles often overlap. We have seen an increasing need for smaller businesses to obtain professional human resource assistance.
State and Federal employment laws, with more legislation coming down the line, can make dealing with employee issues seem daunting. The exposure for employment lawsuits has never been higher, but this risk can be managed with sound Human Resource structure, forms and policies.
Many of our companies have grown from small family owned businesses or start ups and they are now finding the need to develop policies and procedures for dealing with the range of personnel issues from discipline to accomodation. Employers may turn to their company attorney who may not have HR expertise or who may be charging a very high hourly fee to write an employee handbook or to address their human resources questions or concerns. We have found a perfect solution for our clients who may need the services of a professional human resouce manager but may not have the need or budget for a full time HR generalist.
Fully Effective Employees has partnered with JB Consulting Systems, a Human Resource Consulting Firm that provides education, training, and assistance to companies with 1-250 employees.
Together, we offer packages designed to assist small business owners with forms, policies and consulting to fit your budget.
JB Consulting Systems is owned by Juli Bacon, an HR professional with over 18 years of experience in organizational development, creating and executing training plans, policy and procerdure development.
Services may include:
* Consultation and counseling on a variery if Human Resource issues
* Anti-harassment and discrimination training
* Employee performance documentation and evaluation
* Employee handbooks
* Consulting on disciplinary issues
* State and Federal regulatory compliance
* Benefits package review and management
* Drug Free Workplace consulting
For more information about our HR Consulting and Employee Assistance Program, email audrey at audreyr@fee-eap.com or contact us at 425-557-0907.

We are very excited to offer a variety of new services to our Employee Assistance Program for 2011. I will describe each new service in a separate blog.
Our Worklife Program is now enhanced and we are renaming it Work-Life Solutions. This program provides resources and referrals for every stage of someone’s life, from birth to death and all the life events in between. Now more than ever, employees are finding they are stressed with financial worries, increasing demands from their jobs, pressure to balance work and family, and coping with dependent children and aging parents. Our program can help address employees’ personal and work/life needs including:
* Balancing Work & Family
* Resources and Referrals
* Child and Elder Care needs
* Adoption Services
* Health & Wellness
* Academic Searches
* Disaster Recovery & Relief
* Interactive Tools and Videos
* Training and Calculators
We now also offer coaching to help clients cope and plan for life events such as job changes, new parenting, dealing with aging parents and retirement. Our program will help clients think more strategically and plan for the future with realistic goals and help them to manage their personal lives while attending to loved ones’ care needs.
The program also includes an online wellness program with dozens of health risk assessments, articles, videos and information about many diseases and health related issues. Individuals can assess themselves for the risk of various health concerns and then put a plan into action to take care of themselves.
Essentials of daily life management provides over 200 interactive tools, quizzes, videos and articles on mental health topics and personal growth and training.
We have a searchable database of over 800,000 national child and eldercare providers.

Our Work-life Solutions program can help build a more productive work environment by:
* Assisting employees to successfully balance their work and family responsibilities
* Decreasing employee absenteesim due to child and eldercare responsibilities
* Increasing job satisfaction by decreasing the pressure of working while trying to locate and manage dependent care issues.
* Saving employers money due to lower health insurance claims when employees have access to a health and wellness program for both emotional and physical health.

This program is available as a stand alone product and does not have to be part of the Employee Assistance Program.

For more information about our very affordable Work-Life Solutions program, please call us at 425-557-0907 or email us at audreyr@fee-eap.com

Workplace bullying is more prevalent that we might think. Despite all of the anti-discrimination and anti-harassment laws, bullying still exists. Workplace bullying is a silent epidemic that creates significant risk management for employees, management and company owners. Employers who fail to adopt policies and practices related to buyllying, may be facing potential litigation when behavior crosses the line and employees become targets. However, it is even more shocking when harassment occurs within Human Resources, the one department that most employers expect to act as an example for other departments. In Washington State, an example of this hit home this week when the of Washington State Department of Transportation HR Director was fired for workplace bullying. Evidence showed that there were previous allegations, lawsuites and settlements against this Human Resource Director.
To watch a short video, click the link below to see the details of this story.
State WSDOT HR Director fired for being a bully.
For assistance with policies, consultation about situations and learning more about how your company can erradicate workplace bullying, contact the Workplace Bullying Institute at workplacebullying.org

While social functions help to build employee morale and loyalty and they can be a lot of fun, serious consequences can result which could create liability for an employer. Since the majority of employers hold some kind of holiday celebration, it’s a good time of year to remind our clients about the risks of sponsoring a social event and the measures they can take to decrease that risk.
Staples.com offers the following suggestions for employers who host office gatherings:
1. Plan a party off of company property if alcohol is served. If the restaurant or facility is using licensed servers, the obligation may transfer to the provider of liquor.
2. Change the venue- for example, the focus can be on a sporting event, where employees pay for their own liquor or suggest a get together over a charitable event like volunteering at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter.
3. Have a drink limit or alcohol free event. When behavior is not affected by alcohol, chances are that employees will be more in control and calmer. Alcohol can contribute to inappropriate behavior such as sexual advances, harassment, property damage, off color comments, and injuries. In addition, there is always the concern that people will leave the party and drive while intoxicated.
4. Be clear with your employees before the event and throughout the year about your expectations and company policies. Be sure they are aware of your substance abuse policy (if you have one) and that the policy includes office social events. Post the policy on company bulletin boards and send out an email reminder.
5. Host a family friendly event. Invite spouses and children and the focus can shift away from sitting and drinking to a more activity oriented function. Employees often really appreciate having their families included in company festivities.
6. Intervene when necessary. If your employee is intoxicated, let the person know they have had too much to drink, and that you will call a cab to take them home. Never let an employee who appears to be impaired, drive home.
7. You may want to check your business insurance policy if you plan to serve alcohol. If your general liability policy does not cover third part liquor liability, you may be able to purchase special event coverage.
What do you do if despite your best intentions, a problem occurs? If there are concerns about an employee's behavior, you may still be able to refer the individual to the Employee Assistance Program for a performance issue. If there have been allegations by others of harassment, inappropriate behavior or other issues, the EAP may be able to help. Even though you have hosted a social event, employees should still be expected to behave appropriately.

insurance

During difficult economic times, many employers opt to eliminate their Employee Assistance Program benefits or to reduce their EAP services to cut costs.
It is important to understand that an EAP is not just about counseling or the number of “free sessions” an employee or family member can receive from the plan. A quality EAP is also an HR partner, assisting employers and employees when crises occur.
What if an employee suddenly dies? How are your employees impacted? For some, they may deeply mourn the passing of a close co-worker. For others, they may be reminded of previous losses or other unresolved issues. How will these people cope at work in the coming days and weeks?
What if there is a fatality or serious injury at your workplace? Will your employees be afraid to return to work? Will they be angry at their employer for “letting” the accident happen?
What happens if your best employee comes to work drunk? Do you have a drug and alcohol policy? How do you have him assessed and able to return to work?
Did one of your employees get assaulted by a domestic partner last night? In a situation like this her safety may be in jeopardy but your other employees could be at risk if the offender comes to work to find the victim. It’s a tough balance to assist with the employee’s safety, be sympathetic to the employee’s personal issues while ensuring the essential functions of the job are still being met.
Is someone at your company harrassing or threatening a co-worker? As an employer you must investigate and provide safety for your workers.
These above examples are all situations that happen to employers every day. Without a good, service oriented employee assistance program, you are left to your own devices. The cost of legal fees to deal with the aftermath of any of the above scenarios is far more expensive than the cost of the EAP. Not to mention, expenses related to reduced performance, absenteeism, morale, safety, Labor and Industry claims and medical insurance premiums.
Having an Employee Assistance Program in place is analogous to any insurance program. It is there if you need it – for a crisis, consultation, advice, support, training and counseling. So, EAP’s that just provide a session model without all the support to management are not always the best choice for companies. Having no EAP at all, does not make good business sense. You wouldn’t drive your car without insurance would you?
For information about Fully Effective Employees, please email us at audreyr@fee-eap.com or call 425-557-0907.