Reasonable Suspicion Training: Instructing Supervisors in Assembling Documentation that Works

A checklist for reasonable suspicion is need to train supervisors in confronting an employee for reasonable suspicion training. Be sure to add this element in your drug and alcohol awareness class in how to document incidents properly that can support a request for a drug test is absolutely crucial because organizational or legal challenges, if they arise, will require that the supervisor demonstrated a credible basis for requesting a test.

This makes teaching documentation skills to supervisors, and not just learning about drug and alcohol symptoms, as an important skill. Of course, the DOT does not require you to teach documentation, as illogical as it seems. It makes you wonder why not. One could say this is especially crucial if you are concerned about protecting employee rights.

Nevertheless, did you know that there is a 60% chance that a lawsuit will be won in court by the employee, no matter what the case might be, and that an jury-determined settlement is typically 500% greater than an out of court settlement when it comes to employment claims litigation? Read more . . .

Opioid Withdrawal May Cause More Evidence of Drug Use Than Symptoms of Intoxication

Reasonable suspicion training isn't black and white. There are a lot of shades of gray. You should include information about the behavioral patterns of opioid abusers so supervisors are not kept in the dark.

There is a theory being put out there that the rise in social media is fueling the opioid epidemic and the use of prescription drugs, which most of the time means opioid like substances that are synthetically produced. The timing of the drug epidemic is coinciding with rise in social media use. I think this is a red herring.

One theory is that those with a propensity to use psychoactive substances seek information online that will help them maximize the opportunity and knowledge they seek to discover the next big high. And information about narcotics is plentiful online. What comes next is discovering many ways to procure these substances of abuse.

Link to Heroin Prevention Education Program

If you google, “buy oxycodone”, you will reach over 500,000 web sites. At least 50 of them will discuss getting a hold of this drug by buying it online, and overnight service is not uncommon. These are the problems employers are facing in their attempts to spot drug users via reasonable suspicion training instruction, webinars, and organized training sessions for the DOT mandate. It appears that the Internet, and not just social media is heavily responsible for making access to these drugs easier. I would argue more so.

When training supervisors in signs and symptoms of opioid use, discuss the following information: Someone with a opioid drug use addiction will have a strong desire to use opioids. There are many addictions that contribute to the same behavioral syndrome, but absenteeism from work, and not giving a flying F--- about it is classic.

Drugs simply take away or remove the sense of urgency every typically possesses to get up and get going, and get to work on time. Drug abuse or other addictions will undermine this sense of “urgency deterioration. This absenteeism pattern also stems from the problem of inability to control or reduce use. The task is simply too overwhelming physically for the typical person to detox themselves. You may also discover sudden absenteeism after a person gets a paycheck on the 15th of the month, or even that same day knowing they have the money in hand. Most supervisors ignore what they don't see. And with Reasonable suspicion training, what you don't see is the employee at work. So, instruct supervisors in how to develop a preponderance of evidence that employee is using substances of abuse when you do training.

The inability to maintain commitments, promises, relationship dates, homework assignments, project deadlines are all interrupted or made more challenging by drug addiction for the same reasons as discussed above. Supervisors are also like to see or hear about more legal problems with employees who have substance abuse issues.


These legal problems will be associated more often with domestic issues, driving under the influence, or bizarre behavior linked to the drug’s use. Money owed to other users or friends may create significant crisis. Financial problems are especially problematic for drug users, again because of the issues mentioned above. Supervisors will begin hearing about depression, seeing a doctor, rumors about seeing a psychiatrist (last place addicts should go, if they are attending sessions to gain insight on why they use drugs. It’s a fruitless pursuit.

Stomach problems and insomnia are also problems for narcotic (opioid users) because all opioid users will experiment with their own self-detox, and withdrawal symptoms can be quite agitating. This agitation can lead to absenteeism, and these employees will say they have the flu. Indeed, they may not be using drugs at all in that moment. It’s the withdrawal symptoms that are keeping them away from work. Be sure to discuss withdrawal symptoms, not just the symptoms of intoxication with reasonable suspicion training.
#opioidaddiction #heroinaddiction #prescriptiondrugabuse

Alcohol on the Breath at Work: Training Supervisors in Reasonable Suspicion

Free Health and Wellness Tip Sheet for New Years Resolution

Free Health and Wellness Tip Sheet for New Years Resolution

Guide to Intervening with an Alcoholic Employee in the Workplace Experiencing Documentable Job Performance Problems

After reasonable suspicion training, supervisors refer to a testing facility when an employee is identified via signs and symptoms or some other requisite criteria, but there is more to the story if treatment is recommended or there is no larger system of employee assistance programming, no testing protocols, and no referral mechanism to help salvage the worker. Help must still be available to the small business owner--and 80% of USA employers are micro, mini, or family owned businesses. This is the intervention approach I formulated at the Arlington Hospital with the ASSIST for Business program we established there, and used in reaching small businesses from law offices to apartment complexes, gas stations, and local banks. And it worked ethically, effectively, and consistent the chronic disease model, the EAP core technology, and principles of influence and leverage associated with job security as a lever for motivating the alcoholic (usually although we had some PCD and Cocaine referrals) and follow through with treatment, aftercare, follow-up, and recommend treatment programming. Key always is follow up and use of a follow up tool to catch diminishing involvement in a recovery program prior to relapse.

http://www.workexcel.com/content/PDF/How%20to%20Conduct%20an%20Intervention%20in%20the%20Workplace%20with%20an%20Alcoholic%20Employee%20Experiencing%20Performance%20Problems.pdf

Reasonable Suspicion Training, Attendance Patterns, and Intervention

Alcohol and drug using employees who have substance abuse dependencies may in the later stages of their illness demonstrate erratic attendance patterns that lead to their termination. One common pattern that you should discuss in reasonable suspicion training is the problematic performance issues of being absent on Monday, absent on Friday, and absent the day after payday. Alcoholics or drug addicted employees aren’t the only ones who experience this attendance pattern, of course.

Depression affecting employees, for example, can easily contribute to an absenteeism pattern. In fact, oddly, once had an EAP client with attendance pattern caused by her inability to continue on any drive to work because of fear that she had accidentally run over someone when she turned the last corner while driving her car. This necessitated her turning the car around and driving back in the opposite direction to ensure no one was lying in the street injured or dead! This would happen a dozen times on her commute to work.

Despite other personal problems of employees that contribute to absenteeism, the classic pattern above is probably most common among addicts and frequently observed by managers and workforce management professionals with any significant time on the job. Typically when this symptom pattern is discussed in reasonable suspicion training, you will receive a odd chuckle from the crowd because they all know what you are talking about. (Continue to Read More on Reasonable Suspicion Training and Intervention and get the free e-book download PDF on Performance-based Intervention)

Reasonable Suspicion Training for Supervisors Educating Them About Codependency

Some supervisors struggle with codependency issues and this contributes to their inability to participate fully in enforcing a drug free workplace policy. Educate them so they understand this dynamic and you will be more successful in motivating them to identify drug and alcohol using employees on the job who should be referred for a reasonable suspicion testing. Any supervisor who is overly concerned about the well-being of an employee under their position or, indeed, starts controlling the life of the employee to help prevent his or her demise from substance abuse, is strongly hooked as an enabler and codependent person. This urgency to meet the needs of another person, while denying your own needs, may earn praise from others around you. But if you are unhappy with your relationships and struggle to find more balance, you may be struggling with codependency. So what is codependency? Codependency is a term used to describe problematic ways of thinking and behaving that contribute to adult relationship problems. Generally, these maladaptive behaviors are learned in one’s family of origin. They reflect the spoken and unspoken rules, along with ways of coping that family members learned in the face of persistent physical or emotional issues. Codependency is a common problem, and much attention has been dedicated to understanding it and helping people overcome it.

The word "codependency" evolved from the word "co-alcoholic," a term commonly used to describe a person in a close relationship with an alcoholic (or drug addict). Co-alcoholics naturally attempt to cope with the alcoholic's dysfunctional behavior by enabling — controlling, protecting, and compensating for the alcoholic's problems. Many people in adult relationships with alcoholics grew up in an alcoholic home, and as a result, exhibit learned codependent behaviors in their relationships. You can see from the information about that any education program in reasonable suspicion training is going to help make an impact on this critical dynamic that thwarts referrals to addiction treatment programs and assessments my Employee Assistance Programs. Growing up in an alcoholic home is one way to be affected by codependency, but other health conditions and psychological problems may contribute to the development of codependency. The personalities of family members and the types of problems they experience shape the codependent behaviors. http://www.workexcel.com/reasonable-suspicion-dot-drug-alcohol-training-for-supervisors-2hr-Certificate/