To be ineligible for unemployment benefits, an employee must act with disregard for her employer’s interests, violate reasonable work rules, disregard the standards of behavior the employer has a right to expect of its employees, or disregard her duties and obligations to the employer. To combat the rising costs of unemployment taxes, you should seek to deny unemployment benefits to ineligible employees, including individuals who have failed a drug or alcohol test.
Company’s/Employers who have a Drug Free Workplace Policy and drug test employees must ensure that they make all employees aware of the policy, enforce the policy and take any steps or actions that the policy calls for. If an employee is terminated for a positive drug test and it can be established that the employer failed to comply with the drug testing policy or took actions that were contrary to the company’s own drug testing policy, then a unemployment compensation claim maybe upheld if the company is found to have violated its own policy.
However, if a company has a written drug policy and has complied with State Drug Testing Laws, than an employer’s ability to successfully defend an unemployment compensation claim is greatly enhanced. Should you need National Drug Screening to develop or review your company’s drug testing policy, please give us a call.
It is important that if the unemployment case goes to a hearing, bring a copy of your drug free workplace policy to the hearing.
