SUBSTANCE ABUSE POLICY See applicable administrative policy.
Substance Abuse Program The SFMTA General Manager or designee will manage all aspects of the FTA-mandated Substance Abuse Program. He/she shall have appointing and removal authority over all personnel working for the Substance Abuse Program personnel, and shall be responsible for the supervision of the SAP.
DRUG/ALCOHOL TESTING Section 33.1 Drug testing may be conducted on employees during their duty hours upon reasonable suspicion or randomly by computer selection. Alcohol testing will be conducted only upon reasonable suspicion. Reasonable suspicion that an employee used or is using a controlled substance or alcohol in an unlawful or abusive manner may be based upon, but not limited to:
A. Observable phenomena, such as direct observation of drug or alcohol use or possession and/or the physical symptoms of being under the influence of a drug or alcohol;
B. A pattern or abnormal conduct or erratic behavior, including abnormal leave patterns;
C. Arrest or conviction for a drug or alcohol-related offense, or the identification of an employee as the focus of a criminal investigation into illegal drug or alcohol possession, use, or trafficking;
D. Information provided either by reliable and credible sources or independently corroborated;
E. Evidence that an employee has tampered with a previous drug test;
F. Facts or circumstances developed in the course of an authorized investigation of an accident or unsafe working practices.
Section 33.2 Drug/alcohol testing shall be conducted solely for administrative purposes and the results obtained shall not be used in criminal proceedings. Under no circumstances may the results of drug/alcohol screening or testing be released to a third party for use in a criminal prosecution against the affected employee. The following procedure shall not preclude the Employer from other administrative action but such actions shall not be based solely upon the initial reagent testing results alone.
Section 33.3 All drug screening tests shall be conducted by laboratories meeting the standards of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration. No test shall be considered positive until it has been confirmed by a Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry. The procedures utilized by the Employer and testing laboratory shall include an evidentiary chain of custody control and split sample testing. All procedures shall be outlined in writing and this outline shall be followed in all situations arising under this article.
Section 33.4 Alcohol testing shall be done in accordance with the law of the State of Ohio to detect drivers operating a motor vehicle under the influence. A positive result shall entitle the Employer to proceed with sanctions as set forth in this Article.
Section 33.5 The results of the testing shall be delivered to a specified employee of the Employer with command responsibility and the employee tested. An employee whose confirmatory test result is positive shall have the right to request a certified copy of the testing results in which the vendor shall affirm that the test results were obtained using the approved protocol methods. The employee shall provide a signed release for disclosure of the testing results to the Employer. A representative for the bargaining unit shall have a right of access to the results upon request to the Employer, with the employee’s written consent. Refusal to submit to the testing provided for under this Agreement may be grounds for discipline.
A. If a drug screening test is positive, a confirmatory test shall be conducted utilizing the fluid from the primary sample.
B. In the event that any confirmation drug test results are positive, the employee is entitled to have the split sample tested by another DHHS-certified lab in the manner prescribed above at the employee’s expense. The employee must request the split sample test within seventy-two (72) hours of being notified of a positive result. The results of this test, whether positive or negative, shall be determinative.
Section 33.7 A list of three (3) testing laboratories shall be maintained by the Employer. These laboratories shall conduct any testing directed by the Employer. The Employer shall obtain the approval of the bargaining unit representative as to any laboratories put on this list, which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld.
Section 33.8 If after the testing required above has produced a positive result the Employer may require the employee to participate in any rehabilitation or detoxification program that is covered by the employee’s health insurance. Discipline allowed by the positive findings provided for above shall be deferred pending rehabilitation of the employee within a reasonable period. An employee who participates in a rehabilitation or detoxification program shall be allowed to use sick time and vacation leave for the period of the rehabilitation or detoxification program. If no such leave credits are available, the employee shall be placed on medical leave of absence without pay for the period of the rehabilitation or detoxification program. Upon completion of such program and upon receiving results from a retest demonstrating that the employee is no longer abusing a controlled substance/alcohol, the employee shall be returned to his/her former position. Such employee may be subject to periodic retesting upon his/her return to his/her position for a period of one (1) year from the date of his/her return to work. Any employee in a rehabilitation or detoxification program in accordance with this Article will not lose any seniority or benefits, should it be necessary for the employee to be placed on medical leave of absence without pay, for a period not to exceed ninety (90) days.
Section 33.9 If the employee refuses to undergo rehabilitation or detoxification, or if he/she tests positive during a retesting within one (1) year after his/her return to work from such a program, the employee shall be subject to disciplinary action, including removal from his/her position and termination of his/her employment.
Section 33.10 Costs of all drug screening tests and confirmatory tests shall be borne by the Employer except that any test initiated at the request of the employee shall be at the employee’s expense.
Section 33.11 The Employer may conduct four (4) tests of an employee during the one (1) year period after the employee has completed a rehabilitation or detoxification program as provided above.
Section 33.12 The provisions of this Article shall not require the Employer to offer a rehabilitation/detoxification program to any employee more than once.
Catastrophic Leave Program Leave credits, as defined below, may be transferred from one (1) or more employees to another employee, on an hour-for-hour basis, in accordance with departmental policies upon the request of both the receiving employee and the transferring employee and upon approval of the employee's appointing authority, under the following conditions:
A. The receiving employee is required to be absent from work due to injury or the prolonged illness of the employee, employee's spouse, registered domestic partner, a domestic partner listed on an “Affidavit for Enrollment of Domestic Partners,” submitted to employee benefits, parent or child, has exhausted all earned leave credits, including but not limited to sick leave, compensatory time, holiday credits and disability leave and is therefore facing financial hardship.
B. The transfers must be for a minimum of four (4) hours and in whole hour increments thereafter.
C. Transfers shall be allowed to cross-departmental lines in accordance with the policies of the receiving department.
D. The total maximum leave credits received by an employee shall normally not exceed five hundred twenty (520) hours; however, if approved by his/her appointing authority, the total leave credits may be up to one thousand forty (1,040) hours. Total leave credits in excess of one thousand forty (1,040) hours will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the appointing authority subject to the approval of the Chief Administrative Officer.
E. The transfers are irrevocable, and will be indistinguishable from other leave credits belonging to the receiving employee. Transfers will be subject to all taxes required by law.
F. Leave credits that may be transferred under this program are defined as the transferring employee’s vacation credits or up to twenty-four (24) hours of sick leave per fiscal year.
G. Transfers shall be administered according to the rules and regulations of the Auditor and Controller, and made on a form prescribed by the Auditor and Controller. Approvals of the receiving and donating employee, the donating employee's appointing authority and the receiving employee's appointing authority (in the case of an interdepartmental transfer) will be provided for on such form.
H. This program is not subject to the Grievance Procedure of this Agreement.
Accident Prevention Health and Safety Committee (a) The Employer and the Union agree that they mutually desire to maintain standards of safety and health in the workplace in order to prevent accidents, injury and illness.
(b) Recognizing its responsibilities under the applicable legislation, the Employer agrees to accept as a member of its Accident Prevention – Health & Safety Committee at least three (3) representatives, one from each base, selected or appointed by the Union from amongst bargaining unit employees. At any time where a vote is required, an equal number of representatives from each side shall be entitled to vote.
(c) Such Committee shall identify potential dangers and hazards, institute means of improving health and safety programs and recommend actions to be taken to improve conditions related to safety and health.
(d) The Employee agrees to co-operate reasonably in providing necessary information to enable the Committee to fulfill its functions.
(e) Meetings shall be held quarterly or more frequently at the call of the Chair if required. The Committee shall maintain minutes of all meetings and make the same available for review.
(f) Any representative appointed or select in accordance with (b) hereof shall serve a term of one (1) calendar year from the date of appointment which may be renewed for further periods of one (1) year. The Union will encourage its representative(s) to serve at least one (1) year. Time off for such representative(s) to attend meetings of the Accident Prevention – Health & Safety Committee in accordance with the foregoing shall be granted and time so spent attending such meetings shall be deemed to be work time for which the representative(s) shall be paid by the Employer at his regular or premium rate as may be applicable.
(g) The Union agrees to endeavour to obtain the full co-operation of its membership in the observation of all safety rules and practices.
(h) Pregnant employees may request to be transferred from their current duties if, in the professional opinion of the employee’s physician, the pregnancy may be at risk. If such a transfer is not feasible, the pregnant employee, if she so requests, will be granted an unpaid leave of absence before commencement of the maternity leave referred to in Article 16.04
Drug-Free Workplace Policy Consultant shall provide a drug-free workplace by complying with all provisions set forth in City’s Council Policy 100-5, attached hereto as Exhibit “D” and incorporated herein by reference. Consultant’s failure to conform to the requirements set forth in Council Policy 100-5 shall constitute a material breach of this Agreement and shall be cause for immediate termination of this Agreement by City.
Quality Assurance Program An employee shall be entitled to leave of absence without loss of earnings from her or his regularly scheduled working hours for the purpose of writing examinations required by the College of Nurses of Ontario arising out of the Quality Assurance Program.
Alcohol Testing Alcohol testing will be conducted by using an evidential breath-testing device (EBT) approved by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. A screening test will be conducted first. This initial screening may be accomplished using a saliva test kit. If the result is an alcohol concentration level of less than 0.02 percent, the test is considered a negative test. If the alcohol concentration level is 0.02 percent or more, a second confirmation test using the EBT will be conducted. The procedures that will be utilized by the lab for collection and testing of the specimen are attached hereto as Appendix A.
Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Section 1. The Employer agrees to provide to the Union the statistical and program evaluation information provided to management concerning Employee Assistance Program(s).
Section 2. No information gathered by an Employee Assistance Program may be used to discipline an employee.
Section 3. Employees shall be entitled to use accrued sick leave for participation in an Employee Assistance Program.
Section 4. Each university will offer training to local Union Stewards on the Employee Assistance Program available in their university, on university time, where an Employee Assistance Program is available.
Dependent Care Assistance Program The County offers the option of enrolling in a Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP) designed to qualify for tax savings under Section 129 of the Internal Revenue Code, but such savings are not guaranteed. The program allows employees to set aside up to five thousand dollars ($5,000) of annual salary (before taxes) per calendar year to pay for eligible dependent care (child and elder care) expenses. Any unused balance is forfeited and cannot be recovered by the employee.
