Adding a drug-free workplace policy to your lawn or landscape company can be intimidating if you’re afraid you’ll lose your employees.
Rob Ambler, president of Ambler Industries, based in Furlong, Pennsylvania, says it was this fear that stopped him from enacting a drug-free workplace policy sooner.
“You can’t start it fast enough,” Ambler says. “Professionally, it was one of the best things I’ve done for my company. Honestly, if that person gets in a truck and kills somebody, you would have been better off not having anybody. The legalities and the cost and charges of that are life-changing.”
If you want to start drug testing at your organization, below are some considerations to mull over when developing a policy for your landscape company.
When to Test
Pre-employment testing is highly recommended as it helps ensure you’re bringing on quality employees.
“I have owned this company for 34 years, and I can tell you, I never want anybody employed here that I would not want around my family at my home,” says Tim Lake, president of T. Lake Environmental Design, based in Dublin, Georgia. “There are good people who have drug issues, but when they’re on drugs, they’re not that person.”
Gerry Bower, president/CEO of Total Lawn Care, LLC, based in Weslaco, Texas, says they test at pre-employment, post-accidents and randomly.
“If there’s an accident, no matter what that means, if there’s a vehicle accident, if they run into the building with a piece of equipment, or they hurt themselves, that generates a post-accident drug test,” Bower says. “That’s when it triggers that they are to be tested.”
Lake says his company tests at pre-employment and after near-miss incidents. Ambler says they will test at pre-employment, if an employee is injured after an accident, or under suspicion. J.T. Price, CEO of Landscape Workshop, based in Birmingham, Alabama, says they test new hires who will be drivers, after a safety incident, or on suspicion.
Emily McNeil, human resources manager for Piscataqua Landscaping & Tree Service, based in Eliot, Maine, says new hires must pass a drug test before their first day. She says rarely are they unable to hire a candidate based on the results.
“Active employees who hold a CDL are randomly pulled for a drug screen each year,” McNeil says. “We have the authority to send an employee for a drug examination who may appear to be under the influence but haven’t had to do this in a long time.”
McNeil says with accidents, unless there is evidence or documented observations an employee was under the influence, they will not drug test.
“We complete our due diligence to investigate the occurrence and determine a root cause (such as lack of training, weather, or careless performance of duties),” McNeil says.
Handling Positive Test Results
While these landscape companies say by being upfront during the hiring process, they rarely have employees test positive; you do need to have a game plan on how to handle this situation if it occurs.
Bower says they opt for a ‘three strikes, you’re out’ approach. Employees who test positive can no longer operate equipment until they prove they’re clean.
Lake says their response to a positive drug test has changed over the years. In the past, they would start with counseling, but under the guidance of their attorney, if someone tests positive for a psychotic drug, then they are immediately terminated. For marijuana, they will do counseling.
“We’re going to have a plan,” Lake says. “You’re going to be tested every single week for the next six months. We like you, but sorry, you can’t do that with our insurance, with our risk liability. We just can’t do it.”
McNeil says in most cases, employees who test positive for drugs are terminated immediately.
“If a positive result cannot be explained by a medical condition or prescribed medication, or it’s something like cocaine etc., we would rescind the offer or terminate if it’s an active employee,” she says.
Price says it is an immediate fireable offense at their company. Even if an employee has a minor vehicle accident and they test positive for drugs, Landscape Workshop will fire that person.
“They were people that we liked having on our team,” Price says. “If they were under the influence at the time of the accident, then good riddance, but they may have just used drugs within the historical period and so we’ve lost some good employees because of our policy.”
Ambler says they immediately fire employees who test positive unless they want to go to rehab.
Aiding Employees
Ambler says if an employee admits they are struggling, they will work with them to get them into a rehab center.
“We’ll give them a leave of absence if they want to go to rehab,” Ambler says. “We’ll keep their job as long as they’re following through on the plan and go into their meetings and taking the proper steps. Five percent of the time they will take you up on it. They usually quit and go somewhere else.”
If someone comes forward and admits to a problem, Lake says they try to help.
“Illicit or prescription drug abuse, in either case, it’s often a symptom of some underlying problems, and so we try to be available for that and pull all the resources we can,” Lakes says. “We never want to see somebody fail. We don’t want to see somebody flame out. We certainly don’t want to see them injured, overdose, or anything like that.”
Lake says they have to use their best judgment in whether they’ll work through it with the employee or terminate them for being under the influence of drugs.
Advice for Others
Price says that while drug testing costs time, money and you can lose some good employees, landscape companies have a responsibility not only to their employees but also to innocent bystanders and third parties to be as safe as they possibly can.
“The most dangerous thing we do in the landscaping industry in general is get behind the wheel of the vehicle,” Price says. “It’s important that our employees understand that they can’t be impaired or distracted or in any way for themselves or others in danger unnecessarily.”
Ambler notes that word quickly gets out that your organization drug tests. He says people with drug addictions are far less likely to apply and those who aren’t drug users are more likely to apply.
“Drug users bring their friends who are also drug users, so they can use drugs together or they can share drugs,” Ambler says. “You cut off the source of more of those guys coming in. I’d say we were fully cleaned up in six months.”
McNeil says you shouldn’t be afraid to discuss the importance of testing and how it relates to safety. They empower their team members to hold each other accountable and speak up if they see something.
“Employees appreciate working in a safe environment, and testing improves trust, quality, and a better experience for both the worker and consumer,” McNeil says.
Bower says he has his drug testing policy to protect his team.
“If you’re not doing it now, you’re being foolhardy,” Lake says. “Just because something hasn’t happened in the past doesn’t mean it won’t.”
