WHAT ABOUT SUBS? Just because you’re keeping a clean house doesn’t mean your trade partners are — and you’re still liable on the jobsite. Paul Zuch, owner of Capital Improvements, in Dallas, was a National Association of the Remodeling Industry chapter president when he saw a presentation from a company that does worker verification and background checks.
At the time, there had been a lot of media coverage about the ease with which sex offenders and drug and alcohol users could get into consumers’ homes. The company suggested that remodelers have a drug policy spelled out for trade partners in their contract. Zuch thought it was a good idea. He did background checks on his employees and sent out a letter to his trade partners saying that if they wanted to work with Capital Improvements they would have to wear ID badges and undergo background checks. “About 50% of my trade base said, ‘If that’s your policy, we’re not going to enforce this with our people and I guess we won’t do business with you,’” Zuch says. “I was shocked at the response.” Although he couldn’t enforce it among his trade contractors, Zuch can and does enforce a policy in his own company.
According to Berenson, a remodeling company can legally require that subcontractors it works with do drug testing and/or have a substance abuse policy. He cautions, though, that some states prohibit or restrict mandatory testing. “Any policy should stress that [testing] is required to protect customers and other workers,” he says. Also, having trade partners sign a policy might have an impact on an attorney’s ability to defend the contractor as a 1099 worker. Ultimately, the remodeling company owner is responsible if a sub is working on behalf of that remodeling company when a drug-related incident occurs. “But if a sub is a 1099 and the contractor has no reason to suspect a drug issue or he or she can show a drug policy has been in play, the contractor has a good defense.”
Trade partners should be part of your random testing list. And if you need to hire day laborers, it might be time to go through a temporary agency that screens and tests its candidates. “It’s in [an owner’s] best interests to consider raising the bar on the people he works with, and it’s perfectly legal to do a background check on the other contractors he establishes relationships with,” Ramos says. As long as whatever you do is in a written policy and is shown to and signed by trade partners up-front, you should be covered if legal issues arise.
POSITIVE OUTCOME The good news: According to the SAMHSA report, about 43.8% of full-time workers reported having access at work to educational information about drug and alcohol use, 58.4% reported access to an employee assistance program, and 78.7% reported that their workplace had a policy about drug and alcohol use. “In general, people who reported past-month illicit drug use were less likely to work for employers that provided these programs. In addition, drug testing programs were fairly prevalent. A total of 48.8% of full-time workers reported that their employers conducted testing for drug use. Multivariate analysis suggests that illicit drug users are less likely to work for employers who conduct drug testing.”
Chan Cornett, whose Indianapolis roofing company, Cornett Roofing Systems, underwent a complete staff change six months after instituting a substance-abuse and testing policy in 2002, would agree. The first line in his hiring ads reads: “drug-free company.” “People in the industry laugh,” Cornett says. “We’re probably only receiving 10% of the applications that other companies are, but once we hire, we retain. Roofing companies have high turnover. Usually entry level guys only last six months. Ours average about three years for entry level and foremen about five years.”
Though he has 50 employees and spends $50 per drug test — testing pre-employment, for cause, and randomly — Cornett says he can’t put a number to his return on investment. He doesn’t know if the company has avoided a major lawsuit by not hiring someone. But he says, “In good hires we’ve probably saved $2,500 per employee [by not having to hire and train replacements].”
The biggest benefits Cornett has seen are in attendance and few lost days due to accidents. “We realized, when we compared [statistics with years prior to a policy], there had been a large number of accidents that could have been tied to people being tired or under the influence — even minor incidents such as backing vehicles into things, cutting themselves, not to mention general lost time for disorganization.”
On a larger scale, at Gould Construction, a heavy- and highway-construction company in Colorado that began pre-employment, post-accident, random, and reasonable-suspicion drug testing several years ago, workers’ comp claims went from 19 reported to 7 reported in the first year; 3 in year three, and zero in year four. Says human resources director Carl Metcalf, the company saved $1.5 million.
For drug-screening policies to be successful they should be accompanied by education. Employee assistance programs are available for those who need help dealing with addictions. Although employers are not required to have a three-strikes rule or to reinstate any employee (in fact, recidivism rates are high), a good policy would direct employees to seek help. Hearn has a “last-chance agreement” document that he uses at his discretion. It outlines the conditions for being reinstated as an employee. In 10 years it’s been used just once.
Drug and alcohol addiction will never be eliminated, but within your company you can create a culture that leaves little room for abuse. “I don’t think anybody in our company would tolerate another employee misperforming,” Liu says. “Bonuses are tied to performance, and if anyone’s going to drag them down, [employees are] going to get pretty cranky about it.”
For your business — for the industry itself to grow and thrive — substance abuse policies should be the norm. Excessive accidents, chronic tardiness, and erratic behavior indicate problems that can’t be ignored for your employees’ and for your clients’ sakes. Cornett believes the tide is beginning to turn: “The reality is that there are workers tired of this. They don’t want to be on the other end of the scaffolding with someone who’s impaired.”
Web Extras
Here are more resources relating to drug screening.
This form is used only at the remodeling company owner’s discretion.
Last Chance Agreement
Substance Abuse Policy