It’s come to my attention that one of our employees has been taking illegal drugs. I know he takes them at the weekend because he’s quite open about it but I don’t, as yet, have evidence that he’s taking them during working hours but I worry he might be. There is a company policy in place regarding drug testing which is referred to in his contract. In light of this, can I legally send him for tests? If so, and the test comes back positive what options are open to me?

John Jermyn writes:

This is a very complex issue due to the fact that the statutory provision for drug testing in the workplace has not yet been fully implemented.