Drug & Alcohol Policy template
A drug and alcohol policy sets out {{org.name}}'s rules on alcohol, drugs, and impairing medication at work — what is prohibited, what should be disclosed, how someone struggling can get help, and what happens when the rules are broken. It separates two things that are often confused: supporting a health problem and dealing with a conduct problem.
Most managers meet this issue rarely and handle it under pressure: the smell of alcohol on a shift worker, a prescription causing drowsiness around machinery. A policy written in calm conditions is what stops those moments becoming unsafe, unfair, or both.
One caution before anything else: drug testing and marijuana are governed by state and local law, and those laws vary sharply — some states restrict who can be tested and when, and some protect off-duty marijuana use. This template flags every point where you need state-specific advice rather than pretending one set of rules works everywhere.
Full text, ready to adapt.
Highlighted fields are placeholders — replace them with your organisation's specifics. A starting point, not legal advice.
Drug & Alcohol Policy
Policy · Company Policies
1. Purpose and scope
This policy sets the rules on alcohol, drugs, and impairing medication for everyone working for or on behalf of {{org.name}}, including contractors and agency staff — on our premises, at client sites, when driving on business, and at work-organized events.
It exists to keep people safe, to treat dependency as a health issue wherever possible, and to make the conduct rules clear enough to enforce fairly. It is a policy, not a contract: it does not create a contract of employment, express or implied, and it does not alter the at-will nature of employment at {{org.name}}.
2. Policy statement
Nobody may work for {{org.name}} while impaired by alcohol or drugs. Nobody may drink alcohol during working hours outside authorized events, or possess or distribute illegal drugs on our premises or in company vehicles. We will support anyone who tells us they have a dependency problem and seeks help; we will use the [progressive discipline policy] when the rules are broken.
3. Definitions
- Impaired: not fit to perform your role safely and competently, whatever the substance or amount involved.
- Working hours: any time you are working, on call, or driving on business, including paid breaks — not only time on site.
- Safety-sensitive work: [list roles — e.g. driving, operating machinery, working at height, caring for vulnerable people] where impairment could injure someone.
- Authorized events: occasions where [senior role] has approved moderate alcohol, such as [examples].
- Drugs: illegal drugs, controlled substances without a valid prescription, and any substance — marijuana included — used in a way that impairs you at work.
4. The rules
- Do not work, drive on business, or attend client sites while impaired by alcohol or drugs.
- Do not drink alcohol during working hours except at authorized events — and never before safety-sensitive work, including returning to it later the same day.
- Do not possess, use, or distribute illegal drugs on {{org.name}} premises or in company vehicles at any time.
- Marijuana: even where state law permits its use, being impaired at work is prohibited. [State your position on off-duty use only after checking your state's law — some states protect lawful off-duty use and medical patients.]
- If a manager judges someone unfit to work, they will be sent home safely — by [taxi/rideshare/arranged transport], never driving themselves — and the matter reviewed on the next working day.
5. Medication, disclosure and support
If prescribed or over-the-counter medication may cause drowsiness or affect your work, tell [manager/named role] before starting work — you do not need to name the medication or the condition. We will adjust duties where needed, and disclosure is never punished. Where medication relates to a disability, we handle the conversation under our reasonable accommodation process.
Anyone who tells us they have a problem with alcohol or drugs before it surfaces through an incident will be supported: a confidential conversation with [named role], adjusted duties where appropriate, time off for treatment under [our leave arrangements / the employee assistance program], and discretion throughout. Coming forward is not a free pass for conduct that has already endangered someone, but it always counts in a person's favor and shifts the emphasis from discipline to recovery.
6. Testing — take advice before adopting this section
Whether {{org.name}} may test — and when, whom, and how — depends on the law of each state and locality where we operate. Some states permit testing only in defined circumstances, some regulate the procedure and the laboratory, and some restrict testing for marijuana specifically. Nothing in this policy asserts a right to test; delete this section entirely if you do not test.
Where testing operates, it is limited to [circumstances your counsel has confirmed are lawful in your state — e.g. reasonable suspicion documented by two trained managers, post-incident where impairment may have contributed], carried out by [accredited provider] under a documented procedure, with results handled confidentially and shared only with [roles]. [Name/role] confirms the current legal position with counsel before any test is arranged.
7. DOT-regulated roles
Employees in safety-sensitive roles regulated by the US Department of Transportation — [list, e.g. commercial drivers] — are covered by a separate federal testing and compliance regime with its own rules on testing, violations, and return to duty. It takes precedence over this policy wherever the two differ. [Name/role] administers our DOT program; delete this section if no roles are covered.
8. Violations, records and review
Violations are handled under the [progressive discipline policy]. Working while impaired in a safety-sensitive role, or distributing illegal drugs at work, will normally be treated as a serious violation that can lead to termination. Where dependency emerges during the process, we will pause and consider support and any accommodation obligations before deciding the outcome.
Records of incidents, referrals, and any test results are held confidentially in [system/location], separate from routine personnel files, with access limited to [roles]. This policy is reviewed [frequency], after any incident involving impairment, and whenever the law changes in a state where we operate. Owner: [name/role]. Next review: [date].
How to adapt this template.
List your genuinely safety-sensitive roles first — the stricter rules in the policy hang off that list.
Before writing anything about testing or marijuana, get state-specific legal advice for every state where you have employees — these are the two sections you cannot safely copy from any template.
Decide your position on alcohol at work events and state it; the holiday party is where vague policies fail.
Set up the confidential support route before publishing — a named person and, if you have one, the employee assistance program.
Brief managers on the send-home procedure, including how the person gets home — an impaired employee driving home is your risk too.
If you employ DOT-regulated workers, run that program separately and cross-reference it here rather than merging the rules.
Turn this template into trained, proven behaviour
A policy in a drawer proves nothing. In TrainedTeam this template becomes assigned training with knowledge checks, e-signature acknowledgments, version history, and an audit-ready record of who completed what, when.
Drug & Alcohol Policy template FAQs
Can we test employees for drugs and alcohol?
It depends entirely on state and local law, and the answer differs by type of test — pre-employment, reasonable suspicion, post-incident, and random are each regulated differently from state to state. No template can tell you what is lawful where you operate; get state-specific advice, and never test outside a written, communicated policy.
How should the policy handle marijuana?
Carefully. Marijuana remains federally controlled, but many states have legalized it, and some protect lawful off-duty use or registered medical patients. Prohibiting impairment at work is safe ground everywhere; anything beyond that — off-duty rules, testing, refusing to hire over a positive result — needs state-specific advice before you write it down.
Should we discipline or support an employee with a dependency problem?
Provide for both and say which applies when. Dependency disclosed voluntarily is best treated as a health matter — and alcoholism and recovery from addiction can be protected under the ADA. Conduct that endangered people is a disciplinary matter even where dependency explains it. Sequence it: investigate the conduct, but consider support and accommodation before deciding the outcome.
What should a manager do if someone appears impaired at work?
Remove them from work immediately, arrange safe transport home rather than letting them drive, and record what was observed at the time — specific, factual observations, not diagnoses. The conversation about consequences happens on the next working day, and if your state permits reasonable-suspicion testing, the documented observations are what justify it.
What is different about DOT-regulated employees?
Employees in safety-sensitive transportation roles — commercial drivers are the common case — fall under a federal DOT testing regime with its own mandatory rules on testing, violations, and return to duty. It operates separately from state law and this policy, so run it as its own program and cross-reference it rather than blending the two.
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