Monthly Archives: November 2014

Painkiller Addiction is on the Rise with Employees

Attendence, Drug Testing, Management, , ,

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that nearly 2 million people in the United States are addicted to prescription pain killers. One of those people might be your employee.

Opioid painkillers such as Vicodin and Oxycontin that are hydrocodone and oxycodone based are commonly prescribed to treat work-place injuries and other types of chronic pain. But these drugs are often over-prescribed and abused by patients and addiction is very common. In fact, in the last ten years, painkiller addiction rates have risen to epidemic proportions in the United States, the CDC said.

Injured or chronically ill workers who develop an addiction to painkillers represent a health and safety concern to themselves and to fellow workers. They can also create potential liability risks for you, the employer, and can lead to a less efficient and less productive workforce.

An obvious first-step in dealing with any kind of drug problem in the workplace is to be proactive and have a drug-testing policy in place that allows pre-employment testing, random drug testing, testing after workplace accidents and testing based on reasonable suspicion.

Then train your managers to look for the signs of substance abuse, particularly in employees who slack off at work, take unusual and frequent breaks, are no longer punctual, and who occasionally slur their speech or make unwarranted mistakes in their work.  While many employees may be able to manage their chronic pain responsibly and without abuse, you should be aware of the warning signs of abuse and educate your managers on them as well. These signs can include bloodshot eyes, sudden weight loss, a lack of grooming, poor attendance or other uncharacteristic behavior.

Before you take action against an impaired employee, you need to consider and weigh both the safety of your employees versus the risk of a lawsuit by the employee who is abusing drugs. The Family and Medical Leave Act or the Americans with Disabilities Act may apply to this situation, so don’t make any hasty decisions without legal advice.

Texas Employers Should Consider Equal Treatments for LGBT Employees

Discrimination, Employee Rights, , , , , ,

Texas employers traditionally have not had to worry about being accused of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, because there is no federal or Texas law that makes sexual orientation discrimination illegal. Additionally, Texas employers previously have not had to provide spousal benefits, such as family coverage under a group health care policy, to same sex spouses.

The laws of Texas have not changed, but the tide is turning for all American employers, and Texas businesses are not immune to that trend. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively legalized gay marriage in 11 more states when the court declined to hear appeals of lower court decisions finding state laws banning same sex marriage unconstitutional. So recently, gay couples received marriage licenses and were married in several conservative states including Oklahoma, Colorado, North Carolina, Virginia, and even Utah.

At the same time, the EEOC and several courts have been wrestling with Title VII gender discrimination claims by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) employees who say their employers have discriminated against them. Eighteen states and the District of Columbia have laws explicitly protecting LGBT employees. 91 percent of Fortune 500 companies already prohibit this kind of discrimination. But in the states where sexual orientation laws are not in place, employers can expect the EEOC and disgruntled workers to file cases to try to change the law through the court system if not the legislature.

Finally, President Obama has issued an executive order requiring that businesses that do at least $10,000 in federal work annually have to protect LGBT employees from discrimination. This affects an estimated 22 percent of the civilian workforce nationwide and many employers in Texas.

All of this means that Texas employers are engaging in very risky behavior if the employer doesn’t protect its employees from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. In addition, many Texas employers have retail locations or offices in the 30 states that recognize same sex marriage. Therefore, consistency in employment policies means that most of these employers should go ahead and change the definition of “spouse” in their policies and insurance plans to include same sex spouses regardless in which state the employee resides.

You may not agree politically with these changes sweeping the country, but as a prudent employer, you should consider whether the wise business decision for your company is to protect LGBT employees and treat them equally when it comes to benefits.