Alcohol and drug testing in the workplace: cabinet plans shelved
Date: Aug. 16, 2022
Modified November 14, 2023
Written by: Annemarie van Woudenberg
Reading time: +/- 2 minutes
Date: Aug. 16, 2022
Modified November 14, 2023
Written by: Annemarie van Woudenberg
Reading time: +/- 2 minutes
Back in 2019, Annemarie van Woudenberg wrote an extensive article about the (im)possibility of alcohol and/or drug testing in the workplace. This was followed in January 2020 by a hopeful update that the cabinet had plans to make more possible in this area. However, due to the coronavirus, the Cabinet postponed these plans. Recently, a new parliamentary letter from Minister van Gennip (Social Affairs and Employment) was published in which she discusses the state of affairs regarding this topic. High time, therefore, for a new update.
At present, in principle, there is no legal basis for conducting alcohol and/or drug tests on employees. The employer's options are therefore limited to a proper ADM (alcohol, drugs and medicines) policy that includes clear rules and possible consequences for violating them. An exception applies only to occupations where the possibility of taking certain tests is laid down by law, such as in the 1994 Road Traffic Act and the Shipping Traffic Act, among others.
So what will (potentially) be different in the future? The minister believes that alcohol and/or drug testing of employees may be proportionate in specific situations and under strict conditions. The legislative pathway will therefore be restarted as promised in 2020. This means that it will (only) be made possible to take alcohol and/or drug tests in predetermined specific high-risk situations, for specific jobs and job groups.
The tests will be possible for companies covered by the Major Accident Hazards Decree 2015 (Brzo 2015). In the Netherlands, it involves some 400 companies. In particular, it concerns companies that work with hazardous substances. The minister aims to offer the bill for Internet consultation in the fall of 2022.
Further research should reveal whether alcohol and/or drug testing will be possible in other sectors in the future. This will include the experiences at Brzo companies, so it is expected that this will take some time.
So much for the update; we will keep you posted on the follow-up.
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