Substance Abuse Prevention Program Agreement

BOSTON HOUSING AUTHORITY Phone: 617-988-4090 Human Resources Fax: 617-988-4291 52 Chauncy Street, 9th Floor TDD: 800-545-1833, ext. 420 Boston, Massachusetts 02111

BOSTON HOUSING AUTHORITY

SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION PROGRAM AGREEMENT

The Boston Housing Authority’s (“BHA”) Drug-Free Workplace policy states that the use of illegal drugs or the abuse of alcohol by BHA employees is inconsistent with a safe, healthy productive work environment.

The intention of this program is to establish the BHA as a drug and alcohol free workplace in order to assure safe and productive working conditions with due regard for the personal privacy interests of BHA employees. It is not the intention of the parties that the BHA intrude on off-duty activities of employees away from the job site unless those activities have a job related impact. The circumstances permitting alcohol and drug testing in this Program have been carefully defined and intentionally restricted.

SUMMARY

The basic elements of the Program are simple. Use, possession or sale of drugs or alcohol on the job is prohibited. Persons who violate this rule or who are convicted for selling drugs off the job will not be permitted to work at the BHA.

Employees who report for work with illegal drugs or alcohol in their system will not be permitted to remain on the job. Such employees will be removed from employment and will not be eligible for reemployment until after a minimum 30 day period of administrative leave without pay, not to exceed 120 days, eliminates any trace of illegal drugs from their system.

Employees who report for work a first or second time with illegal drugs or alcohol in their system shall also be required to enroll in and complete a rehabilitation program approved by the BHA. Any employee who is allowed to return to work after a first period of unpaid administrative leave conditioned on continued participation in and successful completion of an approved rehabilitation program, and who fails to continue in and successfully complete the rehabilitation program, shall be placed on a second unpaid administrative leave, subject to participation in and successful completion of the rehabilitation program and satisfactory substance test results.

Employees who report for work with illegal drugs or alcohol in their system a third time, or who fail to enroll in and complete an approved course of rehabilitation treatment after two periods of unauthorized absence, may be permanently discharged from BHA employment.

The program will be enforced, in part, by limited drug testing. Special safeguards have been undertaken to assure that testing will be conducted by licensed laboratories, under the strictest federal guidelines, with special provisions to assure text reliability, employee privacy and confidentiality. All testing will be conducted only by approved laboratories in accordance with the Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace Testing Programs established by the U.S. Department of Health Human Services, as amended.

JOB APPLICANTS

Equal Opportunity Housing/Equal Opportunity Employer All applicants for BHA positions may be required to satisfactorily complete a drug test before achieving non-probationary status. Specimens may be collected as part of the applicant’s pre- employment physical.

An applicant for a BHA position may be conditionally permitted to work pending receipt from final test results. All applicants will be notified of test results (positive or negative) in sealed envelopes. If test results are confirmed position for illegal drugs or prescription drugs without a valid prescription, the person will not be permitted to work at the BHA. Such persons shall be paid for all time worked.

Refusal on the part of any applicant to comply with the testing procedure will disqualify the applicant from consideration for employment.

ACTIVE EMPLOYEES

All regular employees are subject to a substance testing (drug and/or alcohol) where a BHA supervisor has reasonable cause to suspect that an employee may be impaired on the job. An employee will not be tested under this paragraph unless specific, reliable objective facts and circumstances are sufficient to warrant a prudent person to believed that the employee more probably than not may have ingested an intoxicating substance and is suffering from impairment of some sort while on the job or in a job status. If cause results from observation, the observation shall be reviewed with a union steward, provided a steward is readily available. Before an employee is referred for substance testing, the referral must be reviewed and approved by the BHA’s Director of Human Resources or his/her designee.

Any employee who is involved in an accident in the course of job duties which involves use of vehicles, heavy equipment, power tools or other dangerous instrumentalities or working conditions and which results in a lost time injury or substantial property damage (generally in excess of $1000) may be tested for reasonable cause in cases where a BHA supervisor concludes that:

1. the accident was caused by human error or could have been avoided by reasonably alert action; and 2. the employee to be tested was an active participant in the accident circumstances; and 3. substance use cannot be discounted as a contributing factor.

All time spent in the specimen collection process shall be on the clock at the applicable straight time or overtime rate until the employee is released. Employees removed from the job for reasonable cause testing will remain off the job until test results are received. If the employee tests negatively, the employee will receive full back pay for the time missed.

If the employee test positively, the employee will be barred from the job and placed on unpaid administrative leave, effective the date and time of the specimen collection. Any employee so bared will be eligible for reemployment after a period of not less than thirty (30) days, not to exceed one-hundred and twenty (120) days. Before being rehired, any such employee must pass, within one-hundred and twenty 9120) days, a drug test conducted by an approved laboratory at the employee’s expense and must agree, as a condition of reemployment, to submit to substance testing at BHA’s request for a period of six months.

Any employee who reports for work with illegal drugs or alcohol in his or her system a first or second time must also participate in a rehabilitation program approved by the BHA during his or her period of unpaid administrative leave. Such employee shall provide the BHA with the name of the proposed rehabilitation provider and shall allow the BHA to contact the provider to verify the proposed course of treatment. Prior to being authorized to return to work, any such employee must provide the BHA with written evidence of successful completion of the rehabilitation program, or written evidence that the employee has enrolled in treatment and is fit to return to work provided the employee continues in a specified course of regular treatment. Any such employee who receives a prognosis from an approved rehabilitation program which includes a recommendation for continuing treatment may return to work only on the condition that he or she signs a release which will allow the BHA’s Director of Human Resources or his/her designee to contact the rehabilitation treatment provider on a regular basis to monitor the employee’s continued participation in treatment. Any employee who tests positively for illegal drugs or alcohol in his or her system a first time and fails to continue tin and properly complete an approved course of treatment after conditionally returning to work shall be placed on unpaid administrative leave a second time, subject to successful completion of the approved rehabilitation program and satisfactory test results.

Employees who report for work with illegal drugs or alcohol in their system a third time, or who fail to complete an approved course of rehabilitation treatment after two periods of unauthorized absence, may be permanently discharged from BHA employment.

Any union employee directed for reasonable cause testing shall be entitled to request the presence of a steward in pre-test meetings with BHA supervisors. Provided a steward has been requested and is readily available, no specimen will be collected until the steward can meet with BHA representatives. Before an employee is referred for substance testing, the referral must be reviewed and approved by the BHA’s Director of Human Resources or his/her designee. The procedures described in this paragraph shall not operate to impede timely collection of test specimen.

TEST PROCEDURES

Testing procedures, including drugs to be tested, specimen collection, chain of custody and threshold and confirmation test levels shall comport with the Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace Testing Programs established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as amended. Drug tests shall be conducted only by laboratories licensed and approved by the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) which comply with the American Occupational Medical Association (AOMA) ethical standards. Any alcohol testing will be conducted under procedures approved by Massachusetts law. Currently, tests will only be conducted for marijuana, cocaine, opiates, phencyclidine, amphetamines and alcohol. Before submitting to specimen collection, employees shall be given the opportunity, in confidence, to report any prior recent use of over-the-counter or prescription drugs. Drug tests shall be by urinalysis and shall consist of two procedures, a screen test (EMIT or equivalent) and if that is positive, a confirmation test (GC/MS or equivalent). If the screen is negative, there will be no second test. Urine specimens shall be collected in such a manner as to give the employee as much privacy as possible without degrading the reliability of the test. Specimen collection shall not be observed as a matter of routine.

Alcohol tests will be by blood analysis. Any test revealing a blood/alcohol level equal or greater than .08 percent shall be positive.

TEST RESULTS

Any positive test for drugs or alcohol shall be reported to a Medical Review Officer (MRO) appointed by the designated laboratory. The Medical Review Officer shall review the test results and any disclosure made by the employee and shall attempt to interview the employee to determine if there is any physiological or medical reason why the result should not be deemed positive. If the MRO declares the test positive, notification shall be provided, in writing, to the employee and simultaneously to the BHA Administrator. The administrator shall keep test results in medical confidence.

RE-TESTS

In the event of a positive drug screen, there is an automatic confirmation test performed by the drug testing laboratory at no cost to the employee. In addition, the drug test laboratory shall preserve a sufficient specimen to permit independent re-testing at the request of the employee or the Union at their expense. Re-tests may be conducted by the same or any other approved laboratory. The laboratory shall endeavor to notify the MRO of positive rest results within five working days after receipt of the specimen. The Union or employee may request a re-test within five working days from notice of a positive test results by the MRO. Costs of re-tests will be paid in advance by the requesting party. In the event the initial test is proven to be a false positive, costs for any re-tests shall be reimbursed.

CHAIN OF CUSTODY

The laboratory and the specimen collection facility must establish and maintain a forensically acceptable chain of custody.

CONSENT FORMS

Employees must execute a consent form to release the report of test results to the BHA Administrator. Failure to sign the appropriate release forms or to comply with testing procedures otherwise will constitute grounds to remove the employee from BHA employment. Signing the consent form shall not waive any individual rights available under federal or state law.

APPEAL PROCEDURE

Any disputes involving application of this agreement shall be referred to the Grievance and Arbitration Procedure established by each Union’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Such disputes may be initiated at Step 2. Nothing in the grievance procedure may void the application of this Program. Employees must first comply with the testing procedure and grieve any disputes afterwards.

EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

The parties are eager to help employees with substance abuse problems. The BHA will assist employees in discussing insurance coverage and locating available counselling, rehabilitation and community resources.

SAVINGS AND SEPARABILITY

It is not the intention of the BHA to violate any applicable federal or state laws by enactment of this agreement or in its application. In the event any provisions of the agreement are held to be illegal or void as being in contravention of any law, the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect. The parties further agree to meet promptly to commence negotiations concerning the provision affected by such decision for the purpose of achieving conformity with the requirements of the applicable law and the intent of the parties hereto.

REVISION OR AMENDMENTS

No revisions or amendments shall be made to this policy except with the written approval of the parties to this agreement. This policy shall be effective as of the date of execution and shall remain in effect for the duration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, unless terminated or amended by mutual consent.