4. Develop a policy

All organisations can benefit from an agreed policy on drug/alcohol misuse. You could include a drug and alcohol policy as part of your overall health and safety policy.

If an employee tells you they have a drug or alcohol problem, an effective policy should aim to help and support them rather than lead to dismissal.

But it should also highlight when you will take disciplinary or other action, for example that you will report drug possession or dealing at work to the police straight away.

There are examples of what to include in a drug and alcohol policy in the report Managing drug and alcohol misuse at work on the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) website.

If you choose to use Screening and testing for drugs and alcohol, you could include that in your policy.

Check and review what you have done

You should regularly check if your policy is working and whether you need to make changes.

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Updated 2026-07-01