- 45 East Deloney Avenue PO Box 1552
- (+061) 307-733-3005
Drug Free Workplace Program: Virginia
Five easy steps to implementing a Drug Free Workplace program in Virginia and receiving the state mandated 5% discount.
Scroll down for five easy steps to becoming a Certified Drug Free Workplace and qualifying for the state mandated 5% discount on workers compensation insurance. Virginia Law states: § 65.2-813.2. Every insurer providing coverage pursuant to this title shall provide a premium discount of up to five percent to every employer instituting and maintaining a drug-free workplace program satisfying such criteria as each insurer may establish. Our nonprofit agency, established in 1969, has helped more than 9,044 organizations implement their drug free workplace program. Together we can make a difference in the fight against drug abuse in our nation.
If your organization is already a drug free workplace, we will help you maintain compliance each year.
Please note: VIRGINIA STATE AND FEDERAL CONTRACT & GRANT RECIPIENTS MUST MAINTAIN A DRUG FREE WORKPLACE. TO READ THE LAW, SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE.
Your drug free workplace membership meets all requirements of Virginia law and includes monthly employee drug education training newsletters. Membership includes:
One-year membership including all of the above and the monthly employee newsletter in English for $165. If you wish to add the employee newsletter in Spanish, it is an additional $55. If you wish to add the supervisor newsletter, it is an additional $120.
Safe Driver Policy, Driver Acknowledgement Form, Violence Prevention Policy & Procedures Manual, and Violence Prevention Policy available free upon request.
The 5% state-mandated discount on workers comp insurance results in an annual savings of several thousand dollars for most companies and organizations, and your membership helps our 501(c)3 nonprofit agency prevent drug abuse among children.
Click Join Now above to join the Council’s Drug-Free Workplace program and subscribe to the Drug-Free Workplace monthly Employee Education newsletter.
Please note: We also offer Supervisor Training newsletters and Spanish Employee version newsletters for a small additional fee. These monthly newsletters are the most cost-effective way to meet your drug-free workplace training requirements. In-person presentations and videotape training require that employees stop work to attend training resulting in loss of payroll and loss of productivity. Monthly newsletters solve this problem and save your company thousands of training dollars.
Step 1: SUBSTANCE ABUSE POLICY (Approximate time required: 10 minutes)
Your company must have a substance abuse policy in place that meets all requirements of Virginia law.
We e-mail you a ‘fill-in-the-blank’ policy in English and Spanish. Simply print the policy on company letterhead and hand it out to all employees. If you have any questions regarding the substance abuse policy, we have drug free workplace experts who will answer your questions at no charge. Sample letters and forms are included in the policy. These should also be printed on company letterhead.
Step 2: SUPERVISOR TRAINING (Approximate time required: 2 hours)
You should conduct a first hour of supervisor training prior to applying for your drug free workplace certification. The first hour of supervisor training should include a discussion of how to enforce the new company substance abuse policy along with viewing one of our supervisor training videos or DVDs. We will assist you in selecting an appropriate video or DVD for supervisor training. The second hour of supervisor training can be conducted within 6 months. The second hour of supervisor training may be completed by selecting another video/DVD from our video library list, or by subscribing to our Supervisor Training newsletters. Download a sample supervisor newsletter.
The supervisor newsletters are the most cost-effective and efficient way to train your supervisors how to supervise a certified drug free workplace!
Step 3: TWO HOURS OF EMPLOYEE EDUCATION (Approximate time required: 2 hours)
You should conduct at least two hours of employee drug education in the first year of certification. Our monthly Employee Education newsletter is the most cost-effective means of conducting this training and is included in your membership fee. Distributing the newsletter to employees once a month provides a total of two hours of employee drug education. The Employee Education newsletters are emailed to you on a monthly basis. We suggest they be attached to your employees' paychecks, but how you distribute them is up to you. Drug education is appropriate and critically important to an employer’s overall efforts to prevent drug abuse in the workplace and protect workers. Drug education received at work can be taken home and shared with the employees' children to help keep them drug and alcohol free. Download a sample Employee Education newsletter (also available in Spanish). Research has shown that information, education, and training that are provided and reinforced in the workplace itself rather than in an offsite classroom has a deeper impact on workplace attitudes and behaviors. Information that is presented through the workplace in smaller amounts, over longer periods, and frequently reinforced is often understood better and more motivating than one-time-only trainings or meetings.
The newsletters are the most cost-effective and efficient way to provide annual employee drug education and training.
Step 4: Drug Testing.
The Council offers a variety of drug testing solutions for small to medium sized businesses -- from instant result devices to site collection devices with lab confirmation, as well as many turn-key fixed-facility options. Not sure which solution is best for your company? Drug testing options can be reviewed at: https://drugfreeworkplacestore.com/drug-test-kits/
Contact one of our knowledgeable testing experts today to discuss your state specific requirements.
Please call our Testing Experts at (404) 223-2481 for more information.
Step 5: EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (EAP) OR RESOURCE FILE (Approximate time required: 5 minutes)
Drug-free workplace programs should provide either an EAP (Employee Assistance Program) or a resource list of treatment and counseling centers in their area.
Many health insurance plans include an Employee Assistance Program (EAP). If your company health insurance plan does not include EAP, or if your company does not offer health insurance for employees, we will provide you with an updated list of treatment and counseling centers in your area.
After completing the aforementioned five steps, we will assist you in applying or reapplying for certification and obtaining your state mandated 5% discount on workers compensation insurance.
THE COUNCIL ON ALCOHOL AND DRUGS, ALONG WITH THE DRUGS DON’T WORK PROGRAM, ARE DEDICATED TO EDUCATING EMPLOYERS, EMPLOYEES AND THE PUBLIC AT LARGE ABOUT:
(1) the dangers of substance abuse, especially the abuse of illicit drugs; (2) the impact of such abuse on the workplace; (3) the most appropriate, effective and legally accepted means for employers to address their substance abuse in the workplace problems; (4) the rights and responsibilities of employers and employees; (5) the status of legislative, regulatory and legal developments at the state level, and; (6) the very legitimate and necessary - role of employers in our national effort to combat drug abuse.
The Council on Alcohol and Drugs recognizes the threat of drug abuse in the workplace. Among other consequences, drug and alcohol abuse decreases productivity and increases accidents, absenteeism, product defects, medical and insurance costs, and employee theft. Employers and employees have a large stake and legitimate role to play in the "war on drugs." Click on the Join Now button below to become a member of The Council on Alcohol and Drugs' Drug Free Workplace Program and qualify for the state mandated 5% discount on your workers' compensation premiums. Your membership helps our 501(c)3 nonprofit agency, established in 1969, to prevent drug abuse among children.
Virginia State contractors and grant recipients are required by law to maintain a drug free workplace program:
§ 2.2-4312. Drug-free workplace to be maintained by contractor; required contract provisions.
All public bodies shall include in every contract over $10,000 the following provisions:
During the performance of this contract, the contractor agrees to (i) provide a drug-free workplace for the contractor's employees; (ii) post in conspicuous places, available to employees and applicants for employment, a statement notifying employees that the unlawful manufacture, sale, distribution, dispensation, possession, or use of a controlled substance or marijuana is prohibited in the contractor's workplace and specifying the actions that will be taken against employees for violations of such prohibition; (iii) state in all solicitations or advertisements for employees placed by or on behalf of the contractor that the contractor maintains a drug-free workplace; and (iv) include the provisions of the foregoing clauses in every subcontract or purchase order of over $10,000, so that the provisions will be binding upon each subcontractor or vendor.
For the purposes of this section, "drug-free workplace" means a site for the performance of work done in connection with a specific contract awarded to a contractor in accordance with this chapter, the employees of whom are prohibited from engaging in the unlawful manufacture, sale, distribution, dispensation, possession or use of any controlled substance or marijuana during the performance of the contract.
The Council on Alcohol and Drugs, Inc.
270 Peachtree Street NW, Suite 2200
Atlanta, GA 30303-1283
Phone: (404) 223-2486
Fax: (866) 786-9811
Email: swade@livedrugfree.org
