In the wake of Illinois legalizing the recreational use of marijuana, the CATA is expanding the syllabus of a course that teaches dealership managers how to detect whether employees are under the influence of the drug at work.
 
The collective bargaining agreement with Mechanics Local 701 stipulates that, for a manager to accuse an employee of being under the influence of drugs or alcohol, the manager must be trained to do so.
 
The association offers a 90-minute online training certification course, "Reasonable Suspicion Training for Supervisors," for $20.
 
Course topics include:

• The effects of substance abuse in the workplace
• The Supervisor’s role and responsibilities in making and documenting reasonable suspicion determinations
• Confidentiality
• Alcohol: its effects on the human body, stages/levels of intoxication
• Dangers and costs of alcohol misuse in the workplace
• Alcohol testing (such as types of testing and best practices),
• Detailed Signs and Symptoms of alcohol use
• Binge drinking, alcohol abuse, alcohol poisoning, and hangover
• The costs and dangers of drug abuse in the workplace
• How drug use affects a person’s life, health, and safety
• An in-depth breakdown of the most common drugs of abuses
• The Signs and Symptoms of the most common drugs of abuse
• Signals indicating possible substance abuse on the job

 

According to the 701 contract: "Current employees shall not be tested for drugs or alcohol unless the Employer has reasonable suspicion to believe that the employee is under the influence … .
 
"Reasonable suspicion shall be established where Employer supervisors who are trained in the detection of drug or alcohol abuse reasonably believe that an employee is under the influence as defined above."
 
Reasonable suspicion also can be established if an employee is involved in a workplace and/or work-related accident that involves bodily injury or damages of $500 or more.