Orange County NC Website
Orange County Personnel Rules and Regulations Manual Issue Date: 10/21/09 13 <br />17. Substantiating Reasonable Suspicion. "Reasonable Suspicion" exists <br />when trained personnel substantiate specific, objective, observations that <br />can be articulated concerning appearance, behavior, speech, body odor or <br />other indicators of probable drug or alcohol use. <br />18. Trained Personnel. "Reasonable Suspicion" of drug or alcohol use <br />requires substantiation by trained personnel. Trained personnel for this <br />purpose means an individual who has received at least one hour of training <br />on alcohol misuse and one hour of training on drug misuse, including <br />physical, behavioral, speech and performance indicators of probable <br />alcohol or drug misuse. <br />19. Determining Reasonable Suspicion. In the determining reasonable <br />suspicion, the following process is followed: <br />(1) A supervisor who suspects that an employee is at work under the <br />influence of drugs or alcohol immediately informs the department <br />head of this and the specific reasons. <br />(2) If the department head is not available or has not received the <br />necessary training to substantiate reasonable suspicion, a trained <br />supervisor may serve as the department head's designee. <br />(3) The department head immediately contacts the Employment <br />Officer, Employee Relations Officer or Human Resource Director. <br />If the Employment Officer, Employee Relations Officer or Human. <br />Resource Director is not available, another trained Human <br />Resource staff member may assist in process of determining <br />reasonable suspicion. The department director and the trained <br />human resource representative meet with the employee involved in <br />order to directly observe the employee's behavior. <br />(4) Based on this and review of all the available information, the <br />department director and human resource representative jointly <br />determine whether sufficient evidence exists to substantiate <br />reasonable suspicion of drug or alcohol use and to require a drug <br />and alcohol test. <br />(5) The department head and the human resource representative make <br />a written record of the specific observations leading to the <br />reasonable suspicion determination and sign it. <br />(6) The determination of reasonable suspicion requires a trained <br />supervisor and a trained human resource representative as provided <br />in this section. <br />Page 10 <br />