 | Drug Testing: Restaurant staff face drug testing |
 Restaurant workers may face drug testing in new anti-drugs moves by the Restaurant Association of New Zealand.
The Association launched a drug and alcohol education programme today that includes a package of different measures for employers. Among the measures are rehabilitation schemes that include random drug and alcohol tests.
 05/10/04 Union Criticises Drug Testing Of Hospitality Staff
12/10/04 Forget The Tests, Bottles Are For Holding The Wine
New Zealand Herald, 04.10.2004
Restaurant workers may face drug testing in moves to combat drug abuse in the hospitality workplace reports NZPA.
The Restaurant Association of New Zealand said today prevalent drug use among hospitality workers prompted the organisation to launch a drug and alcohol education programme today.
Association chief executive Neville Waldren said it was estimated up to 40 per cent of restaurant workers had tried illegal drugs at least once over the past year.
Drug abuse was the number one cause for workplace violence and workplace theft in the restaurant industry and the time had come to stand up to the problem.
"It impacts on our ability to serve the public. Our people are working in a difficult environment as it is and drug problems compound the difficulties," he told NZPA today.
"This is not a problem unique to our industry, research has shown it's a problem all over the country. We have 1600 businesses as members, and that's up to 20,000 workers, so we want to be proactive and act quickly.
The restaurant and hospitality business employs around 75,000 people nationwide.
The programme was developed in response to research by the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR), which estimated 40 per cent of the national workforce in New Zealand had tried illegal drugs at least once over the past 12 months.
Mr Waldren said with the social nature of the hospitality industry, combined with the relatively young demographic make-up of the workforce, ESR believed the 40 per cent figure held true for the hospitality and food service sectors.
"The situation has been brought to a head. One restaurant in Auckland had four staff aged under 20 addicted to P (methamphetamine), and at another place a staff member confessed to stealing $10,000 primarily to feed a P habit."
The Restaurant Association/ESR workplace kit includes newly drafted employment agreement forms allowing for the potential of drug testing, how employers and staff can recognise drug and alcohol abuse symptoms, advisory posters for staff locker and changing rooms, and rehabilitation measures.
Employees observed taking, selling, supplying or being in possession of drugs at work will be disciplined.
Voluntary and compulsory rehabilitation will be offered, with the affected employee to be subjected to at least three random drug and alcohol tests over the next 12 months. ESR will provide the drug testing.
Failure to take part in a rehabilitation programme would be grounds for dismissal.
The association's president, David Meagher, said in a statement today the unprecedented rise in P use among young people -- including bar and restaurant staff -- had reached epidemic proportions and was affecting service standards in bars, restaurants and cafes around the country.
"Three years ago P was virtually unheard of. Now it is prevalent in our society. P is our number one target because it's so dangerous and addictive ... it's far more addictive than cocaine, heroin or alcohol."
"We see this as a crucial health and safety issue. Kitchens can be hazardous places to work ... and for front of house, it is essential our staff act in a professional manner ... a barman or waitress under the influence of drugs or alcohol does not live up to that image."
The Service and Food Workers Union today condemned the proposed drug testing.
Union spokesman Alistair Duncan said if the industry really had the welfare of its customers and its workers at heart it would put investment into training, improving wages and for the tiny proportion of staff who had drug dependency, providing an employee assistance programme.
"What would be the training level for detecting staff on drugs? If it's peer group level then it is open to abuse, to snitching and manipulation.
"This is a sledgehammer approach. They should be working with drug and alcohol professionals.
"What they should be talking about is education at all levels, not just placing an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff."
Mr Duncan said he did not fault the principle of what the association was doing, but he did question the method.
"Just because 40 per cent of workers may have tried illegal drugs once over the past 12 months doesn't mean all of that percentage has a problem that is affecting their work."
The Air New Zealand case earlier in the year showed widespread drug testing was not appropriate, he said.
In a landmark decision in April the Employment Court in Auckland decided Air New Zealand may drug test some of its employees in specific circumstances.
In its judgment the court found that the Health and Safety in Employment Act and general law imposed "absolute duties on employers to take all practicable steps to eliminate hazards to employees and others".
Because of this the court said it was reasonable that employers should be able to take measures, including drug testing, in "safety-sensitive areas".
Hospitality Association of New Zealand president Bruce Robertson said despite the announcement of today's measures he could not foresee any alteration in current workplace agreements for his members.
"We know the Restaurant Association has had a bee in their bonnets about this situation. Whether the problem is as widespread as they say, I couldn't say," he told NZPA today.
"We will continue to provide our members with good employment advice, to allow them to use appropriate procedures should they encounter any problems."
- NZPA
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3597311
Recreational drug use rife among hospitality workers
09.10.2004
By ALEXIS GRANT, New Zealand Herald
Next time you bite into a little smoked salmon with vodka and dill fettuccine, consider the state of mind of the restaurant staff who prepared your meal.
Behind the counter, employees could be participating in a drug culture that some people say is all too pervasive in restaurants and bars.
At one busy Auckland bar, says one of the bartenders, the majority of employees take drugs recreationally.
"There's not any of us that I know of that take it to get by from shift to shift. [But] every now and again, you'll take half a pill or something like that just for a bit of a laugh," said the 23-year-old, who asked not to be named.
He smoked "P" - pure methamphetamine - when he started bartending 3 1/2 years ago, but kicked the habit two years later, he said.
"You can't function. You can stay up, but you can't do your job."
The drug use that sometimes accompanies the late-night social atmosphere at restaurants and bars has the Restaurant Association pushing for drug testing for employees, a move that has sparked debate.
"People work under stress, long hours. It's easy at the end of a shift, at 1 o'clock in the morning, to take illicit drugs," said association chief executive Neville Waldron.
A 29-year-old bartender at a popular Auckland bar said: "I wouldn't say anyone particularly takes these drugs to go to work. I think every now and again someone will be given a tablet or speed [at work] and they may take it, but I think it's more for recreational use after work."
Tony Adcock, co-owner of Harbourside Seafood Bar & Grill in Auckland, said it was not a new problem, just different drugs.
A Rotorua cafe worker claimed many of the city's front-of-house hospitality staff were regular drug users. The man, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said he regularly used cocaine and Ecstasy. While he never went to work under the influence of drugs, he knew of many others who regularly turned up to the job "off their faces".
"It's just that type of environment really. People are happy and having a good time and just want to be on a good buzz."
In the book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, author and celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain describes illicit drug use in New York.
He wrote: "We were high all the time, sneaking off to the walk-in at every possible opportunity. [Our goal was] to work through the drugs, the fatigue, the lack of sleep, the pain, to show no visible effects."
Judith Tabron, owner of Soul Bar & Bistro in Auckland, said she watched for drug use when she hired new workers. While drug abuse was a problem in the hospitality business, said Ms Tabron: "I don't believe we have any more of a problem [than other industries] except that we've identified it because we deal with cash and we deal with that late-night crowd."
Drug testing would be an unnecessary invasion of privacy, said David Williamson, a lecturer in hospitality at the Auckland University of Technology and former restaurant owner.
"If you're a good manager, you know what's going on with your staff. You can pick up those things and deal with them on a one-to-one basis."
Others said drug testing could be useful in all industries.
"[Drug use] is not just a restaurant industry thing. It's a New Zealand-wide problem," said Chris Rupe, owner of SPQR Cafe & Bar in Auckland who supports the Restaurant Association's initiative.
DRUG OF CHOICE
Cocaine: You get your food fast, but it's not cooked.
Cannabis: You don't get any food because the chef ate it.
Ecstasy: Your food is good, but the chef is sooooo into you.
Acid (LSD): You get an empty plate of food - the chef saw it as full.
Pure methamphetamine (P): You could order food at 4am - if restaurants were open.
Note: Newshawk: MrZippy
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