Simsbury to Implement Random Drug Tests for Seasonal Staff

The Simsbury Board of Selectmen voted unanimously Wednesday to amend an existing drug and alcohol free workplace policy to include random drug testing for seasonal employees.

The revision to the town's policy will require seasonal employees that work in "safety sensitive" capacities to submit to random drug screening during their employment.The change was recommended by the personnel subcommittee and proposed to the board by Selectman Lisa Heavner and Sean Kimball, Deputy Director of Administrative Services.

The existing policy requires a drug test for all town employees when they are first hired. Seasonal employees are also tested when they are first hired but not when they return for another season.

Kimball said the bulk of the town's seasonal employees are camp counselors and lifeguards.

"What we're realizing is that we're probably not being quite as effective as we could be because there's not really any oversight on those future years," Kimball said. "But also we're spending extra money testing those folks that we're testing now."

The subcommittee sees the policy change as a way to reduce the expense of testing every employee while ensuring those who return for seasonal employment haven't abused drugs during periods of unemployment.

The town's administrative policies are based on the analysis conducted by the subcommittee of 12 similar towns in the region. First Selectman Mary Glassman said most towns only perform pre-employment background checks for seasonal employees.

"The proposed change makes us the most restrictive town in all of the 12 towns we reviewed, and many other towns as well," Glassman said.

Wethersfield was the only town the subcomittee reviewed that provided for random drug screening of seasonal employees, Kimball said.

The adoption of a random screening policy coupled with the town's ability to access criminal records at no cost would be a more effective way to enforce the  policy, Kimball said.

Selectman Sean Askham asked Kimball how many tests the subcommittee planned on administering each year.

"Somewhere between 10 and 20 ought to certainly get the message across and let people know that this is a real thing," Kimball said.

"The advantage of the random testing is sometimes when people come and know they are going to be pre-tested before employment they will stop using for a period of time before," Heavner said. "This is actually a safer way to ensure the safety of our children."

The move to change the policy was not inspired by any incidents and doesn't reflect on the town's current employees, Kimball said.

"We have excellent camp counselor staff, excellent lifeguards but this is really, as part of risk management, sort of what we do and we want to make sure that our existing policies are as good as they can possibly be," Kimball said.

Askham asked whether the new policy would provide enough assurance that all new employees are drug free.

"My only concern is if we're not testing folks right off the bat they get out 2-3 years before they even get tested," Askham said.

Kimball said the committee felt the combination of background checks and random screening would suffice. Also, if a manager suspects an employee is abusing drugs or alcohol, a drug test could be requested based on "reasonable suspicion," Kimball said.