Board flags inconsistency in staff alcohol policy; drafter to correct return‑to‑duty language
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Summary
A board member pointed out a contradiction in the proposed personnel policy that disciplines staff for 'any detectable amount' of alcohol but allows a 0.02 alcohol level as part of Department of Transportation return-to-duty procedures; the drafter said they would verify and restore a zero-tolerance standard if appropriate.
Board Member (speaker 4) raised a policy concern about inconsistent language in the staff drug/alcohol policy. The policy draft now states an employee could be subject to disciplinary action, up to termination, for "any detectable amount" of alcohol while at work. Later in the return‑to‑duty section the draft references Department of Transportation procedures and indicates an alcohol threshold of 0.02 for return to duty. The board member questioned whether it was contradictory to allow return with 0.02 after stating termination could occur for any detectable amount.
Board Member (speaker 7), who had entered the language, acknowledged the potential inconsistency and said they would check the text and correct it: "Because it really should be 0. Like, it it it was 0 tolerance the whole way through. Okay. So thank thank you for acknowledging that, and we'll go back and check that and then get back to you because it should be 0." The exchange ended with a commitment to verify whether the return‑to‑duty wording should be set to a 0.00 tolerance to match disciplinary language or otherwise be clarified to reflect applicable DOT rules for safety‑sensitive positions.