Burr Ridge board approves personnel-manual change to set reasonable-suspicion BAC at 0.00

The Village of Burr Ridge Board of Trustees voted unanimously on May 12 to amend the village personnel manual to set the threshold for reasonable-suspicion blood-alcohol testing at a 0.00 blood-alcohol concentration and to direct staff to negotiate that standard into labor contracts where needed.

The change originated after Trustee Guy Frances asked that the item be removed from the consent agenda for discussion. Frances said the board had previously expressed support for a zero-tolerance standard and sought clarity on legal and contract implications. Village attorney Mike Durkin told trustees the federal Department of Transportation (DOT) long has used a 0.02 BAC standard for operators in safety-sensitive positions who hold commercial driver’s licenses, and that Illinois law includes presumptions around a 0.04 BAC. Durkin warned that existing collective-bargaining agreements reference DOT standards and that those contracts could complicate immediate implementation across all employee groups.

"You can set that level," Durkin said, "but you do have collective-bargaining agreements in the village that operate and reference the DOT standard." Trustees agreed the personnel manual should reflect the board’s policy preference while staff pursue the contractual changes needed to implement it across bargaining units.

Trustee Frances made the motion to adopt the personnel-manual amendments and specify the reasonable-suspicion testing standard as 0.00 BAC; the motion was seconded and passed on a roll-call vote of 6–0. The clerk recorded affirmative votes from Trustees Paveza, Skiappa, Snider, Matal, Smith and Frances.

The amendment as adopted changes the village’s internal personnel language; it does not by itself alter existing collective-bargaining contracts. The board directed staff to include the 0.00 standard in future labor negotiations and to return with revised contract language or implementation steps as required. There was no public comment on the item.

Next steps: village staff will draft contract language and begin negotiations with bargaining units as appropriate; trustees indicated they expect to see negotiated changes brought back to the board for formal approval.