Alcohol and Drug Policy Effective January, 2025
Purpose
Alcohol and drug abuse rank as one of the major health problems in the United States. Our Associatesare our most valuable resource, and their safety and health are of paramount concern to us. We are committed to providing a safe working environment to protect our Associates and others, providing the highest level of service, and minimizing the risk of accidents and injuries. The intent of the following policy is to prevent the hiring and/or continued employment of individuals who are current users of illegal drugs and to prevent individuals who currently abuse alcohol from posing a threat of serious harm to themselves or others or from causing property damage.
General Policy
Dealership Associates must deliver services safely and conscientiously, which include being free from the influence of controlled substances and alcohol while in the workplace or while performing work for the Company. Research and experience show that even small amounts of drugs and alcohol can impair judgment and reflexes, posing risks in the workplace. H+H is committed to a safe and efficient work environment and requires its Associates to adhere to these standards. Associates are screened for drug use using a saliva-based test, which checks for the presence of drugs and the recency of use. Associates are screened for alcohol use using a breath-testing device. In some cases, alcohol tests will be conducted on blood samples rather than through a breath testing device, such as when an Associate must be taken to the emergency room, and a breath testing device is unavailable. An employee who tests positive for alcohol on a breath test may immediately request confirmation by providing a blood specimen for testing.
H+H may use and disclose the results of any test for drugs or alcohol for any purpose and in any manner not prohibited by the law of the state in which the Associate has their primary work location and in which the Associate is working at the time the testing is directed or requested by H+H.
Compliance with this policy is a condition of employment.
Drugs
All Associates are prohibited from manufacturing, cultivating, distributing, dispensing, possessing, purchasing, selling, or using illegal drugs while on Dealership property (including parking areas and grounds), while otherwise performing work duties away from Dealership property, and during the Associate’s meal and other break periods. Included within this prohibition are lawfully controlled substances that have been illegally or improperly obtained or are not being used for the purpose for which they were prescribed or manufactured. This Policy does not prohibit the possession and proper use of lawfully prescribed drugs taken in accordance with the prescription.
Associates are also prohibited from being under the influence of any illegal drug or unauthorized controlled substance while at work and from having any prescription medication in excess of the medically prescribed amount in their systems while at work.
In the case of illegal drugs, a positive test result will be based on recognized cutoff levels established by the testing laboratory.
Alcohol
All Associates are prohibited from manufacturing, distributing, dispensing, possessing, purchasing, selling, or using alcohol while on Company premises or while on duty and from having alcohol in their systems while on Company premises or while on duty. All Associates are also prohibited from using alcohol during the Associate’s meal or break periods. However, this policy does not preclude the responsible alcohol consumption by Associates of legal age at Company-sponsored social functions, such as Christmas parties, birthday parties, picnics, and the like, or at a social function authorized by a department manager.
An alcohol test will be considered positive if the alcohol concentration in the Associate’s system is more than .04 grams of alcohol per two hundred ten liters of breath or its equivalent.
Prescription Drugs
The proper use of medication prescribed by your physician (or another authorized and licensed health care provider) is not prohibited by this Policy; however, H+H does prohibit the misuse or abuse of prescribed medication. An Associate’s drug use may affect the Associate’s job performance, such as by causing dizziness, slowed reaction time, or drowsiness. It is your responsibility to determine from your physician, pharmacist, or other health care provider whether your use of a prescribed drug may impair
your job performance or cause a safety issue and to discuss any potential impairment with your supervisor.
An Associate may continue to work, even though under the influence of a legal drug if management has determined, after consulting with a medical professional of its choice, that the Associate does not pose a threat to the Associate’s own safety or the safety of other Associates and the Associate’s job performance is not significantly affected by the legal drug. Otherwise, the Associate may be required to take a leave of absence or comply with other appropriate action, including assignment to another job
position, as determined by management.
Associates can report the use of any prescription or over-the-counter drugs that may affect drug tests by completing a written consent form at the time and location of the testing.
Who is Tested and When
H+H conducts drug tests in the following circumstances:
a. Prospective Associates who have been conditionally offered employment will be required to submit to drug testing. Refusal to submit to testing or a positive confirmed drug result may be used as a basis for refusal to hire the applicant. If a sample provided is considered invalid due to the use of food, drink, gum, or tobacco products, the prospective associate will be allowed to provide another sample. H+H reserves the right not to hire a prospective Associate who tests positive in a confirmed drug test, but action taken against the prospective Associate will be based only on the results of the drug test.
b. Reasonable Suspicion Drug and/or Alcohol Testing. An Associate may be required to submit to drug and/or alcohol screening whenever Dealership Supervisors or Managers have a reasonable suspicion that the Associate has violated any of the rules set forth in this Policy. Reasonable suspicion may arise from, among other factors, supervisory observation, co-worker reports or complaints, traffic incidents or accidents on or off premises involving a Company or customer vehicle or while driving for Company business in a personal vehicle, incidents involving physical injury to one’s body and/or another person’s body or body parts, performance decline, attendance or behavioral change, results of drug searches or other detection methods, or involvement in a workplace or work hours accident indicating a possible error in judgment,
unexplained inadequate reaction, or negligence.
More specifically, “reasonable suspicion drug or alcohol testing” means drug or alcohol testing based upon evidence that an Associate is using or has used alcohol or other drugs in violation of this Policy drawn from specific objective and articulable facts and reasonable inferences drawn from those facts in light of experience. For purposes of this paragraph, facts and inferences may be based upon, but not limited to, any of the following:
- (1) Observable phenomena while at work such as direct observation of alcohol or drug use or abuse or of the physical symptoms or manifestations of being impaired due to alcohol or other drug use;
- (2) Abnormal conduct or erratic behavior while at work or a significant deterioration in work performance;
- (3) A report of alcohol or other drug use provided by a reliable and credible source;
- (4) Evidence that an Associate has tampered with any drug or alcohol test during the Associate’s employment with H+H;
- (5) Evidence that an Associate has manufactured, sold, distributed, solicited, possessed, used, purchased or transported drugs while working or while on Dealership premises or while operating any Dealership or customer vehicle, machinery, or equipment.
c. Random Drug Testing. This refers to testing without individualized suspicion for the purposes of detecting drugs and which is conducted periodically without advance notice of the test (prior to the day of testing). The Company can either use a Company-wide pool where all Associates are subject to testing or use a narrower pool of Associates as described below. Not all Associates in the pool will be tested. Rather, the selection of Associates to be tested from the pool of Associates subject to testing shall be done based on a neutral and objective selection process by an entity independent from H+H and shall be made by a computer-based random number generator that is matched with Associates’ social security numbers, payroll identification
numbers, or other comparable identifying numbers in which each member of the Associate population subject to testing has an equal chance of selection for initial testing, regardless of whether the Associate has been selected or tested previously. The random selection process shall be conducted through a computer program that records each selection attempt by date, time, and Associate number.
Any of the following pools of Associates may be used for random testing:
- (1) The entire Associate population at a particular work site of H+H except for Associates who are not scheduled to be at work at the time the testing is conducted because of the status of the Associates or who have been excused from work pursuant to dealership work policy prior to the time the testing is announced to Associates.
- (2) The entire full-time Associate population at a particular work site except for Associates who are not scheduled to be at work at the time the testing is to be conducted because of the status of the Associate or who have been excused from work pursuant to dealership work policy prior to the time the testing is announced to Associates.
- (3) All Associates at a particular work site who are in safety-sensitive positions except for Associates who are not scheduled to be at work at the time the testing is to be conducted because of the status of the Associate or who have been excused from work pursuant to dealership work policy prior to the time the testing is announced to Associates.
d. During, and after completion of, drug or alcohol rehabilitation. An Associate may be required to submit to a drug and/or alcohol test to verify fitness for duty during or when the Associate completes drug or alcohol rehabilitation.
Refusal to Submit to Testing
Applicants and associates have the right to refuse a request for testing. Applicants who refuse to submit to testing will be removed from further hiring consideration, and their conditional offer of employment will be withdrawn. Associates who refuse to submit to testing will be terminated from employment.
Confirmation Testing
All saliva drug tests will utilize an initial immunoassay methodology or an equivalent. All initially positive test results shall be confirmed by a licensed laboratory using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) or another approved and comparably reliable analytical method. An additional breath test will confirm all breath tests. Any blood tests will be confirmed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS), or another approved and comparably reliable analytical method.
Suspension Pending Receipt of Test Results
Following a drug or alcohol test but prior to receipt of the final results, H+H may suspend a current Associate, with or without pay, pending the outcome of the test. If the result of such test is not a confirmed positive test result for drugs or alcohol, which indicates a violation of this Policy, an Associate who has been so suspended shall be returned by H+H, with any lost back pay.
Notification of Positive Test Results
a. If a confirmed positive test result for drugs or alcohol for a Prospective Associate is reported to H+H by the medical review officer, the Associate will be notified of the results of the test.Prospective Associates are not provided with the option of having a second sample tested.
b. If a confirmed positive test result for drugs or alcohol for a current Associate is reported to H+H by the medical review officer, H+H shall notify the Associate of the results of the test. If there is a confirmed positive test result for drugs, the Associate will be notified of the right to request and obtain a confirmatory test of the second sample collected at an approved laboratory of the Associate’s choice, and the exact amount of the fee payable by the Associate to H+H for reimbursement of expenses concerning the test (which shall be consistent with H+H’s cost for conducting the initial confirmatory test). This option for a second test will also be available for employees testing positive for alcohol, but only in the case of a blood test. If the current Associate, in person or by certified mail, return receipt requested, requests a second confirmatory test, identifies an approved laboratory to conduct the test, and pays H+H the fee for the test within seven days from the date H+H mails, by certified mail, return receipt requested, the written notice to the Associate of the Associate’s right to request a second test, a second confirmatory test shall be conducted at the laboratory chosen by the Associate.
The results of any second confirmatory test shall be reported to the medical review officer who reviewed the initial confirmatory test results, and the medical review officer shall review the results and issue a report to H+H on whether the results of the second confirmatory test confirmed the initial confirmatory test as to the presence of the specific drug or alcohol. If the results of the second test do not confirm the results of the initial confirmatory test, H+H shall reimburse the Associate for the fee paid by the Associate for the second test and the initial confirmatory test shall not be considered a confirmed positive test result for drugs or alcohol for purposes of taking disciplinary action.
A current Associate who is the subject of a drug or alcohol test and for whom a confirmed positive test result is reported shall, upon written request, have access to any records relating to the Associate’s drug or alcohol test, including records of the laboratory where the testing was conducted and any records relating to the results of any relevant certification or review by a
medical review officer.
Consequences of a Positive Test Result or Other Violation of this Policy
a. Any violation of this Policy may result in discipline up to or including termination of a current Associate.
b. H+H reserves the right to withdraw a conditional offer of employment for a prospective Associate who tests positive on a confirmed drug test. Action taken against the prospective Associate will be based only on the results of the drug test.
On receipt of a confirmed positive test result for drugs or alcohol for a current Associate, H+H may use that test result as a basis for disciplinary and/or rehabilitative actions pursuant to this Policy, which may include at the Company’s sole discretion, among other actions, the following:
- (1) A requirement that a current Associate enroll in, participate in, and complete an H+H-provided or approved rehabilitation, treatment, or counseling program, which may include additional drug or alcohol testing as a condition of continued employment. The costs of the program may or may not be covered by H+H’s health plan or policies.
- (2) Suspension of a current Associate, with or without pay, for a designated period of time.
- (3) Termination of employment of a current Associate.
- (4) Other adverse employment action in conformance with H+H’s written policy and procedures.
The disciplinary and/or rehabilitative actions to be taken in each particular situation will depend upon the assessment of dealership management of the seriousness of all the facts and circumstances.
c. If an Associate is not immediately terminated from employment for testing positive, H+H, in its sole discretion, may allow the Associate to return to work subject to the Associate executing an agreement acknowledging:
- (1) That the Associate tested positive; and,
- (2) That in exchange for H+H not terminating the Associate for this instance of testing positive, the Associate agrees to enroll and participate in rehabilitation, treatment, counseling or other activities prescribed by the H+H’s coordinating physician, in conjunction with H+H management, to undergo periodic unannounced screening for a set period of time, and to be subject to termination for any future violation of this Policy.
If H+H requires rehabilitation, treatment, counseling, or such other activities pursuant to this provision, H+H will not take adverse employment action against the Associate so long as the Associate complies with the requirements of rehabilitation, treatment,
counseling, or such other activities and successfully completes the rehabilitation, treatment, counseling, or such other activities.
Returning/Continuing To Work
Associates who test positive, admit to drug or alcohol use or related misconduct, or voluntarily seek assistance, and are not terminated, will not be allowed to return to work or continue working until they have been evaluated by an H+H-selected physician to determine if they can safely return to work.
Invalid Results
If the sample provided is considered invalid due to food, drink, gum, and/or tobacco product use, the prospective or current Associate will be allowed to provide another sample. This will be a one-time retest due to invalidation.
Adulteration
Adulteration is the tampering or switching of a specimen within the testing procedure in an attempt to mask any drug that may be otherwise detected. If an employee's specimen is found to have been adulterated, the consequence will be immediate termination because adulteration of a test result is an attempt to deceive the Company.
Investigations/Searches
When a supervisor has reasonable suspicion that an Associate has violated H+H’s Alcohol and Drug- Free Workplace Policy, the Manager or Supervisor or the Manager or Supervisor’s designee may inspector search any area of H+H's physical premises, including but not limited to, work areas, personal articles, Associates' clothes, desks, workstations, lockers, personal and company vehicles, purses, briefcases, backpacks, tool boxes and other locations or belongings, without prior notice, in order to ensure a work environment free of prohibited substances. An Associate may be asked to be present and to remove a personal lock. Associates are hereby notified that locked areas or containers do not prevent or prohibit a search by H+H, and Associates have no expectation of privacy in any place or within any article or vehicle that is on or brought upon H+H premises.
Where the Associate is not present or refuses to remove a personal lock, H+H may do so for the Associate and will compensate the Associate for the lock. Any search will be coordinated with a representative of management.
Associate Assistance
H+H recognizes that alcohol and drug abuse and addiction are treatable. H+H expects Associates who suspect they may have an alcohol or drug problem to seek treatment. H+H offers assistance to all associates and their family members with alcohol and drug problems through H+H’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP). However, it is the responsibility of the Associate to seek and accept assistance before drug or alcohol problems lead to disciplinary action, which may include termination of employment and before being selected for testing. Failure to enter, remain, and participate in, or successfully complete a prescribed treatment program may result in termination of employment. Confidentiality of records, test results, and information will be maintained in accordance with applicable local, state, and federal laws, except as otherwise provided in such laws.
Entrance into a treatment program does not relieve an Associate of the obligation to satisfy H+H's standards regarding an Associate's work performance and participation in a treatment program will not prevent H+H from administering discipline for violation of H+H policies or relieve the Associate of the Associate’s responsibility to perform their job in a satisfactory, safe and efficient manner.
The Associate benefit plan may cover treatment for alcohol abuse and/or drug use. However, the Associate ultimately has the responsibility to pay for any treatment.
Notification of Impairment
An Associate who observes or has knowledge that any of the following apply to another Associate are responsible for and must promptly report that fact to their immediate Supervisor:
- is in a condition that impairs or may impair the other Associate’s performance of the other
Associate’s job duties, or - is in a condition that may present a hazard to the safety, security, or welfare of the other
Associate, or of other individuals, or of any property, or - is otherwise in violation of this Policy.
Training
Supervisory personnel of H+H involved with drug or alcohol testing of Associates shall attend initial training and, on an annual basis thereafter, subsequent training. The training shall include, but not be limited to, information concerning the recognition of evidence of Associate alcohol and other drug abuse, the documentation and corroboration of Associate alcohol and other drug abuse, and the referral of Associates who abuse alcohol or other drugs to the EAP.
Disclaimer
This policy is not a contract. The Company may deviate from the policy at its discretion to the extent allowed by applicable law.
