After Sweden revoked driver’s licenses for people whose blood tests showed higher-than-average off-duty drinking habits, now Finnish employers are penalizing employees for vacation time drinking.
The PEth (phosphatidylethanol) blood tests used in both countries—sometimes without the test subjects’ knowledge—have raised legal and ethical concerns. The test detects levels of alcohol consumption over time, meaning a weekend of partying a month ago can push your reading into ‘risk territory.’
In Finland, the test has affected the employment status of people who, while not intoxicated in the workplace, had consumed alcohol in their free time. The test results have resulted in driving bans, suspended pay, or even job losses.
“Conducting such a test without consent constitutes a breach of privacy. It should be legally regulated, which it currently is not,” Seppo Koskinen, professor emeritus of labor law, told state broadcaster Yle.
In Sweden, a number of people have had their driver’s licenses revoked after doctors alerted the Transport Agency about patients scoring high on the test—in some cases, without informing the patient the test was even being done. The underlying thinking is that taking away the driving privileges of potential alcoholics reduces the risk of drunk driving accidents.
In one case, which will be decided by the Swedish Supreme Administrative Court, an ambulance driver lost both her license and her job after a PEth test. Despite her physician determining that the woman did not have an alcohol addiction, but that the test had reflected occasional indulgence outside of working hours, the Swedish Transport Agency took her driving privileges away.
The Transport Agency, which has the authority to revoke driving privileges without legal evidence, is also in hot water for investigating Swedes for alcohol abuse based on anonymous tips from private citizens. The government’s Traffic Committee has requested the Agency’s Director General explain its actions.
“Those under the influence of alcohol or drugs have no business being behind the wheel. But to revoke someone’s driver’s license based on a PEth test result is completely unacceptable,” said the Traffic Committee’s vice chair, Sweden Democrat Thomas Morell.
