On December 21, Minsk /Elena Prus - BELTA/. Employers in Belarus may be granted the right to test employees for alcohol. This was announced by Igor Starovoytov, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Protection, during an online conference held on the websites of BELTA and the ministry. Alcohol intoxication is often a cause of industrial accidents. Igor Starovoytov informed that "in order to promptly identify instances of employees being in a state of alcohol intoxication, it is proposed to establish a norm at the legislative level granting employers the right to organize the examination of employees for the presence of alcohol intoxication or a state caused by the use of narcotic drugs, psychotropic, toxic or other intoxicating substances, using devices designed to determine the concentration of absolute ethyl alcohol vapor in exhaled air and (or) express tests". This right may be exercised by the employer only if there are sufficient grounds, such as the smell of alcohol from the mouth, speech impairment, difficulty maintaining balance, etc. The Law "On Labour Protection" stipulates that the employer is obliged not to allow employees to perform work (provide services), and to remove them from performing work on a given day (shift), if they appear at the workplace in a state of alcohol, narcotic or toxic intoxication, as well as in a state related to illness that prevents them from performing work (providing services). "Currently, control over the condition of employees is provided only for drivers of vehicles," explained the Deputy Minister. "For other categories of employees, employers are not granted such a right." Alexander Semich, First Deputy Director of the Department of State Labour Inspectorate of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, reported that last year 13,672 people were dismissed for appearing at work in a state of alcohol intoxication, as well as for consuming alcoholic beverages, narcotic drugs and toxic substances during working hours or at the workplace. Moreover, contracts were terminated not only with rank-and-file employees but also with 7 managers of various levels of management. Answering a respondent's question, Alexander Semich emphasized that the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection has repeatedly proposed to introduce a ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages to persons wearing special protective clothing. -0-