Right. I'll go elsewhere then, thanks team!

tl:dr

Yet you jump in on that assumption, I made no reference to quitting before this is seen through. I mention this to explain my sensitivity to the responses I have had and to clarify that I'm feeling quite low today/yesterday. I wouldn't expect them to not take action because it's my birthday because I'm not 6 years old. I appreciate all input and please don't take me saying this as an affront to this forum but BazzaS, please take your advice somewhere else. I really don't need a lecture right now. Thanks

BazzaS you haven't given me any advice

I haven't resigned yet and will only have the choice to resign if I am not dismissed. I was suspended yesterday (on my birthday) so you'll understand my feeling a little sensitive.

Sorry for the barrage of replies. The trainer did say that "to drive the vehicles we have a zero tolerance policy and you will be required to show 0,00 in order to drive the cars. In a pre-training video it said that "not being able to drive as a result of this will have serious consequences". The consequences were clarified to me as being a fine in the form of a percentage of the training cost being charged back to the dealership £500 which I would expect to pay. Bringing the company into disrepute has not been mentioned at all and this was a strictly closed (company nam) event only.

I have been accused of: - serious breach of company policy through failing a breathalyser test at a global training event - wilful failure to carry out a reasonable instruction I should note that in my handbook there is no reference to a specific policy covering this incident except "serious incapability through alcohol or drug abuse". Also given my fair amount of caution (I was surrounding by people who have been on many of these training events and were still drinking) I don't think I can be accused of wilful failure. Also passing a test which is this subject to confounding variables doesn't sound reasonable to me either.

Also, I have now accepted that my time hee is over, either by my hand or theirs. I'm not going to resign until this is blown over and I am going to dispute anything more than a written warning. Perhaps making an offer resignation with pay for notice? A few people I have explained this to me (including a Master's student in employment law) have said this will likely fall in my favour at tribunal but I don't want that noise.

Thank you again for your reply. This event has been held regularly for 15 years or so and the breathalyser element is a fairly recent introduction. My argument is simply that it's a a little unfair to actually dismiss me purely purely out of principle. I wasn't the only employee there from my "company" but as all the delegates were from the group or franchises under the same banner, the lines are a little blurred. There were no delegates or staff there that did not represent the same brand and so it was considered a closed event for (company name) only. My issue really is that "not failing a breathalyser" is a slightly difficult and realistic target and that it's also unfair that my director has decided that this transgression is worth sacking me over whereas other far more severe instances in the past both at this event and other similar ones have not resulted in this action being taken. I did exercise restraint and from what I have been told, absolutely no-one else from my department chose to completely abstain. The more I think about it the more it sounds like this result could have been a false positive. There are people who drank more than me, are of much shorter or lighter stature and actually drive and therefore would be placing themselves at greater risk of being under the influence. All of these people blew 0.00. In answer to your question, my director did not mention specifically what a "fail" actually was. It was only upon arriving that I was told that 0,00 was required to be able to drive and absolutely no mention of any consequences was made. When I asked what the consequences were (after registering a result) the trainer responsible for our group said that dismissal is not something he'd heard. This man said this with the experience of having ran this specific event for several years. I am not trying to say that I have done NOTHING wrong. In a perfect world I have gone to bed at 9pm, said a prayer and dreamt of David Cameron. We don't live in that world and realistically I feel it was unfair to expect me to completely abstain from the free alcohol being thrust in my face (literally) from the moment I walked in the door. I have never taken a breathalyser before and therefore have no frame of reference. I made several lines of enquiry as to what would put me over the limit and/or if I would be breathalyser at all. I was only asking this so I could establish some boundaries. I established these boundaries, allowed for some variance and undershot the boundary by a significant amount. Punishment or action may well be necessary put instant dismissal seems very unfair and I feel I have been made an example of.

In answer to your original question, the director is only the director of the department. The organisers were based in Europe and were co-ordonating 15,000 delegates from 9 countries. In short my director did not organise it so wasn't his to determine the procedure. Hence my double checking. Please don't interpret this situation as me being reckless and trying to weasel out of anything. Short of a staining completely (which no-one, even the manager who suspended me did) I behaved cautiously and conservatively and RESPONSIBLY with the alcohol I consumed the night before and even so, the incident had absolutely no impact on the training itself for me or for the that of my colleagues. 3 other people in my group also blew above 0.00. 2 of them mentioned afterwards that it meant possibly a fine of you couldn't drive. The trainer leading the group through the whole process said the same. So why am I the one being sacked for an offense that is obviously so common they have to breathalyze everyone in the whole business? Suffice to say I don't think this is scenario warrants dismissal.

Have you ever been to a work-organised party? I appreciate the objectivity but definitely not the tone. I came on here for help not Internet-judgement.

It's a shame really to be honest, my record there is flawless.

Thanks for the replies. In answer to both questions I was not inebriated at all at the time, both by my behaviour and actions and also by the legal/medical definition of impaired which 0.04+ They don't have a policy in place for breathalyzer tests, only that relating to legally driving (0.35%) or being impaired due to alcohol consumption which I wasn't. And I can't drive because I don't have a license and have never had one, so me driving a car for them under any circumstances is a worse offense. Thanks again.

Can an employer breathalyze me without just cause?

I should also note that the company does not routinely breathalyze staff, the only reference to alcohol in my handbook is "serious incapability at work brought on by alcohol" and due to my inability to drive there was no reduction in my capacity to learn or experience anything different than I would have anyway.