If I Go From Part Time to Full Time Will They Drug Test Me Again
Folio Content
You decided to screen workers for drug utilise considering you want to maintain a prophylactic and productive workplace. But what should you do when workers flunk the test? Should employees exist fired, given another chance or referred to an employee assistance program? Employment attorneys say consistency is the cardinal.
"Employers should have strong policies in place addressing whether or under what circumstances they will engage in dialogue with an employee or bidder who fails a drug exam," said Jill Vorobiev, an attorney with Reed Smith in Chicago. Policies also should take into account any land laws that may employ to failed drug tests and whether the employer might demand to brand reasonable accommodations for workers with disabilities, she said.
With the increasing number of states that have legalized medical or recreational marijuana, employers will need to review those laws before making employment decisions based on failed drug tests. Note that some industries, safety-sensitive jobs and federal contractors must comply with federal drug-testing rules that dictate the steps employers must have and are mostly excluded from country police force limits on drug testing.
Here are some steps employers should consider taking to ensure they respond consistently when employees don't pass a drug screen.
Include a Medical Review Process
Drug-testing rules tin can exist complicated because they may require medical knowledge and an understanding of applicable federal, state and local laws.
Furthermore, employees may have excuses for failing a drug test: they ate too many poppy-seed bagels, accidently picked up the wrong credibility at a party or were stuck in a car with someone who was smoking weed. Mayhap they'll argue that the test is wrong. Employers need to consider how they'll handle these situations.
"I recommend employers use third-party drug-testing facilities with a medical review officer," said Anne-Marie Welch, an attorney with Clark Hill in Birmingham, Mich. "The medical review officers generally know if chore applicants or employees are non existence truthful, because the tests themselves already account for poppy-seed bagels, secondhand smoke intake and the similar."
Dr. Todd Simo, chief medical officer at employment groundwork screening firm HireRight, said the medical review process helps protect employee privacy by giving workers an opportunity to provide a reasonable, verifiable and legal medical explanation for a failed test. If the worker has an acceptable explanation for the outcome, the drug screen is reported to the employer equally a negative exam outcome, the same every bit it is reported if no drugs were found.
Make up one's mind What Steps to Accept
Country laws vary regarding the steps employers must take afterwards an employee fails a drug exam. Pre-employment screening tin exist more straightforward than random and post-blow screening and tests based on reasonable suspicion.
If an employer makes a chore offer contingent on passing a drug test, the offering can more often than not be rescinded if the applicant fails, but at that place may exist more steps that employers must follow for current employees. For example, in Vermont and Minnesota, an employer can't fire someone for the first failed drug test if the employee agrees to complete a rehabilitation program.
Some states also crave employers to provide certain notices to workers when an adverse action will be taken based on a failed drug test. In some locations, the employee must be given the opportunity to contest the results and retest.
In states where marijuana is legal, employers may need to follow specific guidelines before making an adverse employment decision. For example, in Illinois, employees must be given the opportunity to challenge the results of the test. "This is likely considering drug tests for marijuana are still imperfect and notice employ from days and weeks prior," Welch noted.
Under federal police, employers may need to follow Fair Credit Reporting Act notice requirements if they use a background-bank check company to obtain the results from a drug testing lab.
Reasonable Accommodation
Employers don't have to accommodate on-the-task impairment from marijuana or prescribed drugs, just off-duty utilize may be protected, depending on the employee's location, circumstances and job.
An employer may be required to engage in an interactive dialogue with a worker to see if a reasonable adaptation can be made. "It depends on a number of factors," Vorobiev said. Imagine the employee or job bidder is a registered medical marijuana patient in a state that allows cannabis use to treat a disability. The employer may need to explore possible accommodations.
The employer doesn't necessarily have to approve the precise accommodation that the employee seeks, said Jennifer Mora, an attorney with Seyfarth Shaw in Los Angeles. But engaging in an interactive dialogue "shows that the employer is mindful of the issues and might go a long way in preventing unwanted litigation," she explained.
In about lawsuits that accept been resolved against the business concern, the court noted the employer's failure to engage in any dialogue any.
Under federal and state laws, an employer may exist required to engage in an interactive process with a worker who uses prescription drugs.
"Employers may consider stating in their policies that they will engage in a reasonable accommodation process where legal marijuana or prescribed drugs are at issue," Vorobiev suggested.
Disciplinary Activeness
Should employers fire or reject to rent workers if a reasonable accommodation can't exist made? "It depends on whether or not they want to maintain a policy of refusing to rent or apply individuals who examination positive for illegal drugs," Welch said.
Some companies accept stopped testing for marijuana or ignore initial positive tests when the employee'south job is not rubber-sensitive, she noted.
Employers should have a comprehensive drug-gratis-workplace policy and drug-testing procedures that are followed consistently in all circumstances, said David Morrison, an chaser with Goldberg Kohn in Chicago, considering employers that inconstantly apply drug-testing procedures may be sued for discrimination.
mullawirraburkaheact1966.blogspot.com
Source: https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/state-and-local-updates/pages/what-to-do-when-an-employee-fails-a-drug-test.aspx
0 Response to "If I Go From Part Time to Full Time Will They Drug Test Me Again"
Post a Comment