States Requiring Employers to Pay for Drug Tests Many states require employers to pay for employee and/or applicant drug testing. However, specifics vary by state and do change as laws are passed. Following are some examples of specific state requirements. Idaho has a voluntary law that, if
adhered to, requires employers to pay for all required tests in addition to appropriate and applicable transportation costs. Employees are required to pay for any requested specimen retests, but employers must reimburse the costs if the retest returns a negative result. If the result is positive and confirms the initial laboratory report, the burden of cost for the retest still lies with the employee. Tis also adds the employer requirement to provide back pay to the employee if the employee was suspended without pay pending the result of a drug test. Te law is silent on applicant tests, excluding the mention of applicants paying for any desired retest. For general employees in Illinois,
no guidance is given as to who pays for workplace drug testing. Tere is, however, a mandatory law applying specifically to public-works contractors that provides guidance for those employers and employees. Under this law, public-works employers are required to pay for all drug testing of their employees. Mandatory Iowa law requires employers
to pay not only for all required drug and alcohol testing, but employers must also either provide transportation or reimburse reasonable transportation costs. Similar to Idaho, employees are required to pay for any desired retests, excluding retests that return a negative result, which the employer must then reimburse. Rhode Island is one of the more
restrictive states when it comes to state drug-testing laws. Employers in Rhode Island are required to pay for all drug tests, including retests, regardless of the results.
www.datia.org
Rhode Island employers must pay for both employees’ and applicants’ drug tests.
Requirements Vary One thing is certain—testing requirements vary widely from state to state and the definition of who bears the testing cost varies from state to state. Employers should be familiar with all applicable laws in the state(s) in which they operate. In addition, regularly updating policies to reflect these changes and communicating these changes to employees is critical. Have questions about drug testing
in the state(s) in which you operate? Contact the Current Consulting Group, LLC, at 215.240.8204, info@
currentconsultinggroup.com, or subscribe to
CurrentCompliance.org, the industry’s most up-to-date, state law database. ❚
© 2010–2018 Te Current Consulting
Group, LLC—No portion of this article may be reproduced, retransmited, posted on a website, or used in any manner without the writen consent of the Current Consulting Group, LLC. When permission is granted to reproduce this article in any way, full atribution to the author and copyright holder are required.
Bill Current is a 26-year veteran in the drug test- ing industry and the former Director of the Institute for a Drug-Free Workplace, Execu- tive Director of the American
Council for Drug Education, and Vice Presi- dent of Consulting for Employee Information Services. Author of 10 books on substance abuse-related issues and a regular presenter at conferences, seminars, workshops, and webinars, Bill is widely considered one of the leading experts on drug testing and the drug testing industry. He founded the industry’s most comprehensive database subscrip- tion service,
CurrentCompliance.org, and conducts the annual Drug Testing Industry Survey, now in its 20th
year. datia focus 49
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