compensation claim denial law that places requirements on employers that wish to deny claims that are outside of the state drug testing laws. Alabama, for example, has two voluntary laws that employers can choose to comply with—however, if an employer wants to deny workers’ compensation claims, they must comply with the requirements outlined in the workers’ compensation law.5
Alabama
Types of law vary, and it can often be confusing for employers as they try to understand how the laws that apply to their workplace fit together.
employers are not required to comply with both the voluntary laws and the workers’ compensation denial law; however, they can if they so desire. If an employer wants to comply
with requirements in both a workers’ compensation/unemployment compensation denial law and a mandatory or voluntary law, and the requirements are contradictory, employers should always comply with the more restrictive of the requirements so as to ensure full compliance with laws.
Federal Regulations Te federal government and its agencies place restrictions on several industries that dictate how, when, where, and why testing should occur. Perhaps the most well-known is the Department of Transportation (DOT), which regulates employees across the country in the transportation industry. Regardless of state laws, if an employer is in a federally regulated industry, s/he must comply with the federal regulations. Occasionally, a state will place
additional requirements on a federally regulated industry. Texas transportation employers, for example, must report valid, positive test results, refusals to provide a specimen, and adulterated/ substituted specimens to the Texas DOT in addition to complying with the federal DOT requirements.6 Some states defer to federal regulations
for all employers as part of their state testing laws. Louisiana’s mandatory law,
24 datia focus
for example, requires compliance with Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)/ DOT testing requirements, regardless of the employers’ industry.7 Increasingly, employers are required to
comply with specific portions of federal regulations. If a particular portion of the law requires compliance with federal regulations, the law will reference the specific federal regulation (such as SAMHSA or DOT), and employers are leſt to ensure that they comply in full with that particular provision of the regulation.
Conclusion Types of law vary, and it can often be confusing for employers as they try to understand how the laws that apply to their workplace fit together. Before implementing any testing program, employers should consult with a drug testing policy expert in addition to legal counsel in order to fully understand how any applicable laws work together in their state(s). Confused about laws in your state? Visit
CurrentCompliance.org to learn more about our subscription options to the industry’s most robust and up-to-date state law database. Updated regularly, Current Compliance offers a full look at applicable state laws in all 50 states. Have detailed questions about how drug and alcohol testing work in your state(s)? Contact CCG at
info@currentconsultinggroup.com to learn more about our consulting services. ❚
© 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.
winter 2019
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