March 8, 2010 – UMA on the Hill
A drug & alcohol testing bill worked on for almost a year by UMA and other business and industry interests passed the 2010 Utah Legislature and is expected to be signed by the Governor. Key provisions are indicated below.
• H.B. 23 "Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing" - amends Utah's Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, effective May 11, 2010.
• Employment actions – refusal to hire, discipline, mandatory rehabilitation, etc. – may be based on a refusal to provide a sample or a "failed" test (a test confirmed by GCMS, etc., showing the sample is positive, adulterated, or substituted).
• Confirmation testing based on a urine sample requires using a federally certified lab.
• Employment actions based instead on “inaccurate test results” (generally, false positive results) could lead to employer liability. However: Test results of samples collected and tested in accordance with the Act are presumed valid.
• Collection and testing requirements are presumed satisfied if a licensed physician who is trained in the interpretation of drug and alcohol test results, e.g., a medical review officer (MRO), provides medical assessment of failed test results, requests re-analysis if necessary, and determines if drug or alcohol use has occurred. (A court could find the requirements satisfied in other ways.)
• Reasonable and good faith reliance on inaccurate test results relieves an employer from liability for monetary damages.
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