Federal Law on Employer Drug Tests Proposed
Sens. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) and David L. Boren (D-Okla.) on Tuesday unveiled legislation that would set federal standards for private companies that test employees and job applicants for drug use.
Supporters of the plan, including former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, said the bill would provide consistency and protect employers against lawsuits. Opponents said such a law would erode workers’ rights.
The bill would not require testing, but would give employers a clear right to do so--a provision supporters said would prevent unwarranted court challenges to drug-testing policies.
Rep. Don Edwards (D-San Jose), chairman of the House Judiciary subcommittee on civil and constitutional rights, called the measure “a horrible invasion of Americans’ rights without probable cause.”
Lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of such tests discourage programs that have been shown to deter people from using alcohol or drugs on the job, Koop and other supporters said at a news conference called by the senators.
Hatch said that the measure would protect privacy rights by establishing guidelines on the circumstances under which a business may test its workers.
Under the proposed rules, samples would have to be analyzed at a federally certified lab. Samples could be demanded before someone was hired, during an annual physical examination or at any time from a worker who had undergone a drug rehabilitation program.
Random testing would be allowed only on employees in “sensitive” positions and in jobs the employer defines as related to national security, health, safety or the environment, or that require “a high degree of trust and confidence.”
In a related development, mandatory testing at random for both drug and alcohol use went into effect Tuesday for the 90,000 men and women who operate the railroads.
Testing of rail workers began one year after drug abuse was identified as a factor in a 1987 Amtrak-Conrail crash near Baltimore that killed 16 people and injured 175.
A spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union said that organization considers the Hatch-Boren bill to be too vague and too broad, and opposes it because it would preempt state laws that protect workers. Sixteen states now have laws about such testing.
Koop, who resigned as surgeon general last fall, claimed that a majority of Americans, including “rank-and-file union members,” support random testing.
Meanwhile on Tuesday, President Bush dropped in unannounced at a public housing project to praise the residents for their all-night vigils against drug-dealing. Bush was accompanied by Jack Kemp, the secretary of housing and urban development.
