Supervisors Impose Drug-Testing Rules : Workplace: The policy will only be used when there is a ‘reasonable suspicion’ of abuse, officials say. A union opposes the move and threatens a lawsuit.

Los Angeles County can order employees who exhibit a “reasonable suspicion of substance abuse” to submit to urine testing for drug and alcohol use under a measure approved without debate Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors.

“The County of Los Angeles Drug Free Workplace Policy” was imposed by an independent mediator over the objections of the largest union of county employees, Local 660 of the Service Employees International Union, after an impasse in contract negotiations. It takes effect immediately.

The policy also allows pre-employment testing for applicants who would carry firearms or operate heavy machinery.

Most urine tests will be administered at the workplace, said Elliot Marcus, director of county labor relations. “If some guy’s bouncing off the wall, you’ve got the right to send him in a little room someplace to drop his drawers and fill a little bottle,” he said.

Marcus said the policy will ensure public safety and increase worker productivity. About 75,000 county employees will be affected.

Officials of Local 660 called drug testing an invasion of privacy. It could be used as “an easy way for supervisors to harass and intimidate people,” said Ramon Rubalcava, research director for the local. “It can strip workers of their dignity and respect.”

Under the policy, Rubalcava said, “even the clerk who gives out birth certificates” can be tested for drug use.

Rubalcava also was critical of the county “unilaterally” imposing the policy. He promised that the union will take the county to court if managers try to test employees.

County officials did not act in good faith when they inserted the proposal into the recently negotiated contract after making a “last, best final offer,” Rubalcava said. The union may challenge the new policy on grounds that the county violated collective bargaining procedures, he said.

The county’s testing guidelines are outlined in a 50-page document. County officials are allowed to test for 10 substances, including cocaine, amphetamines, barbiturates, methadone, alcohol, marijuana and Valium.

The policy requires those tested to remove outer garments, such as sweaters and coats, before they are escorted to a restroom by a “collection team member.” Before the employee enters the restroom, team members are to insert a blue dye into toilet water to prevent dilution of the test sample.

Employees can have a union representative present outside to supervise the process.

Most public entities in California require employees to submit to drug testing. The city of Los Angeles adopted a policy similar to the county’s several years ago. However, the city requires that a physician find symptoms of drug abuse before testing is allowed.

Unlike Local 660, the 35,000-member Coalition of County Unions agreed to allow the new drug-testing policy in employee contracts. The policy offers some protection for employees and is more benign than similar policies elsewhere, said Guido DeRienzo, a spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which is part of the coalition.

“Drug testing isn’t the biggest of our worries right now,” DeRienzo said, alluding to the prospect of budget cuts and layoffs. Still, he added: “We will be vigilant in seeing that this policy is not used as some sort of vehicle for supervisors to harass their employees.”