Iowa law allows an employer to conduct drug or alcohol tests on employees in certain circumstances if certain rules are followed.
1. You must have a written Drug Testing Policy that has been provided to your employees beforeyou can administer a drug test to an employee.
2. The written policy must provide the disciplinary and/or rehabilitative actions that will be taken against those who test positive or refuse to test.
3. If you test for alcohol you must establish an alcohol concentration level at least .04 or greater as the standard.
4. You must have require a supervisor involved in the testing to attend at least 2 hours of initial training and 1 hour of training every subsequent year.
5. You must establish an awareness program to inform employees about the dangers of drug and alcohol use in the workplace.
6. You must follow specific procedures when conducting a drug and/or alcohol test.
The State of Iowa has produced a work-place drug testing guide for more details and answers about drug-testing in the work-place. If you would like to adopt a Drug Testing Policy for your company you should contact your attorney to ensure that you are following all the guidelines.