Drugs in the workplace: Are confessing to using drugs and testing positive for drugs two different things?

confess to doing drugs before they even complete testing. Minnesota employers are allowed to respond differently to an admission of drug usage than to a positive drug test. DATWA makes no exceptions for confessions on company property; the employer may immediately terminate an employee that admits to using illegal substances, if that is consistent with…

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Georgia council incentivizes drug testing in the workplace

Recently, the Georgia Council on Alcohol and Drugs hosted an event called “Drugs Don’t Work” in an attempt to discourage illegal drug usage in the workplace, particularly because 70 percent of the state’s illegal drug users can be found among its employed. The most commonly abused drugs? Prescription medications. The Council is now providing incentives…

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California gubernatorial candidate proposes legislator drug tests

Former U.S. Treasury Department employee and current California gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari had an interesting idea. Lawmakers are constantly passing legislation about who should be background checked, drug tested, and investigated — in fact, California’s current Proposition 46, regarding drug testing for doctors, will be voted on in November — so why shouldn’t the legislators…

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Chicago ordinance introduces pre-employment drug testing for ride-sharing companies

A Chicago alderman has introduced a new ordinance that would require pre-employment drug testing — and subsequent annual drug testing — for all ride-sharing companies’ drivers within the city. Councilman Roderick Sawyer introduced the ordinance in September, after a drug-test mandate was eliminated from the ride-sharing ordinance that the Windy City passed in May. The…

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Railroad Administration proposes expanded alcohol and drug regulations for maintenance-of-way workers

The Federal Railroad Administration has proposed the expansion of its drug and alcohol testing regulations for railroad workers, particularly “maintenance-of-way” (MOW) employees, in order to protect its workers and public safety. If the new policy is passed, all railroad employees, contractors and subcontractors who perform maintenance tasks — including inspecting, installing and repairing railroad tracks…

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Will Brazil have new drug-testing lab open in time for Olympics?

Rio de Janeiro used to have an accredited drug-testing lab. But it was shut down in 2013 by the World Anti-Doping Agency and lost its accreditation due to “repeated failures,” including too many false positives on athlete drug tests. During the recent soccer World Cup, which also took place in Rio, Brazil had to ship…

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FAA fines SkyWest after airline shared drug-testing issues with the association

Utah-based SkyWest Airlines was fined earlier this month after allegedly informing the Federal Aviation Administration of problems related to its drug testing policies over the previous two years. The FAA fined SkyWest $295,750 for the violations, in accordance with the Department of Transportation’s drug-testing policies. SkyWest allegedly received the fine for three different types of violations:…

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FIFA drug testing: All tested World Cup players clean

The FIFA World Cup is, quite literally, good clean fun. So far, after drug testing urine and blood samples from 800 of the sport’s players, not a single one has turned up positive. That number includes clean drug tests for 91 percent of the members of the preliminary squads for each team. Those squads comprise…

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