(A) Authority. Pursuant to regulations promulgated by the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the city’s policy, the following circumstances for drug and alcohol testing will be required: pre-employment (drug testing only), post-accident, random, baseline, and reasonable suspicion.
(B) Pre-employment testing.
(1) This applies to all applicants applying for a CDL position and to all other positions defined under § 34.92 (Applicability).
(2) As a condition of employment, the applicants applying for a CDL-covered position shall provide the city with a written authorization for all previous employers within the past three years to release drug and alcohol testing records as the DOT FMCSA regulations require. Within 30 days of performing a safety-sensitive function, DOT regulations require that the city obtain, to the extent available, certain drug and alcohol testing records from the employee’s previous employers for the previous three years. All applicants who are required to have or obtain a CDL must submit to a urine drug test unless a qualifying pre-employment exemption can be documented.
(C) Random testing.
(1) The city conducts random drug and alcohol testing on all employees covered by this policy. Separate random pools will be established and maintained for CDL covered employees and other non-regulated employees. The city will submit all employees’ names to a random selection system. The random selection system provides an equal chance for each employee to be selected each time random selection occurs. Random selections will be reasonably spread throughout the year. The city will drug test, at a minimum, 50% of the average number of employee positions in each calendar year or at a rate established by the DOT for the given year. The city will select, at a minimum, 10% of the average number of employee positions in each calendar year for random alcohol testing, or at the rate established by the DOT for the given year. The city reserves the right to test above the above-stated minimum percentages should they feel there is sufficient reasons for doing so. Random selection, by its very nature, may result in employees being selected in successive selections or more than once a calendar year.
(2) If an employee is selected at random, for either drug or alcohol testing, a city official will notify the employee. Once notified, the employee must be escorted by a supervisor or other designated official to the designated collection site immediately. If the employee does not go to the collection site as soon as possible after notification, such conduct may be considered a refusal to test.
(D) Post-accident testing.
(1) Following any accident, the employee must contact the city as soon as possible. Employees who are covered under Federal DOT required testing will be tested for drugs and alcohol any time he or she is involved in an accident where:
(a) A fatality is involved; or
(b) The employee receives a citation for a moving violation arising from the accident that involved:
1. Injury requiring medical treatment away from the scene;
2. One or more vehicles having to be towed from the scene.
(c) The accident involves property damage of $500.00 or more, regardless if any citation is given.
(2) The employee shall follow the instructions from the city or its representative to complete required testing.
(3) In addition to the testing requirements outlined above for those holding a CDL, all employees who are covered by this policy may be tested for the following situations:
(a) Any accident/incident involving injury or death.
(b) Any accident/incident involving property damage.
(c) Any accident/incident where the employee receives a citation under state or local law for a moving traffic violation arising from the incident.
(d) Any accident/incident in which an employee’s involvement or actions could have caused or contributed to the cause of the accident/incident.
(e) Any accident involving property damage of $500.00 or more, regardless if any citation is given.
(4) Any time a post-accident drug or alcohol test is required, it must be performed as soon as practical. If no alcohol test can be made within eight hours, attempts to perform an alcohol test shall cease. If no urine collection can be obtained for the purpose of post-accident drug testing within 32 hours, attempts to make such collection shall cease. An employee is prohibited from consuming alcohol between the time of the accident and the test.
(5) In the event that federal, state, or local officials conduct breath or blood test for the use of alcohol and/or urine tests for the use of controlled substances following an accident, employees must comply with law enforcement personnel requests. The city may request testing documentation from such agencies and may ask the employee to sign a release allowing the city to obtain such test results.
(6) In the event an employee is so seriously injured that the employee cannot provide a sample of urine, breath, or saliva at the time of the accident, the employee must provide necessary authorization for the city to obtain hospital records or other documents that would indicate the presence of controlled substances or alcohol in the employee’s system at the time of the accident.
(E) Reasonable suspicion testing.
(1) Reasonable suspicion for requiring an employee to submit to drug and/or alcohol testing shall be deemed to exist when an employee manifests physical, behavioral, speech, or performance symptoms or reactions commonly attributed to the use of controlled substances or alcohol. Such employee conduct must be witnessed by a supervisor who is trained in compliance with Part 382.603 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (49 CFR 382.603).
(2) A supervisor observing such conditions will take the following actions immediately:
(a) Confront the employee involved, and keep under direct observation until the situation is resolved.
(b) Secure the DER’s concurrence to observations. After discussing the circumstances with the DER, arrangements will be made to observe or talk with the employee. If he/she believes, after observing or talking to the employee, that the conduct or performance problem could be due to substance abuse, the employee will be immediately required to submit to a breath test or urinalysis. If the employee refuses to submit to testing for any reason, the employee will be informed that continued refusal would result in disqualification from performing any safety- sensitive function.
(c) Employees will be asked to release any evidence relating to the observation for further testing. Failure to comply may subject the employee to subsequent discipline or suspension from duties. All confiscated evidence will be receipted for with signatures of both the receiving supervisor, as well as the provider.
(d) The DER shall, within 24 hours or before the results of the controlled substance test are released, document in writing the particular facts related to the behavior or performance problems that led to the reasonable suspicion test and maintain this documentation in appropriate DOT files, if applicable.
(e) The DER shall remove or cause the removal of the employee from the city-owned vehicle and ensure that the employee is transported to ah appropriate collection site and thereafter to the employee’s residence or, where appropriate, to a place of lodging. Under no circumstances will that employee be allowed to continue to drive a city vehicle or his/her own vehicle until a confirmed negative test result is received.
(F) Baseline testing. The city may perform baseline testing on all employees within a department at any given time, regardless or shift or department.
(Ord. 13-33, passed 11-14-13)