Common Employer Mistakes: Drug And Alcohol Testing

Iowa has a detailed and comprehensive employee drug and alcohol testing statute that may provide you legal remedies if you are fired because of the results of an employer’s drug or alcohol test.

If an employer wants to test its employees for drugs or alcohol, it has to have a written policy that governs all aspects of that testing.  With limited exceptions, that policy has to comply with the Iowa Code.

Some of the ways that an employer can violate Iowa’s employee drug and alcohol testing laws include: (1) not having a written testing policy; (2) using a written testing policy that does not comply with the Iowa Code; (3) conducting a test that it has no right to conduct; (4) not using the proper procedures for conducting the test and preserving the test sample; (5) not fully explaining all of your rights under Iowa’s employee drug and alcohol testing laws; (6) illegally disclosing the test results to unauthorized recipients; and (7) taking disciplinary action against you that is not permitted by Iowa’s employee drug and alcohol testing laws.

Iowa law requires that employers pay the attorney fees and litigation expenses of employees who successfully sue for a violation of Iowa’s employee drug and alcohol testing laws.  Because there are many issues that need to be reviewed and analyzed in employee drug and alcohol testing matters, you should contact an attorney if you believe that your employer violated Iowa’s employee drug and alcohol testing law.