II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2203

To promote drug-free workplace programs.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 23, 1998

Mr. COVERDELL (for himself and Mr. KYL) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business

A BILL

To promote drug-free workplace programs.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Drug-Free Workplace

5 Act of 1998’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

8 (1) 74 percent of adults who use illegal drugs

9 are employed;

10 (2) small business concerns employ over 50 per11 cent of the Nation’s workforce;
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1 (3) in more than 88 percent of families with

2 children under the age of 18, at least 1 parent is

3 employed; and

4 (4) employees who use and abuse addictive sub5 stances increase costs for businesses and risk the

6 health and safety of all employees because—

7 (A) absenteeism is 66 percent higher

8 among drug users than individuals who do not

9 use drugs;

10 (B) health benefit utilization is 300 per11 cent higher among drug users than individuals

12 who do not use drugs;

13 (C) 47 percent of workplace accidents are

14 drug-related;

15 (D) disciplinary actions are 90 percent

16 higher among drug users than among individ17 uals who do not use drugs; and

18 (E) employee turnover is significantly high19 er among drug users than among individuals

20 who do not use drugs.

21 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to—

22 (1) educate small business concerns about the

23 advantages of a drug-free workplace;
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1 (2) provide financial incentives and technical

2 assistance to enable small business concerns to cre3 ate a drug-free workplace; and

4 (3) assist working parents in keeping their chil5 dren drug-free.

6 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

7 It is the sense of Congress that—

8 (1) businesses should adopt drug-free workplace

9 programs;

10 (2) States should consider incentives to encour11 age businesses to adopt drug-free workplace pro12 grams;

13 (3) such incentives may include—

14 (A) financial incentives, including—

15 (i) a reduction in workers’ compensa16 tion premiums;

17 (ii) a reduction in unemployment in18 surance premiums; and

19 (iii) tax deductions in an amount

20 equal to the amount of expenditures for

21 employee assistance programs, treatment,

22 or drug testing; and

23 (B) other incentives, such as the adoption

24 of liability limitations, as recommended by the
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1 President’s Commission on Model State Drug

2 Laws.

3 SEC. 4. DRUG-FREE WORKPLACE DEMONSTRATION PRO4 GRAM.

5 The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is

6 amended—

7 (1) by redesignating section 32 as section 33;

8 and

9 (2) by inserting after section 31 the following:

10 ‘‘SEC. 32. DRUG-FREE WORKPLACE DEMONSTRATION PRO11 GRAM.

12 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

13 ‘‘(1) DRUG-FREE WORKPLACE PROGRAM.—The

14 term ‘drug-free workplace program’ means a pro15 gram that includes—

16 ‘‘(A) a written policy, including a clear

17 statement of expectations for workplace behav18 ior, prohibitions against substances in the work19 place, and the consequences of violating those

20 expectations and prohibitions;

21 ‘‘(B) alcohol and drug abuse prevention

22 training for a total of not less than 2 hours for

23 each employee, and additional alcohol and drug

24 abuse prevention training for employees who

25 are parents;
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1 ‘‘(C) employee drug testing conducted by a

2 drug testing laboratory certified by the Sub3 stance Abuse and Mental Health Services Ad4 ministration, approved by the Department of

5 Health and Human Services under the Clinical

6 Laboratories Improvement Act of 1967 (42

7 U.S.C. 263a), or approved by the College of

8 American Pathologists, and a review of each

9 positive test result by a licensed medical review

10 officer;

11 ‘‘(D) employee access to an employee as12 sistance program, including assessment, refer13 ral, and short-term problem resolution; and

14 ‘‘(E) continuing alcohol and drug abuse

15 prevention assistance.

16 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE INTERMEDIARY.—The term ‘eli17 gible intermediary’ means an organization—

18 ‘‘(A) that is described in paragraph (3) or

19 (6) of section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue

20 Code of 1986 that is exempt from taxation

21 under section 5(a) of such Code, or a program

22 of any such organization; or

23 ‘‘(B) that provides services to any organi24 zation described in subparagraph (A);
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1 ‘‘(C) that has not less than 2 years of ex2 perience in carrying out drug-free workplace

3 programs or in providing assistance and serv4 ices to small business concerns;

5 ‘‘(D) that has a drug-free workplace policy

6 in effect;

7 ‘‘(E) that is located in a State, the District

8 of Columbia, or a territory of the United

9 States; and

10 ‘‘(F) the purpose of which is—

11 ‘‘(i) to develop comprehensive drug12 free workplace programs or to supply drug13 free workplace services; or

14 ‘‘(ii) to provide other forms of assist15 ance and services to small business con16 cerns.

17 ‘‘(3) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘employee’ includes

18 any—

19 ‘‘(A) supervisor;

20 ‘‘(B) manager;

21 ‘‘(C) officer of a small business concern

22 who is active in management of the concern;

23 and

24 ‘‘(D) owner of a small business concern

25 who is active in management of the concern.
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1 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a drug2 free workplace demonstration program, under which the

3 Administrator may make grants to, or enter into coopera4 tive agreements or contracts with, eligible intermediaries

5 for the purpose of providing financial and technical assist6 ance to small business concerns seeking to establish a

7 drug-free workplace program.

8 ‘‘(c) EVALUATION AND COORDINATION.—Not later

9 than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Drug-Free

10 Workplace Act of 1998, the Administrator, in coordination

11 with the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Health and

12 Human Services, and the Director of the Office of Na13 tional Drug Control Policy, shall—

14 ‘‘(1) evaluate the drug-free workplace programs

15 established with assistance made available under this

16 section; and

17 ‘‘(2) submit to Congress a report describing the

18 results of the evaluation under paragraph (1).

19 ‘‘(d) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—In carrying out this

20 section, the Administrator may—

21 ‘‘(1) contract with public and private entities to

22 provide assistance related to carrying out the pro23 gram under this section; and

24 ‘‘(2) compensate those entities for provision of

25 that assistance.
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1 ‘‘(e) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section may

2 be construed to require an employer who attends a pro3 gram offered by an intermediary to contract for any serv4 ice offered by the intermediary.

5 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION.—There is authorized to be ap6 propriated to carry out this section, $10,000,000 for fiscal

7 year 1999. Amounts made available under this subsection

8 shall remain available until expended.’’.

9 SEC. 5. SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS.

10 Section 21(c)(3) of the Small Business Act (15

11 U.S.C. 648(c)(3)) is amended—

12 (1) in subparagraph (R), by striking ‘‘and’’ at

13 the end;

14 (2) in subparagraph (S), by striking the period

15 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

16 (3) by adding at the end the following:

17 ‘‘(T) providing information and assistance to

18 small business concerns with respect to establishing

19 drug-free workplace programs (as defined in section

20 32(a)).’’.

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