2023 Montana Code Annotated › Title 39. Labor › Chapter 2. The Employment Relationship › Part 2. General Obligations of Employers › 39-2-207. Qualified testing program

39-2-207. Qualified testing program.
A qualified testing program must comply with the following criteria:
(1) Testing must be conducted according to the terms of written policies and procedures that must be adopted by the employer and must be available for review by all employees 60 days before the terms are implemented or changed. Controlled substance and alcohol testing procedures for samples that are covered by 49 CFR, part 40, must conform to 49 CFR, part 40. For samples that are not covered by 49 CFR, part 40, the qualified testing program must contain chain-of-custody and other procedural requirements that are at least as stringent as those contained in 49 CFR, part 40, and the testing methodology must be cleared by the United States food and drug administration. At a minimum, the policies and procedures must require:
(a) a description of the applicable legal sanctions under federal, state, and local law for the unlawful manufacture, distribution, possession, or use of a controlled substance;
(b) the employer's program for regularly educating or providing information to employees on the health and workplace safety risks associated with the use of controlled substances and alcohol;
(c) the employer's standards of conduct that regulate the use of controlled substances and alcohol by employees;
(d) a description of available employee assistance programs, including drug and alcohol counseling, treatment, or rehabilitation programs that are available to employees;
(e) a description of the sanctions that the employer may impose on an employee if the employee is found to have violated the standards of conduct referred to in subsection (1)(c) or if the employee is found to test positive for the presence of a controlled substance or alcohol;
(f) identification of the types of controlled substance and alcohol tests to be used from the types of tests listed in 39-2-208;
(g) a list of controlled substances for which the employer intends to test and a stated alcohol concentration level above which a tested employee must be sanctioned;
(h) a description of the employer's hiring policy with respect to prospective employees who test positive;
(i) a detailed description of the procedures that will be followed to conduct the testing program, including the resolution of a dispute concerning test results;
(j) a provision that all information, interviews, reports, statements, memoranda, and test results are confidential communications that may not be disclosed to anyone except:
(i) the tested employee;
(ii) the designated representative of the employer; or
(iii) in connection with any legal or administrative claim arising out of the employer's implementation of 39-2-205 through 39-2-211 or in response to inquiries relating to a workplace accident involving death, physical injury, or property damage in excess of $1,500, when there is reason to believe that the tested employee may have caused or contributed to the accident; and
(k) a provision that information obtained through testing that is unrelated to the use of a controlled substance or alcohol must be held in strict confidentiality by the medical review officer and may not be released to the employer.
(2) In addition to imposing appropriate sanctions on an employee for violation of the employer's standards of conduct, an employer may require an employee who tests positive on a test for controlled substances or alcohol to participate in an appropriate drug or alcohol counseling, treatment, or rehabilitation program as a condition of continued employment. An employer may require the employee to submit to periodic followup testing as a condition of the counseling, treatment, or rehabilitation program.
(3) Testing must be at the employer's expense, and all employees must be compensated at the employee's regular rate, including benefits, for time attributable to the testing program.
(4) The collection, transport, and confirmation testing of urine samples must be performed in accordance with 49 CFR, part 40, and the collection, transport, and confirmation testing of nonurine samples must be as stringent as the requirements of 49 CFR, part 40, in requiring split specimens as defined by the United States department of health and human services, requiring transport to a testing facility under the chain of custody, and requiring confirmation of all screened positive results using mass-spectrometry technology.
(5) Before an employer may take any action based on a positive test result, the employer shall have the results reviewed and certified by a medical review officer who is trained in the field of substance abuse. An employee or prospective employee must be given the opportunity to provide notification to the medical review officer of any medical information that is relevant to interpreting test results, including information concerning currently or recently used prescription or nonprescription drugs.
(6) Breath alcohol tests must be administered by a certified breath alcohol technician and may only be conducted using testing equipment that appears on the list of conforming products published in the Federal Register.
(7) A breath alcohol test result must indicate an alcohol concentration of greater than 0.04 for a person to be considered as having alcohol in the person's body.
History: En. Sec. 3, Ch. 521, L. 1997; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 177, L. 2005.