Employee Drug Testing Laws in Wisconsin
Posted by Courtney
Welcome to this brief summary of Employee Drug Testing Laws in Wisconsin. The Dairy State does not have a general or comprehensive law that applies to drug testing, but as in many states a worker who is terminated for misconduct related to drug use may be denied unemployment benefits. In addition, if a workplace injury is the result of drug use or alcohol use, the employee may not be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits.
Following federal law and federal court decisions, states and local governments cannot require private employers to have drug-testing policies. However, many states have laws that specifically allow or encourage such policies by offering discounts on workers’ compensation insurance premiums or, as stated above, by denying benefits to the worker involved. In some cases, the employer is not charged with the costs of the workers’ compensation case, in addition to the premium discount benefit.
States do have laws that apply to those who work for a government agency, as well as laws that apply to those who work under contract for the government. In my research, I found that on June 1, 2007, the state of Wisconsin would require that most public works projects have drug and alcohol prevention programs. These programs will be funded and enforced by the employer and must include a written drug-testing and alcohol-testing program.
Under the new law, an employer working under a public works contract could ask workers to submit to random, reasonable suspicion or post-accident drug testing or alcohol testing, as long as this procedure follows federal and state guidelines. Workers who fail the test or refuse the test may be removed from their job. In essence, the new law will extend the guidelines to more Wisconsin companies.
There are also certain jobs that come with mandatory drug testing as part of the regular procedure. Some of these jobs are covered under the federal Omnibus Transportation Employee Act (commercial driver’s license, pilots, etc.) Other jobs involving public safety and security that also mandate drug testing are law enforcement and corrections officers who use a firearm, employees working with toxic chemicals or explosives, and certain medical personnel.
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