Oklahoma drug testing law is named The Standards for Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Law in the Oklahoma Statutes, and can be found in Title 40, Chapter 15, in the sections below.

• 552 Definitions
• 553 Construction of act.
• 554 Types of testing.
• 555 Written Policy
• 556 Timing/Costs
• 559 Conditions to Conduct Sample Collection and Testing.
• 560 Confidential Records.
• 561 Employee Assistance Program.
• 562 Disciplinary Actions.
• 564 Compliance with Provisions of Act and Rules.

1. "Alcohol" means ethyl alcohol or ethanol;

2. "Applicant" means a person who has applied for a position with an employer;

3. "Board" means the State Board of Health;

4. "Confirmation test" means a drug or alcohol test on a sample to substantiate the results of a prior drug or alcohol test on the same sample and which uses different chemical principles and is of equal or greater accuracy than the prior drug or alcohol test;

5. "Department" means the State Department of Health;

6. "Drug" means amphetamines, cannabinoids, cocaine, phencyclidine (PCP), hallucinogens, methaqualone, opiates, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, synthetic narcotics, designer drugs, or a metabolite of any of the substances listed herein;

7. "Drug or alcohol test" means a chemical test administered for the purpose of determining the presence or absence of a drug or its metabolites or alcohol in a person's bodily tissue, fluids or products;

8. "Employee" means any person who supplies a service for remuneration or pursuant to any contract for hire to a private or public employer in this state;

9. "Employer" means any person, firm, corporation, partnership, association, nonprofit organization or public employer, which has one or more employees within this state, or which has offered or may offer employment to one or more individuals in this state;

10. "Public employer" means the State of Oklahoma or any political subdivision thereof, including any department, agency, board, commission, institution, authority, public trust, municipality, county, district or instrumentalities thereof;

11. "Random selection basis" means a mechanism for selecting employees for drug or alcohol testing that:
a. results in an equal probability that any employee from a group of employees subject to the selection mechanism will be selected, and
b. does not give an employer discretion to waive the selection of any employee selected under the mechanism;

12. "Reasonable suspicion" means a belief that an employee is using or has used drugs or alcohol in violation of the employer's written policy drawn from specific objective and articulable facts and reasonable inferences drawn from those facts in light of experience, and may be based upon, among other things:

a. observable phenomena, such as:

(1) the physical symptoms or manifestations of being under the influence of a drug or alcohol while at work or on duty, or

(2) the direct observation of drug or alcohol use while at work or on duty,

b. a report of drug or alcohol use while at work or on duty, provided by reliable and credible sources and which has been independently corroborated,

c. evidence that an individual has tampered with a drug or alcohol test during his employment with the current employer, or

d. evidence that an employee is involved in the use, possession, sale, solicitation or transfer of drugs while on duty or while on the employer's premises or operating the employer's vehicle, machinery or equipment;

13. "Review officer" means a person, qualified by the State Board of Health, who is responsible for receiving results from a testing facility which have been generated by an employer's drug or alcohol testing program, and who has knowledge and training to interpret and evaluate an individual's test results together with the individual's medical history and any other relevant information;

14. "Sample" means tissue, fluid or product of the human body chemically capable of revealing the presence of drugs or alcohol in the human body; and

15. "Testing facility" means any person, including any laboratory, hospital, clinic or facility, either off or on the premises of the employer, which provides laboratory services to test for the presence of drugs or alcohol in the human body.)

553 - Construction of act.

A. The Standards for Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Act shall not be construed as requiring or encouraging employers to conduct drug or alcohol testing.

B. Except as provided in subsection C of this section, employers who choose to conduct drug or alcohol testing of job applicants or persons employed in this state shall be governed by the provisions of this act1 and the rules promulgated pursuant thereto.

C. Drug or alcohol testing required by and conducted pursuant to federal law or regulation shall be exempt from the provisions of the Standards for Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Act and the rules promulgated pursuant thereto.

D. This act shall not be construed as preventing the negotiation of collective bargaining agreements that provide greater protection to employees or applicants than is provided by this act.

554 - Types of testing.
Employers who choose to conduct drug or alcohol testing may only request or require an applicant or employee to undergo testing under the following circumstances:

1. Applicant testing: A public or private employer may request or require a job applicant, upon a conditional offer of employment, to undergo drug or alcohol testing and may use a refusal to undergo testing or a confirmed positive test result as a basis for refusal to hire, provided that such testing does not violate the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C., Section 12101 et seq., and provided that such testing is required for all applicants who have received a conditional offer of employment for a particular employment classification;

2. Reasonable suspicion testing: A public or private employer may request or require an employee to undergo drug or alcohol testing if the employer has a reasonable suspicion that the employee has violated the employer's written policy;

3. Post-accident testing: A public or private employer may require an employee to undergo drug or alcohol testing if the employer has a reasonable suspicion that the employee or another person has sustained a work-related injury or the employer's property has been damaged as a direct result of the employee's use of drugs or alcohol, including damage to equipment, in an amount reasonably estimated at the time of the accident to exceed Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00). For purposes of workers' compensation or unemployment compensation, no employee who tests positive for the presence of substsances defined and consumed pursuant to Section 465.20 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes, alcohol, illegal drugs, or illegally used chemicals shall be eligible for such compensation unless the employee proves by a preponderance of the evidence that the substances, alcohol, illegal drugs, or illegally used chemicals were not the proximate cause of the injury or accident;

4. Random testing: A public or private employer may request or require an employee to undergo drug or alcohol testing on a random selection basis, except that a public employer may require random testing only of employees who:

a. are police or peace officers,

b. have drug interdiction responsibilities,

c. are authorized to carry firearms,

d. are engaged in activities which directly affect the safety of others, or

e. work in direct contact with inmates in the custody of the Department of Corrections or work in direct contact with juvenile delinquents or children in need of supervision in the custody of the Department of Human Services;

5. Scheduled, periodic testing: A public or private employer may request or require an employee to undergo drug or alcohol testing if the test is conducted as a routine part of a routinely scheduled employee fitness-for-duty medical examination or is scheduled routinely for all members of an employment classification or group and which is part of the employer's written policy, except that a public employer may require scheduled, periodic testing only of employees who:

a. are police or peace officers,

b. have drug interdiction responsibilities,

c. are authorized to carry firearms,

d. are engaged in activities which directly affect thesafety of others, or

e. work in direct contact with inmates in the custody of the Department of Corrections or work in direct contact with juvenile delinquents or children in need of supervision in the custody of the Department of Human Services; and

6. Post-rehabilitation testing: A public or private employer may request or require an employee to undergo drug or alcohol testing without prior notice for a period of up to two (2) years commencing with the employee's return to work, following a confirmed positive test or following participation in a drug or alcohol dependency treatment program under an employee benefit plan or at the request of the employer.

555 - Employer's written policy required prior to testing. Effective 11/1/2007

A. No employer may request or require an applicant or employee to undergo drug or alcohol testing unless the employer has first adopted a written, detailed policy setting forth the specifics of its drug or alcohol testing program. The written policy shall be uniformly applied to those covered by the policy and shall include, but not be limited to, the following information:

1. A statement of the employer's policy respecting drug or alcohol use by employees;

2. Which applicants and employees are subject to testing;

3. Circumstances under which testing may be requested or required;

4. Substances which may be tested. To comply with the provisions of this paragraph, it shall be sufficient for an employer to state in the written policy that the substances tested shall be for drugs and alcohol as defined in the Standards for Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, including controlled substances approved for testing by rule by the State Commissioner of Health;

5. Testing methods and collection procedures to be used;

6. Consequences of refusing to undergo testing;

7. Potential adverse personnel action which may be taken as a result of a positive test result;

8. The rights of an applicant and employee to explain, in confidence, the test results;

9. The rights of an applicant and employee to obtain all information and records related to that individual's testing;

10. Confidentiality requirements; and

11. The available appeal procedures, remedies and sanctions.

B. An employer who is implementing a drug or alcohol testing policy for the first time, or is implementing changes to its policy, shall provide at least thirty (30) days' notice to its employees prior to implementation of the policy or changes to the policy.

C. An employer shall post a copy of the drug or alcohol testing policy, and any changes to the policy, in a prominent employee access area in the place of employment and shall give a copy of the policy, and any changes to the policy, to each employee and to each applicant upon his or her receipt of a conditional offer of employment.

556 - Timing/Costs

A. Any drug or alcohol testing by an employer shall occur during or immediately after the regular work period of current employees and shall be deemed work time for purposes of compensation and benefits for current employees.

B. An employer shall pay all costs of testing for drugs or alcohol required by the employer, including confirmation tests required by this act and the cost of transportation if the testing of a current employee is conducted at a place other than the workplace. Provided, however, an individual who requests a retest of a sample in order to challenge the results of a positive test shall pay all costs of the retest, unless the retest reverses the findings of the challenged positive test. In such case, the employer shall reimburse the individual for the costs of the retest.

557 - State Board of Health to Implement and Enforce Provisions of Act - Rules.

A. The State Board of Health shall implement and enforce the provisions of the Standards for Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Act. The Board shall have the power and duty to promulgate, prescribe, amend and repeal rules for the licensure and regulation of testing facilities and for the establishment and regulation of minimum testing standards and procedures, which shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

1. Qualifications of testing facilities which shall include the requirement that facilities doing urine analysis for initial or confirmation tests either be certified for forensic urine drug testing pursuant to guidelines or regulations of the federal Department of Health and Human Services or be accredited for forensic urine drug testing by the College of American Pathologists or other organizations recognized by the State Board of Health;

2. Qualifications of testing facility personnel;

3. Body component samples that are appropriate for drug and alcohol testing, to include saliva, urine and hair;

4. The drugs in addition to marihuana, cocaine, opiates, amphetamines and phencyclidine, and their metabolites, for which testing may be conducted;

5. Methods of analysis and internal quality control procedures to ensure reliable test results;

6. Internal review and certification process for test results;

7. Security measures to preclude adulteration;

8. Chain-of-custody procedures;

9. Retention and storage procedures and durations to ensure availability of samples for retesting;

10. Procedures for ensuring confidentiality of test results;

11. Proficiency testing;

12. Training and qualifications of review officers which shall include, but not be limited to, licensure to practice medicine and surgery or osteopathic medicine or holding a doctorate in clinical chemistry, forensic toxicology, or a similar biomedical science;

13. Training and qualifications of collection site personnel;

14. Sample collection procedures that ensure the privacy of the individual and prevent and detect tampering with the sample;

15. Sample documentation, storage and transportation to the testing facility; and

16. Procedures for the testing facility to provide the necessary documentation of testing procedures and test results to the employer requesting testing services as may be required by a court or administrative proceeding.

B. The rules promulgated by the State Board of Health pursuant to the provisions of this act shall in all applicable respects be consistent with any federal laws and regulations for drug and alcohol testing in the workplace and shall include safeguards, standards and procedures not less stringent than those applicable to federally regulated drug and alcohol testing in the workplace, except where to do so would create a conflict with a provision of this act.

559 - Conditions to Conduct Sample Collection and Testing.
All sample collection and testing for drugs and alcohol pursuant to the provisions of this act shall be conducted in accordance with the following conditions:

1. Samples shall be collected and tested only by individuals deemed qualified by the State Board of Health and may be collected on the premises of the employer;

2. Only samples deemed appropriate by the State Board of Health for drug and alcohol testing shall be collected;

3. The collection of samples shall be performed under reasonable and sanitary conditions;

4. A sample shall be collected in sufficient quantity for splitting into two separate specimens, pursuant to rules of the State Board of Health, to provide for any subsequent independent analysis in the event of challenge of the test results of the main specimen;

5. Samples shall be collected and tested with due regard to the privacy of the individual being tested. In the instances of urinalysis, no employer or representative, agent or designee of the employer shall directly observe an applicant or employee in the process of producing a urine sample; provided, however, collection shall be in a manner reasonably calculated to prevent substitutions or interference with the collection or testing of reliable samples;

6. Sample collection shall be documented, and the documentation procedures shall include:

a. labeling of samples so as reasonably to preclude the probability of erroneous identification of test results, and

b. an opportunity for the applicant or employee to provide notification of any information which the applicant or employee considers relevant to the test, including identification of currently or recently used prescription or nonprescription drugs, or other relevant information;

7. Sample collection, storage, and transportation to the testing facility shall be performed so as reasonably to preclude the probability of sample contamination or adulteration;

8. Sample testing shall conform to scientifically accepted analytical methods and procedures. Testing shall include confirmation of any positive test result by gas chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy, or an equivalent scientifically accepted method of equal or greater accuracy as approved by Board rule, at the cutoff levels as determined by Board rule, before the result of any test may be used as a basis for refusal to hire a job applicant or any action by an employer pursuant to Section 12 of this act; and

9. A written record of the chain of custody of the sample shall be maintained from the time of the collection of the sample until the sample is no longer required.

560 - Confidential Records.

A. Employers shall maintain all drug and alcohol test results and related information, including, but not limited to, interviews, reports, statements and memoranda, as confidential records, separate from other personnel records. Such records, including the records of the testing facility, shall not be used in any criminal proceeding, or any civil or administrative proceeding, except in those actions taken by the employer or in any action involving the individual tested and the employer or unless such records are ordered released pursuant to a valid court order.

B. The records described in subsection A of this section and maintained by the employer shall be the property of the employer and, upon the request of the applicant or employee tested, shall be made available for inspection and copying to the applicant or employee. An employer shall not release such records to any person other than the applicant, employee or the employer's review officer, unless the applicant or employee, in writing following receipt of the test results, has expressly granted permission for the employer to release such records or pursuant to a valid court order.

C. A testing facility, or any agent, representative or designee of the facility, or any review officer, shall not disclose to any employer, based on the analysis of a sample collected from an applicant or employee for the purpose of testing for the presence of drugs or alcohol, any information relating to:

1. The general health, pregnancy or other physical or mental condition of the applicant or employee; or

2. The presence of any drug other than the drug or its metabolites that the employer requested be identified and for which a medically acceptable explanation of the positive result, other than the use of drugs, has not been forthcoming from the applicant or employee.

Provided, however, a testing facility shall release the results of the drug or alcohol test, and any analysis and information related thereto, to the individual tested upon his request.

561 - Employee Assistance Program.

Drug or alcohol testing governed by the Standards for Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Act shall not be requested or required of an employee by an employer unless the employer provides an employee assistance program. For the purposes of this section, "employee assistance program" means an in-house or contracted program which at a minimum provides drug and alcohol dependency evaluation and referral services for substance abuse counseling, treatment or rehabilitation.

562 - Disciplinary Actions.

A. No disciplinary action, except for a temporary suspension or a temporary transfer to another position, may be taken by an employer against an employee based on a positive test result unless the test result has been confirmed by a second test using gas chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy, or an equivalent scientifically accepted method of equal or greater accuracy as approved by rule of the State Board of Health, at the cutoff levels determined by Board rule.

B. An employer may take disciplinary action against an employee who refuses to undergo drug or alcohol testing conducted in accordance with the provisions of this act.

563 - Civil Actions.

A. Any person aggrieved by a willful violation of the Standards for Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Act may institute a civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction within two (2) years of the person's discovery of the alleged willful violation or of the exhaustion of any internal administrative remedies available to the person, or be barred from obtaining the relief provided for in subsection B of this section.

B. A prevailing party may be awarded declaratory or injunctive relief and compensatory damages which may include, but not be limited to, employment, reinstatement, promotion, the payment of lost wages and other remuneration to which the person would have been entitled and payment of and reinstatement to full benefits and seniority rights. Reasonable costs and attorney fees may be awarded to the prevailing party.

564 - Compliance with Provisions of Act and Rules.

On and after the effective date of this act no employer shall implement a drug or alcohol testing program subject to the provisions of this act unless the program is in compliance with the provisions of this act and the rules promulgated pursuant thereto. Provided, a drug or alcohol testing program subject to the provisions of this act which is in effect prior to the effective date of this act shall be in compliance with the provisions of this act and the rules promulgated pursuant thereto no later than July 1, 1994.

565 - Willful and Knowing Violations - Punishment.

Any person who willfully and knowingly violates the provisions of the Standards for Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, punishable by a fine of not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) nor more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one (1) year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.