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Drug Testing and Privacy at Work

This document tells you the following:

• What employers can require their employees to take drug tests?

Requiring tests for substance abuse as a condition of hiring or continued employment is controversial. Opponents argue that drug testing without suspicion of wrongdoing violates an important constitutional right.

The Fourth Amendment provides protection against government search and seizures without reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing. Drug testing is a type of search. In determining whether to test for drugs, the courts must balance conflicting interests. Should testing take place only if there is a reasonable suspicion of drug use? Which is most important: preserving a constitutional right or efforts to limit drug use?

In general, testing by private employers is legal because the Constitution applies only to government action. However, drug testing is a subject for mandatory negotiation in union contracts. As of 1990, the Supreme Court had generally approved testing by public employers of employees in jobs in which there was a compelling interest in public safety. For example, it had upheld testing of railroad employees involved in accidents that resulted in fatalities. It had also upheld testing of U.S. Treasury Department employees seeking positions in which they would carry firearms or act to control drugs. Random testing of justice department workers, railroad employees, and truck drivers, on the other hand, has not been upheld.

In 1990, Georgia laws authorized random testing of employees in high-risk jobs, and a 1995 Georgia law now requires drug testing for certain state positions. It also mandates that applicants for those positions submit to drug testing as a prerequisite to employment.

 * Excerpted from An Introduction to Law in Georgia, Fourth Edition, published by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, 1998 (updated 2004).  The Vinson Institute is not responsible for errors in the online text.  Content is for information only; in no way should the information in the book be considered legal advice to anyone on any matter for which there are legal implications.  Any such matter should be specifically addressed with an attorney. The book is available for purchase at or by contacting the Publications Program, Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia, 201 M. Milledge Avenue, Athens, GA 30602; telephone 706-542-6377; fax 706-542-6239.