Understand How Drug Testing Could Impact Your Workers Comp Claim

Understand How Drug Testing Could Impact Your Workers Comp Claim

Read­ing Time: 9 min­utes

Last Updat­ed on June 19, 2023 

The tim­ing of a drug test after an acci­dent can vary depend­ing on the employ­er’s pol­i­cy and the type of injury. Some employ­ers may require a drug test imme­di­ate­ly after the acci­dent, while oth­ers may allow the injured work­er to receive ini­tial treat­ment first. How­ev­er, most employ­er-required drug tests are per­formed with­in about 12 hours after the acci­dent occurs. Do you have ques­tions want to find out how drug test­ing pol­i­cy can impact your work­ers’ comp claim ? Call Now for a FREE Con­sult with an Expe­ri­enced Work­ers Comp Lawyer at 844–682‑0999.

Understand How Drug Testing Could Impact Your Workers Comp Claim

There are a few rea­sons why employ­ers may want to con­duct drug tests after an acci­dent. First, they may want to rule out drug use as a fac­tor in the acci­dent. Sec­ond, they may want to take dis­ci­pli­nary action against employ­ees who test pos­i­tive for drugs. Third, they may want to col­lect infor­ma­tion about the employ­ee’s drug use in order to pro­vide them with treat­ment or reha­bil­i­ta­tion services.

It is impor­tant to note that drug test­ing after an acci­dent is not always legal. In some cas­es, employ­ees may have a legal right to refuse a drug test. For exam­ple, employ­ees may be pro­tect­ed by the Amer­i­cans with Dis­abil­i­ties Act (ADA) if they have a dis­abil­i­ty that makes them unable to pass a drug test.

If you are injured in an acci­dent at work, it is impor­tant to speak to an attor­ney to dis­cuss your legal rights. An attor­ney can help you under­stand your rights and options and can rep­re­sent you in nego­ti­a­tions with your employer.

Understand How Drug Testing Could Impact Your Workers Comp Claim

Role of Worker’s Comp Insurance Policies

Many work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion insur­ance com­pa­nies offer employ­ers a dis­count if they adopt drug-free poli­cies in their work­places. This pro­vides a finan­cial incen­tive for employ­ers to drug test their employ­ees in the event of a work­place accident.

Depend­ing on employ­er and type of injury, some employ­ers insist on per­form­ing the drug test imme­di­ate­ly after the acci­dent, while oth­ers allow the injured work­er to receive ini­tial treat­ment first.

Regard­less, most employ­er-required drug tests are per­formed with­in about 12 hours after the acci­dent occurs.

Is A Drug Test Required For Workers Comp? 

The answer to this ques­tion will depend on the spe­cif­ic laws of your state and the poli­cies of your employ­er. Gen­er­al­ly, a drug test may be required if the injury is con­sid­ered to have been caused by the use of alco­hol or ille­gal drugs. 

Addi­tion­al­ly, a drug test may also be required if the employ­er sus­pects that the employ­ee was under the influ­ence of drugs or alco­hol when the injury occurred. It is impor­tant to speak with your employ­er and insur­ance provider to under­stand the specifics of your situation.

Can You Refuse A Drug Test For Workers Comp? 

Yes, you can refuse a drug test for work­ers’ comp if the request is not in accor­dance with the laws of your state or the poli­cies of your employer. 

How­ev­er, if the employ­er sus­pects that the injury was caused by the use of alco­hol or ille­gal drugs, they may still require a drug test. 

It is impor­tant to speak with your employ­er and insur­ance provider to under­stand the specifics of your sit­u­a­tion before mak­ing a decision.

Before refus­ing, you must speak to an expe­ri­enced Work­ers Comp Lawyer to pro­tect your rights under the laws of your state. 

Can you be Denied Worker Comp Benefits if you Fail a Drug Test ?

Yes, it is pos­si­ble to be denied work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion ben­e­fits if you fail a drug test.

In legal terms, the work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion pro­gram is a “no-fault” program.

The no-fault scheme pre­vents employ­ees from being able to sue their employ­ers for their injuries, but it also relieves them of the bur­den of prov­ing that their employ­er was at fault for the injury.

Employ­ees whose injuries are the result of acci­dents caused by their intox­i­ca­tion through drugs or alco­hol are barred from receiv­ing work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion benefits.

Addi­tion­al­ly, if an employ­ee refus­es to sub­mit a drug test or if the test comes back pos­i­tive, the employ­er may deny the work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion claim.

How To Claim Benefits Even If You Fail The Drug Or Alcohol Test? 

If you fail a drug or alco­hol test but believe that the injury was not caused by the use of drugs or alco­hol, you may still be able to claim ben­e­fits.

Depend­ing on the spe­cif­ic laws of your state and the poli­cies of your employ­er, you may be able to appeal the deci­sion or pro­vide evi­dence that the injury was not caused by the use of drugs or alco­hol. It is impor­tant to speak with your employ­er and insur­ance provider to under­stand the specifics of your sit­u­a­tion before mak­ing a decision.

It is impor­tant that you must speak to an expe­ri­enced Work­ers Comp Lawyer to pro­tect your rights under the laws of your state. 

OSHA Standards for Drug Testing

OSHA also ruled that requir­ing drug test­ing for work­ers’ comp claims vio­lates their stan­dards if it’s used by the employ­er as retal­i­a­tion to the injured work­er for fil­ing a work­ers’ comp claim.

How­ev­er, if it’s part of the employer’s work­place safe­ty and health pro­gram, OSHA says it’s the employer’s prerogative.

Prescription Drugs and Drug Testing

If you are tak­ing a pre­scrip­tion that con­tains Opi­ates, then you need to pro­vide that script to the insur­ance com­pa­ny at the begin­ning of the work­ers’ comp claim.

Cas­es involv­ing med­ical mar­i­jua­na and work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion claims can be chal­leng­ing, in part because drug tests that show mar­i­jua­na in the worker’s sys­tem do not mea­sure lev­els of impairment.

To win your case, your work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion lawyer will need to help you over­come this presumption.

Florida Drug Testing Laws as an Example of Standards

440.101 Leg­isla­tive intent; drug-free work­places.—(1) It is the intent of the Leg­is­la­ture to pro­mote drug-free work­places in order that employ­ers in the state be afford­ed the oppor­tu­ni­ty to max­i­mize their lev­els of pro­duc­tiv­i­ty, enhance their com­pet­i­tive posi­tions in the mar­ket­place, and reach their desired lev­els of suc­cess with­out expe­ri­enc­ing the costs, delays, and tragedies asso­ci­at­ed with work-relat­ed acci­dents result­ing from drug abuse by employ­ees. It is fur­ther the intent of the Leg­is­la­ture that drug abuse be dis­cour­aged and that employ­ees who choose to engage in drug abuse face the risk of unem­ploy­ment and the for­fei­ture of work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion benefits.

(2) If an employ­er imple­ments a drug-free work­place pro­gram in accor­dance with s. 440.102 which includes notice, edu­ca­tion, and pro­ce­dur­al require­ments for test­ing for drugs and alco­hol pur­suant to law or to rules devel­oped by the Agency for Health Care Admin­is­tra­tion, the employ­er may require the employ­ee to sub­mit to a test for the pres­ence of drugs or alco­hol and, if a drug or alco­hol is found to be present in the employee’s sys­tem at a lev­el pre­scribed by rule adopt­ed pur­suant to this act, the employ­ee may be ter­mi­nat­ed and for­feits his or her eli­gi­bil­i­ty for med­ical and indem­ni­ty ben­e­fits. How­ev­er, a drug-free work­place pro­gram must require the employ­er to noti­fy all employ­ees that it is a con­di­tion of employ­ment for an employ­ee to refrain from report­ing to work or work­ing with the pres­ence of drugs or alco­hol in his or her body and, if an injured employ­ee refus­es to sub­mit to a test for drugs or alco­hol, the employ­ee for­feits eli­gi­bil­i­ty for med­ical and indem­ni­ty benefits.

How Long Does My Employer Have To Request A Drug Test? 

The amount of time your employ­er has to request a drug test will depend on the spe­cif­ic laws of your state and the poli­cies of your employ­er. Gen­er­al­ly, the employ­er will have a lim­it­ed time frame in which they can request a drug test. It is impor­tant to speak with your employ­er and insur­ance provider to under­stand the specifics of your sit­u­a­tion before mak­ing a decision.

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State-by-State Pre-Employment Drug Testing Laws

State Cov­ered Employers Pro­vi­sions Med­ical or Recre­ation­al Mar­i­jua­na Legal 
Alaba­ma AllTest­ing per­mit­ted after appli­cant receives drug-test­ing pol­i­cy and a con­di­tion­al employ­ment offer. N/A 
Alas­ka All employ­ers, includ­ing school dis­tricts or region­al edu­ca­tion­al atten­dance areas.Test­ing not restrict­ed. Pos­i­tive results or refusal may be grounds for not hiring. Med­ical and Recreational 
Ari­zona All pri­vate employ­ers, plus school dis­tricts and enti­ties that fur­nish trans­porta­tion to school districts.Test­ing per­mit­ted after appli­cant receives drug test­ing pol­i­cy. Refusal to sub­mit to a drug test can be basis for not hir­ing. Test­ing is required for school bus dri­ver certification. Med­ical and Recreational 
Arkansas N/ANo state laws; fol­lows fed­er­al law where required. Med­ical
Cal­i­for­nia State Agen­ciesTest­ing per­mit­ted for appli­cants to posi­tions of sen­si­tiv­i­ty in state agen­cies if test­ing is job relat­ed. Test­ing is required for pub­lic trans­porta­tion drivers.Med­ical and Recreational
Col­orado N/ANo state laws; fol­lows fed­er­al law where required. Med­ical and Recreational
Con­necti­cut All pri­vate employersTest­ing per­mit­ted after appli­cant receives drug-test­ing pol­i­cy. Can­not test for­mer employ­ees unless they have been gone for at least 12 months. Employ­ers in the fol­low­ing indus­tries can claim exemp­tions: min­ing; util­i­ties; con­struc­tion; man­u­fac­tur­ing; trans­porta­tion or deliv­ery; edu­ca­tion­al ser­vices; health­care or social ser­vices; jus­tice, pub­lic order and safe­ty activ­i­ties; and nation­al secu­ri­ty and inter­na­tion­al affairs. Med­ical and Recreational
Delaware Pub­lic and pri­vate schools and school trans­porta­tion; Depart­ment of Corrections. Test­ing is required for school bus dri­ver cer­ti­fi­ca­tion and for secu­ri­ty posi­tions at Depart­ment of Corrections. Med­ical 
Dis­trict of Colum­bia N/ANo state laws; fol­lows fed­er­al law where required. Med­ical and Recreational 
Flori­da Pri­vate employ­ers with 3 or more employ­ees. Pub­lic employ­ers with safe­ty-sen­si­tive and law enforce­ment positions.Test­ing per­mit­ted after appli­cant receives drug test­ing pol­i­cy. Refusal to sub­mit to a drug test can be basis for not hiring. Med­ical
Geor­gia State gov­ern­ment employ­ers, pub­lic schools, and com­pa­nies that fur­nish school trans­porta­tion; pri­vate employers.Test­ing autho­rized for appli­cants of state gov­ern­ment, pub­lic schools, and pri­vate com­pa­nies. Refusal to sub­mit to a drug test or a pos­i­tive test result may dis­qual­i­fy appli­cant from state and pub­lic school employ­ment for two years.N/A
Hawaii All employ­ersTest­ing per­mit­ted after appli­cant receives drug test­ing pol­i­cy and has oppor­tu­ni­ty to dis­close cur­rent pre­scrip­tion and non­pre­scrip­tion drugs being tak­en. Test­ing required for civ­il ser­vice appli­cants with city of Honolulu. Med­ical
Ida­ho All employ­ersTest­ing permitted. N/A
Illi­nois All employ­ers Illi­nois state law does not pro­hib­it drug testing. Med­ical and Recreational
Indi­ana N/ANo state laws; fol­lows fed­er­al law where required. N/A 
Iowa Pub­lic and pri­vate employers Test­ing per­mit­ted if appli­cant is informed at the time of appli­ca­tion that a drug test is required. Ads and appli­ca­tions must car­ry notice of drug test. N/A
Kansas State gov­ern­mentTest­ing per­mit­ted for appli­cants to safe­ty-sen­si­tive jobs after a job offer has been made. Ads for safe­ty-sen­si­tive jobs must car­ry notice of drug test. N/A 
Ken­tucky N/ANo state laws; fol­lows fed­er­al law where required.N/A
Louisiana Pub­lic and pri­vate employ­ers not sub­ject to a fed­er­al­ly man­dat­ed test­ing program.Test­ing not restricted. Med­ical
Maine Pub­lic and pri­vate employersTest­ing per­mit­ted after appli­cant receives drug test­ing pol­i­cy. Refusal to sub­mit to a drug test or a pos­i­tive test result can be basis for not hiring. Med­ical and Recreational
Mary­land All employ­ersTest­ing not restricted. N/A
Mass­a­chu­setts N/ANo state laws; fol­lows fed­er­al law where required.Med­ical and Recreational
Michi­gan N/ANo state laws; fol­lows fed­er­al law where required.Med­ical and Recreational
Min­neso­ta Pub­lic and pri­vate employersTest­ing per­mit­ted after appli­cant receives drug-test­ing pol­i­cy and a con­di­tion­al employ­ment offer and only if all job can­di­dates are tested. Med­ical
Mis­sis­sip­pi Pub­lic and pri­vate employers Test­ing not restricted. Med­ical 
Mis­souri N/ANo state laws; fol­lows fed­er­al law where required.Med­ical
Mon­tana Pub­lic and pri­vate employersTest­ing per­mit­ted for appli­cants to intrastate trans­port jobs, haz­ardous envi­ron­ments jobs, or posi­tions with secu­ri­ty, pub­lic safe­ty, or fidu­cia­ry responsibility. Med­ical and Recreational 
Nebras­ka Pri­vate employ­ers with six or more employ­ees and pub­lic employers Test­ing not restricted. N/A 
Neva­da State agen­ciesTest­ing per­mit­ted for pub­lic safe­ty jobs. Med­ical and Recreational 
New Hamp­shire N/ANo state laws; fol­lows fed­er­al law where required. Med­ical
New Jer­sey All employ­ers Test­ing per­mit­ted, but employ­ers can­not refuse to hire any per­son because they do (or do not) use cannabis prod­ucts out­side of work.Med­ical and Recreational
New Mex­i­co N/AEmploy­ers per­mit­ted to imple­ment and main­tain zero-tol­er­ance drug test­ing pro­grams, includ­ing the test­ing of marijuana. Med­ical and Recreational
New York N/ANew York City bans pre-employ­ment screen­ing for mar­i­jua­na use except for safe­ty and secu­ri­ty sen­si­tive jobs and jobs bound by a fed­er­al or state con­tract or grant. Med­ical and Recreational 
North Car­oli­na Pub­lic and pri­vate employersTest­ing not restricted. N/A 
North Dako­ta N/ANo state laws; fol­lows fed­er­al law where required. Med­ical 
Ohio All employ­ersAppli­cant test­ing autho­rized with advance notice to appli­cant and after offer of employ­ment has been made.Med­ical
Okla­homa Pub­lic and pri­vate employersAppli­cant test­ing autho­rized with advance notice to appli­cant and after offer of employ­ment has been made. Notice must be in writ­ing, describ­ing meth­ods, pro­ce­dures, and poli­cies in detail. Med­ical 
Ore­gon All employ­ersTest­ing per­mit­ted if rea­son­able sus­pi­cion exists that appli­cant is under the influ­ence of alco­hol or con­trolled substance.Med­ical and Recreational
Penn­syl­va­nia N/ANo state laws; fol­lows fed­er­al law where required.Med­ical
Rhode Island Pub­lic and pri­vate employersPri­vate sec­tor appli­cant test­ing per­mit­ted only after offer of employ­ment has been made. Pub­lic sec­tor test­ing per­mit­ted for jobs involv­ing pub­lic safe­ty or when required by fed­er­al law. Med­ical
South Car­oli­na All employ­ers S.C. Code § 1–13-30. Test­ing not restricted. N/A 
South Dako­ta State gov­ern­mentTest­ing per­mit­ted for appli­cants to safe­ty- sen­si­tive state jobs only after offer of employ­ment has been made. Pub­lic announce­ments and ads must car­ry notice of drug test­ing requirements. Med­ical and Recreational 
Ten­nessee State Dept. of Corrections Test­ing not restricted. N/A
Texas N/ANo state laws; fol­lows fed­er­al law where required. N/A
Utah Pri­vate employ­ers, local gov­ern­ment enti­ties, and state insti­tu­tions of high­er educationTest­ing not restrict­ed in the pri­vate sec­tor. Local gov­ern­ments and state col­leges can test appli­cants with advance notice and a writ­ten pol­i­cy. Refusal to sub­mit to a drug test or a pos­i­tive test result can be basis for not hiring. Med­ical 
Ver­mont Pub­lic and pri­vate employers Test­ing autho­rized with advance writ­ten notice to appli­cant, after con­di­tion­al offer of employ­ment has been made, and if test is part of pre-employ­ment physical.Med­ical and Recreational
Vir­ginia N/ATest­ing per­mit­ted but employ­ers are pro­hib­it­ed from dis­charg­ing, dis­ci­plin­ing, or dis­crim­i­nat­ing against an employee’s law­ful use of cannabis oil accord­ing to a valid writ­ten cer­ti­fi­ca­tion issued by a prac­ti­tion­er for the treat­ment or to elim­i­nate the symp­toms of the employee’s diag­nosed con­di­tion or disease. Med­ical and Recreational
Wash­ing­ton Pri­vate employ­ers seek­ing to qual­i­fy for a 5% work­ers’ comp. pre­mi­um dis­count, with approval by state authorities.Test­ing autho­rized with advance writ­ten notice and after con­di­tion­al offer of employ­ment has been made. Med­ical and Recreational
West Vir­ginia N/ANo state laws; fol­lows fed­er­al law where required.Med­ical
Wis­con­sin N/A No state laws; fol­lows fed­er­al law where required. N/A 
Wyoming N/ANo state laws; fol­lows fed­er­al law where required. N/A

Federal Drug Testing Laws

Job appli­cants or employ­ees in posi­tions such as air­line pilots, bus dri­vers, rail­road employ­ees, taxi dri­vers, and truck dri­vers are reg­u­lat­ed by the Depart­ment of Trans­porta­tion and must com­ply with fed­er­al laws, which require appli­cants to take and pass a pre-employ­ment urine test. If a per­son in one of these posi­tions is ever in an acci­dent on the job, they will also be required to take a post-acci­dent drug test.

Questions People Ask:

  • Work­ers Comp Drug Test: What Hap­pens If You Fail?
  • Do I Have To Take A Drug Test If I Get Hurt At Work?
  • Is A Drug Test Required For Work­ers Comp?
  • How Long Does Work­ers Comp Have To Drug Test?
  • Can You Refuse A Drug Test For Work­ers Comp?
  • How To Claim Ben­e­fits Even If You Fail The Drug Or Alco­hol Test
  • Prov­ing That Drug Intox­i­ca­tion Did­n’t Cause Your Injuries
  • How Long Does My Employ­er Have To Request A Drug Test?
  • How Long Does A Com­pa­ny Have To Drug Test You After An Accident?
  • What Are My Legal Rights If I Have Been Denied Work­ers Comp Due To Drug Or Alco­hol Impairment?
  • Under­stand How Drug Test­ing Could Impact Your Work­ers Comp Claim
  • Med­ical Mar­i­jua­na And Work­ers Com­pen­sa­tion Claims In Illinois
  • Are There Spe­cial Chal­lenges Asso­ci­at­ed With A Pos­i­tive Mar­i­jua­na Test?

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