Many types of occupations require random urine tests for drug or alcohol use. If you drive a semi-truck, work in a factory or warehouse or work in construction, you might have to submit to drug or alcohol testing to retain your employment. This is because drug or alcohol use at such jobs can be very dangerous for you and the people you work with.
A positive drug or alcohol test at work could cost you your job. Worse, you may fear you could be arrested for testing positive for drugs or alcohol at work. Is this a possibility?
Positive drug or alcohol tests at work
In general, if you test positive for drug or alcohol use at work, your employer is not legally obligated to report the violation to the police. In fact, in some circumstances doing so could break the law, as workers have a constitutional expectation of privacy in certain situations. While employers can sometimes report the violation to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles or the Department of Workforce Development, they might not necessarily report the violation to the police.
What about those on probation?
There is a possible exception for those who are on probation for a criminal offense. If you are on probation in Indiana you are required to hold down a job, be in school or training for a job or be in active search of a job. Also, you are prohibited from using drugs or alcohol while on probation, unless they are prescribed to you.
Those on probation in Indiana may be subject to random drug and alcohol testing. Refusing to submit to a test or testing positive violates the terms of probation. You may be fined, have your driver’s license suspended, be put on home detention, the terms of your probation could be modified or your probation could be revoked meaning you might have to return to jail.
So, what does this mean if you test positive for drugs or alcohol at work? Well, your probation officer is permitted to visit you during reasonable work hours. If your probation officer visits your workplace and finds that at the time of the visit you have drugs or alcohol in your system, this might be considered a violation of the terms of probation.
Ultimately, your employer might not report a positive drug or alcohol test to the police. However, if you are on probation and your probation officer visits your workplace and finds you high or intoxicated, you might be in violation of the terms of probation, with all the consequences that follow.