Common use of Substance Tests Clause in Contracts

Substance Tests. ‌ Section 1 General Prohibition and "For Cause" Testing A. Illicit substance or drug abuse by members of the Department is unacceptable and censurable conduct worthy of strong administrative action. An employee may only be required to submit to a field sobriety examination, blood, breath or urine test for the purposes of determining the presence of a narcotic, drug, or alcohol when: 1. The employee exhibits objective symptoms of being under the influence of alcohol and/or a narcotic or drug; or 2. There is a reasonable and articulated suspicion that the employee has ingested or absorbed by the body in any other manner an alcoholic beverage, narcotic, or drug. B. In the event of any such test, the employee shall be entitled to the following protections and procedures: 1. An employee of the same sex as the Unit member shall be responsible for collection of any urine sample. 2. Sample collection shall be monitored in an atmosphere of privacy and dignity. 3. Sample collection shall be conducted in such a way as to ensure a tamper- proof sample. In the event a sample has been tampered with or a seal broken prior to the lab analysis, the sample shall be declared void and the employee may be immediately retested. 4. Testing of any urine sample shall be by a two-stage process, with the second stage analysis done only in the event of and to confirm a positive test result from the first stage analysis of the sample. 5. Sample analysis will be conducted within 10 days of receipt by Forensic Science Division (FSD), with notification of negative test results to be forwarded via Department mail to the subject employee within fourteen days of sample receipt by Scientific Investigation Division (SID). 6. Employees who test positive for one or more drugs based upon the confirmation test will be given an opportunity to have a portion of the sample retested by a reputable chemical laboratory at City expense. The sample will have been divided by a representative of SID and released to an authorized agent of the laboratory. The division of the sample will be done by SID prior to testing of the sample by the Department. Both samples will be resealed by the SID employee assigned to the division. The second sample, split from the original sample, will be stored in Property Division until requested by the employee for outside laboratory testing, at City expense. 7. If the outside laboratory reaches a different conclusion than ▇▇▇ after testing the sample, a different reputable outside chemical laboratory will be requested to test the sample a third time at City expense. The findings of the third laboratory will be conclusive. 8. Based on the confirmation test, samples tested positive by the Department for a drug(s) in the urine will be resealed by the SID chemist and booked at Property Division. These samples will be maintained for a period of one year in a refrigerated state. 9. The Department shall ensure that any non-sworn departmental personnel involved in the handling or testing of samples shall not have any prior felony convictions. C. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article, the Department shall also have the discretion to order any Unit member to submit only to a blood, breath or urine test for the purposes of determining the presence of a narcotic, drug or alcohol on a random basis (to the extent allowed by law). These tests will be conducted in the manner set forth in Section 2 below. The exercise of this discretion by the Department shall be deemed a term and condition of such employee's employment and need not be supported by any showing of cause. If any employee is ordered to submit to these tests involuntarily, the evidence obtained shall be used for administrative purposes only. D. If any employee requests a representative prior to submitting to a substance test, the employee shall be permitted to consult with a representative telephonically; and the employee shall be permitted to have a representative present, provided that such representative is able to arrive at the scene within two hours. If, while awaiting a representative, the employee must relieve themselves, they must provide a sample to be held by Department representatives pending the employee's receipt of advice; provided, however, that such sample shall be returned immediately to the employee without analysis in the event they choose, after advice, to "refuse" a test. Refusal to obey an order to submit to a test as defined in Paragraph A of this Section may result in disciplinary action for insubordination up to and including termination. Section 2 Police Officer Drug Testing Program A. Procedures The Department Police Officer Drug Testing Program was developed to ensure it is as effective, fair, accurate and unintrusive as possible. Consequently, the following procedures will be implemented: 1. Probationary Employee Procedures a. All entry level probationary employees will be tested, on a random basis, a maximum of six times during their probationary period. b. All tenured employees will be tested, on a random basis, a maximum of twice during their promotional period. c. Probationary employees will only be tested twice unless their "testing entity" is randomly selected. 2. Tenured Police Officer Procedures a. All tenured police officers and municipal police officers will be tested, on a random basis, up to three times a year. b. The selection of test subjects will be conducted by computer without human intervention, so that at least 100 tests department-wide are conducted every week, in addition to the tests required by the Department of Transportation and those tests administered to probationary police officers and municipal police officers. c. The computer selection program will ensure that at least one person is randomly selected to be tested each week at every geographic Area, Traffic Division, and Narcotics Division. The program will randomly select at least one person to be tested every two weeks from Metropolitan Division and Major Crimes and Vice Division. The remainder of the Department’s personnel who may be subject to substance testing will be grouped by their bureau of assignment and the program will randomly select at least one person from each bureau grouping to be tested every month. 3. The following shall apply to employees subject to testing in Paragraphs 1 and 2 above: a. The collection and maintenance of samples will be conducted by trained professionals to prevent errors. b. Analysis of samples will be completed by members of SID with state- of-the-art equipment. c. Test subjects will be allowed to have a positive confirmation test sample retested by a reputable private laboratory. B. Administration of the Drug Testing Program Medical Liaison Section (MLS), Personnel Division, is the most appropriate Department entity to administer the Police Officer Drug Testing Program for the following reasons: 1. The program is a facet of the personnel function and therefore should fall under the auspices of the Commanding Officer, Personnel Division. 2. The administration of the program will be carried out on a twenty-four-hours- per-day, seven-days-a-week basis. This responsibility can best be fulfilled by MLS personnel deployed during a Day Watch and "floating" PM/AM Watch. 3. Since officers will be tested from all geographical locations, the program administration should be centrally located. 4. The collection of samples by MLS personnel, as opposed to some other administrative or investigative unit, may help to diminish program resistance. The Commanding Officer, Personnel Division, will be designated as the Drug Testing Coordinator and the Officer-in-Charge, Medical Liaison Section, will coordinate the daily activities of the program. The collection of samples and the liaison between Personnel Division and test subjects will be assigned only to MLS personnel.