Drug Testing in Mississippi

Drug testing by employers in Mississippi is governed by these state rules.

Employers are authorized to conduct the following types of drug and alcohol tests:

• Employers may require job applicants to submit to a drug and alcohol test as a condition of the employment application and may use a refusal to submit to a test or positive confirmed test result as a basis for refusal to hire.
• An employer may require all employees to submit to reasonable suspicion drug and alcohol testing. There is created a rebuttable presumption that the employer had reasonable suspicion to test for drugs if the specimen provided by the employee tested positive for drugs in a confirmatory drug test.
• An employer may require all employees to submit to neutral selection drug and alcohol testing.

An employer may require an employee to submit to neutral selection or routine drug and alcohol tests if the employee in the course of employment enters a drug abuse rehabilitation program, and as a follow-up to such rehabilitation, or if previous drug and alcohol testing of the employee within a 12-month period resulted in a positive confirmed test result, or the drug and alcohol test is conducted in accordance with the terms of an applicable collective bargaining agreement or contract that permits the employer to administer drug and alcohol tests on a neutral selection or routine basis.

Within five working days after receipt of a positive confirmed test result report from the testing laboratory, an employer must, in writing, inform an employee of such positive test result and inform the employee in writing of the consequences of such a report and the options available.

An employer may not discharge, discipline, refuse to hire, discriminate against, or request or require rehabilitation of an employee on the basis of a positive test result that has not been verified by a confirmatory test. An employer may temporarily suspend or transfer an employee to another position after obtaining the results of a positive on-site initial test. An employer may discharge an employee after obtaining the results of a positive confirmed test.

For each policy of workers' compensation insurance issued or renewed in Mississippi, a reduction in the premium for the policy may be granted by the insurer if the insured certifies that it has established and maintains a drug-free workplace program that complies with the requirements.

Drug Testing Requirements

A drug-free workplace program must contain the following elements:

• written policy statement
• compliance with the substance abuse testing procedures as provided by law, if testing is initiated by the employer
• resources of employee assistance providers or other rehabilitation resources
• employee education
• supervisor training

An employer who conducts job applicant drug and alcohol testing must notify the applicant, in writing, upon application and prior to the collection of the specimen for the drug and alcohol test, that the applicant may be tested for the presence of drugs or their metabolites.

An employer must post notice of its drug testing policy in an appropriate and conspicuous location on the employer's premises.