Workplace Drug Testing Issues – Minnesota State Laws
These categories do not effect DOT-regulated drug testing. Government employers should always call for potential additional restrictions on employee drug testing.
Minnesota prohibits point-of-collection testing in their mandatory laws, which apply to all employers in the state. Effective 08/01/2024, the Minnesota The Drug and Alcohol Testing in the Workplace Act (“DATWA”) will allow instant oral fluid testing for drugs, cannabis and alcohol. Positive results must be confirmed by a DATWA approved laboratory.
A written drug-free workplace policy is required in Minnesota, see also Minnesota’s Drug and Alcohol Testing Act; AUTHORIZED DRUG AND ALCOHOL TESTING – 181.951
Important to Note: In Minnesota employers are required to notify employees and applicants in writing of both positive and negative results within 3 days of receipt of the results from a laboratory.
Employers are prohibited from discipling an employee or firing an employee for a positive marijuana test without proof that the employee possessed marijuana at work or was impaired by marijuana while working. Marijuana use that occurred outside the workplace and off work hours cannot be disciplined unless the employee was working while impaired by marijuana. The law does expressly permit employers to discipline or discharge employees for possessing marijuana at work, using marijuana at work, or for working while impaired by marijuana. But a marijuana positive on its own without additional factors cannot be the basis for workplace discipline.
