The Senate completed action on a bill Friday that would disqualify employees who work in safety positions from receiving benefits if they fail a random drug or alcohol screening.
Senate Bill 2441 would add new language to state code stating that an employee who fails a “random” screening for alcohol or controlled substances would be disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits if the employee is in a position where “alcohol or drug use creates an inherent risk to the health and safety of the employee or others or (if) that employee is in a safety-sensitive position.”
A “safety-sensitive” position is defined in the bill as “any task or duty fraught with such risk of injury to the employee or others that even a momentary lapse of attention or judgment, or both, can lead to serious bodily harm or death.”
During the committee process members heard that state code already includes numerous reasons an employee could lose their unemployment benefits.
Those reasons include willful destruction of employer property, assault, reporting to work intoxicated or being intoxicated while at work, reporting to work under the influence of any controlled substance without a valid prescription or being under the influence of any controlled substance without a valid prescription while at work.
This legislation adds to that list.
The Senate amended the title of the bill, causing it to head back to the House of Delegates to await concurrence.
The Senate has adjourned until Monday, March 24, at 11 a.m.
Morning Meetings for Monday, March 24:
Gov. Org at 9:30 a.m. in 208W
Education at 9:30 a.m. in 451M
