Implementation Guidelines - Federal Transit Administration - U.S. ...

possession, or use of a controlled
substance is prohibited in the
workplace.
• Make an ongoing, good faith effort to
maintain a drug-free workplace.
• Establish an ongoing employee
education program that informs
employees of the dangers of drug
abuse, the employer’s written policy
provisions, the availability of drug
counseling, rehabilitation, and
employee assistance programs, and the
possible penalties for drug abuse
violations occurring in the workplace.
• Require each employee to abide by the
company’s written policy and to notify
the transit agency within 5 days of any
criminal drug statute conviction for a
violation occurring in the workplace.
• Notify the federal government of each
violation within 10 days of notification
of the violation.
• Within 30 days following conviction,
impose sanctions on the employee.
These sanctions include (1) appropriate
personnel action against the employee,
up to and including termination; or (2)
requiring the employee’s satisfactory
participation in a rehabilitation
program approved by a federal, state,
or local health, law enforcement, or
other appropriate agency.
The DFWA does not require or sanction
any drug testing. However, the DFWA and
the FTA drug and alcohol testing regulation
(49 CFR Part 655) complement one another.
Most employers write one policy statement
that addresses the requirements of both. In
addition, the DFWA exceeds the education
and awareness training requirements specified
in Part 655 by requiring that the education
effort be ongoing.
Chapter 13. The Drug-Free
Workplace Act of 1988
Section 2. GRANT
CERTIFICATION
For the purposes of this act, the term
“grant” includes only direct assistance from
FTA to a grantee. If a federal agency provides
financial assistance to a state, which in turn
passes the assistance to a transit agency, only
the state agency that receives the assistance
directly (and not the local transit agency) is
required to make a drug-free certification
under the regulation.
Every grantee, except a state, must certify
for each grant. A state may elect to make a
single annual certification to the FTA, rather
than making a separate certification for each
grant.
The FTA DFWA certification is provided
as Exhibit 13-1 in the Sample Documentation
section.
Section 3. SANCTIONS
The imposition of sanctions under DFWA
requires a written determination of violation
from the federal “agency head” or designee.
The first ground for sanctions is false
certification (e.g., an employee awareness
program was never established). The second
is failure to comply with the requirements of
the certification (e.g., the employee awareness
program was not ongoing). The third is “such
a number of employees of the grantee” have
been convicted of criminal drug statute
violations occurring in the workplace “as to
indicate that the grantee has failed to make a
good faith effort to provide a drug-free
workplace.”
Employees’ criminal drug statute
violations occurring outside the workplace do
not trigger sanctions. Likewise, employees’
drug abuse in the workplace without criminal
convictions do not trigger sanctions.
13-2 August 2002