S542 - Drug Testing For Long-Term Care Facilities

• Requires adult care homes and nursing homes to condition employment offers on applicants' consent to drug testing for controlled substances conducted per Article 20 of Chapter 95 of the General Statutes.

• Allows facilities to use single-use test devices administered on-site for initial screening, with applicants allowed to provide physician verification if controlled substances are prescribed for legitimate medical or psychological conditions.

• Permits facilities to require random drug testing during employment and testing if reasonable grounds exist to believe an employee abuses controlled substances.

• Establishes liability protections for facilities and testing entities that comply in good faith with this section, and keeps all test results confidential and not public records.

• Requires facilities to pay testing expenses, except examinee-requested retests which the examinee must pay; becomes effective October 1, 2013.