Drug testing policies for service companies

Why drug testing is harder to get right than it used to be

Many home service companies still run a zero-tolerance template that tests every applicant for everything. That approach now collides with two realities. First, many states have legalized cannabis and some protect off-duty use. Second, hiring is tight: US construction job openings were 289,000 in September 2026, up from 194,000 a year earlier^[4], and average hourly earnings at specialty trade contractors reached $39.05^[5]. A policy that rejects qualified techs for legal weekend use can cost you hires without making jobs safer.

At the same time, the work is risky. Construction and extraction workers had 1,032 fatal work injuries in 2024^[6], and transportation incidents were the largest single cause of US work deaths that year, 1,937 of them^[3]. Your techs drive, climb, handle refrigerant and chemicals and work on live electrical systems in other people's homes. A good policy focuses on impairment at work, not on what people did last month.

Step 1: sort your roles by safety risk

Before choosing tests, list every role and decide whether it is safety-sensitive. That decision drives everything else and helps you defend the policy.

Step 2: know whether DOT rules apply

Federal Department of Transportation rules apply to drivers who need a commercial driver's license for the vehicle they operate. Most service vans and pickups do not require a CDL, so most techs are not DOT-covered. Companies that run heavy dump trucks, large equipment trailers or similar combinations often do have CDL drivers.

If you have CDL drivers, you must follow the federal program exactly: DOT-format tests through a certified lab, a medical review officer, a substance abuse professional for violations, and queries of FMCSA's Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse. The random testing rate is set each year; FMCSA raised the minimum for controlled substances from 25 percent to 50 percent of average driver positions starting January 1, 2020, and kept random alcohol testing at 10 percent^[2]. Check the current year's rates before you set your random pool.

Step 3: check state cannabis and testing law

State law varies more here than almost anywhere else in employment. California is a useful example of how far protections can go. Since January 1, 2024, California employers with five or more employees generally may not discriminate based on off-duty, off-site cannabis use, or on a drug test that finds nonpsychoactive cannabis metabolites. Employers may still act on scientifically valid tests that do not screen for those metabolites, and the law has exceptions, including employees in the building or construction trades^[1].

Notice what that means for a mixed home services company in California: your construction-trade electricians may fall under the exception while your residential cleaners and office staff likely do not. Some other states protect off-duty cannabis use for applicants or employees, restrict pre-employment testing, or require written policies and notice before testing. Ask counsel to map every state where you have employees, and recheck yearly.

• Which roles can be tested before hire, and when in the process (often only after a conditional offer)?
• Is off-duty cannabis use protected, and are there trade or safety exceptions?
• Does the state require a written policy, advance notice, or a confirmation test before discipline?
• Are there rules on who pays for the test and whether test time is paid?

Step 4: write the policy

A defensible policy is short, specific and applied the same way every time. Cover these sections:

1. Purpose and scope: safety in customers' homes and on the road; which roles and locations are covered.
2. Prohibited conduct: being impaired at work, using or possessing drugs or alcohol on the job or in company vehicles, refusing a required test.
3. Types of tests by role: pre-employment, post-accident, reasonable suspicion, return-to-duty and follow-up, and random only where the law and the role justify it.
4. Reasonable suspicion process: trained supervisors, a written observation checklist, a second witness where possible, and a safe ride home rather than letting the tech drive.
5. Post-accident criteria: define the triggers, such as an injury needing medical treatment, a vehicle crash with damage over a set threshold, or property damage at a customer's home.
6. Prescription and medical use: employees report medications that may affect safe work; you assess the job, not the diagnosis.
7. Consequences and support: what happens after a positive or refused test, and whether you offer an assistance program or a return-to-work path.
8. Confidentiality: results stored separately from personnel files, shared only with those who need to know.

Have every employee sign an acknowledgment and keep it in their file. Put the policy in your employee handbook so it sits alongside vehicle and conduct rules.

Step 5: train supervisors on reasonable suspicion

Reasonable suspicion testing protects everyone only if supervisors can describe what they saw in specific terms. Train them to note behavior, speech, coordination, odor and appearance, and to write it down at the time. "Seemed off" is not documentation; "slurred speech, unsteady on the ladder, smell of alcohol at 8:10 a.m. in the shop" is.

Give supervisors a one-page checklist and a phone number for a collection site or mobile collector. Make sure they know never to let a possibly impaired employee drive a company vehicle, including to the test site.

Step 6: handle results the same way every time

Consistency is what makes a policy defensible. Decide in advance who receives results, who makes the decision and how quickly, and write it down. A typical sequence for a non-DOT positive result:

1. 01

   Hold

   Remove the employee from safety-sensitive work while the result is reviewed. Do not announce the reason to the crew.

2. 02

   Confirm

   Make sure a confirmation test was done by the lab and, where you use one, that a medical review officer has checked for legitimate prescriptions.

3. 03

   Check the law

   Compare the result with your state rules, especially for cannabis, before taking any action.

4. 04

   Decide and document

   Apply the consequence your policy names for that situation, record the reason and keep the file separate from the personnel file.

5. 05

   Offer the path back

   If the policy allows a return to work, put the conditions in writing: assessment, follow-up tests and what happens after another violation.

Mistakes that cause the most trouble

• Testing some applicants and not others in the same role, which invites discrimination claims.
• Firing someone over a cannabis metabolite result in a state that protects off-duty use.
• Letting an employee drive a company vehicle to a reasonable suspicion test.
• Running non-DOT employees through DOT forms, or DOT drivers through company forms.
• Keeping results in the general personnel file where managers can browse them.
• Writing a policy once and never checking it against new state laws.

Review the policy every year with counsel, and every time you hire in a new state. Workers' comp carriers often ask about your testing and safety programs, so keep the current version handy for renewal; see our guide to workers' comp class codes for what else they look at.

Example: a three-state HVAC and electrical company

Example. A fictional company operates in California, Arizona and Nevada with 60 employees, including 4 CDL drivers who move equipment. Its counsel recommends one company-wide policy with state addenda. CDL drivers sit in a DOT program run by a third-party administrator. Field techs face post-accident and reasonable suspicion testing everywhere; pre-employment testing is handled state by state, using impairment-focused methods where metabolite tests are restricted. Office staff are covered by reasonable suspicion only.

The company trains its six supervisors once a year on reasonable suspicion and reviews every positive result and refusal with counsel before acting. Recruiters now say up front how testing works, which has cut late-stage dropouts.