• The Department believes an employee’s failing to provide a sufficient amount of urine during a directly observed collection is very similar to a laboratory’s reporting a positive, adulterated, or substituted test result to MRO.
• While we do not believe it is appropriate for an employer to remove the employee from safety-sensitive duties until receiving the MRO’s verified result, we think stand-down waiver provisions could be relevant.
• Therefore, employers can apply for a stand-down waiver that would permit the employee to be removed from safety-sensitive duties when he or she does not provide an adequate amount of urine during an observed collection.
• The waiver request would need to meet all criteria outlined at 40.21 and should reference the fact that it is for standing an employee down who fails to provide an adequate amount of urine during an observed collection.
• The 40.21 waiver request for laboratory positive, adulterated, and substituted results will continue to be evaluated separately.
