Colorado Drug Testing Laws — Everything You Need to Know!

 

Unlike few other states in the U.S., Colorado does not have a statute governing workplace drug testing. The employer in Colorado can conduct a drug test for pre-employment or random drug testing for employees without affecting your right to privacy.

Child Protective Services Drug Testing Laws in Colorado

CPS in Colorado considers child protection as their primary concern. They make sure that recreational use of some illegal drugs like marijuana and cannabis should not impede child safety.

Anyone in Colorado can report child abuse in their family or neighborhood. CPS agencies receive reports of child abuse encounters on varying degrees of urgency. They establish priorities based on the evidence and information received from the report source and specify a high-priority reaction within 1 hour or 24 hours. Lower priority responses are dealt with from 24 hours to 14 days.

How does the CPS drug test work in Colorado?

CPS agencies in Colorado have a set of principles that aim to protect the welfare of the children and provide them a secure and safe lifestyle at any cost.

Child Protective Services constitutes a specialized set of services that strengthens the ability of families to safeguard and look after their children. The main motive is to support the intactness of families by providing services to stabilize the family situation and strengthen the parents/guardians/caretakers in fulfilling their parental responsibilities to their children. Intervention is necessary with respect for the family’s integrity, knowledge of the legal base for action, and sound social work practice.

The following principles of CPS agencies in Colorado are

• Teenagers and youth deserve an environment free from child abuse or child neglect, preferably by their families of origin, by providing sufficient efforts to strengthen the family unit through the requirement of in-home services.
• Placement shall be considered when there is proof that leaving the child in the home would jeopardize the protection of the child or community. Appropriate undertakings shall be made to prevent placement or reunite the family as soon as possible if removal is essential. The child’s safety is the paramount concern during the entire process.
• A tribunal may determine the requirement of reasonable efforts; otherwise, reasonable efforts shall protect and reunify families. Appropriate and culturally competent services that facilitate safety benefit the families, children, and youngsters in their own homes and out-of-home placements.
• Teenagers and youth separated from the care of their parents have their right to request for their extended family members as placement resources.
• Consideration of the child’s age, race, ethnicity, culture, language, religion, and other needs shall guide the intention of all services provided, including out-of-home and adoptive placements.

What type of drug tests does CPS use in Colorado?

CPS in Colorado may prefer urine or mouth swab drug tests for the parents/guardians alleged of their child abuse. Sometimes, the CPS may take hair drug tests for confirmation as the court recommends it. If you are a parent and are about to undergo a drug test, make sure that you pass your drug test by knowing about the drug levels in your body by using trusted home-based urine and saliva drug test kits.

Colorado Employee Drug Testing Laws

According to legal rights, Colorado employers or the forthcoming employer can demand you to take a drug test. The law also protects the right of the employee or pre-employment candidate by putting some reasonable impediments in the employer’s liberty in conducting the drug test.

Federal law places few barriers on employer drug testing, such as

• The federal government requires testing by employers under a few cases like the safety-sensitive industries. The federal law doesn’t seem to expect otherwise or forbid drug tests.
• The Colorado Court of Appeals had legislated a rule that an employee cannot demand a legal claim for wrongful termination if he is fired for failing or denying to take a drug test.
• Typically speaking, if you fail a pre-employment drug test, the company may legally prohibit hiring you. On the continuous failure of a drug test during employment, your employer may lawfully halt your employment or stave off you from being promoted.

Pre-Employment Drug Testing Laws in Colorado

Colorado drug testing laws that have to be taken into consent are

1. The employees of Colorado may rely on national law rather than state law for restricting weed in the workplace and for expelling employees who test positive for marijuana. It makes no difference that the recreational use of pot is legitimate in the norms of Colorado.
2. Employees tend to lose half of their workers’ compensation fund replacement privileges if they test positive on a drug test. Employers may require that employees get drug-tested either on random drug-testing or by following any workplace accident. If the results are positive for cannabis, marijuana, or amphetamine use in the employee’s system, Colorado law reckons that he/she injured him/herself due to intoxication. Unless the worker overcomes this presumption by clear and convincing evidence, the worker’s remuneration replacement benefits will prevail halved.
3. Even though Colorado employers may fire workers for failing a drug test, workers may still have other grounds to sue in light of circumstances such as invasion of privacy, disability discrimination, and discrimination on class, race, sex, gender, etc.