General Requirements

In San Francisco, drug tests of current employees are permitted only when:

• You have "reasonable grounds to believe that an employee's faculties are impaired on the job";
• The employee is in a position in which “impairment presents a clear and present danger to the physical safety of the employee, another employee, or to a member of the public ...”; and
• You provide the employee, at your expense, the opportunity to have the sample tested or evaluated by a State of California licensed independent laboratory/testing facility and you provide the employee with a reasonable opportunity to rebut or explain the results.1

Under no circumstances may you “request, require, or conduct random or company-wide blood, urine, or encephalographic testing.”2 However, the drug testing regulations do not prohibit drug testing which is “required, directed, or expressly authorized by federal or State Law, administrative regulation, or by a collective bargaining agreement ....”3

Employers may prohibit the use of intoxicating substances during work hours, and discipline employees for being under the influence of intoxicating substances at work.4

• Effective January 1, 2024, state law limits cannabis screening to methods that do not screen for nonpsychoactive cannabis metabolites. This limitation applies to both applicants and employees.

Coverage and Eligibility

All employers located in or doing business within San Francisco are covered by the drug testing regulations.5

A covered employee under the drug testing regulations is any person working for salary or wages within San Francisco, except members of the uniformed ranks of the police, sheriff and fire departments, police department communication dispatchers and any persons operating emergency service vehicles for San Francisco.6

Enforcement

San Francisco does not impose any administrative penalties or liability for employer violations. However, aggrieved employees may file a civil lawsuit or seek injunctive relief for any violation of the ordinance. Remedies may include damages and attorneys’ fees and costs.7

1. San Francisco Labor and Employment Code (L.E.C.) sec. 51.5

2. San Francisco L.E.C. sec. 51.5

3. San Francisco L.E.C. sec. 51.10

4. San Francisco L.E.C. sec. 51.7

5. San Francisco L.E.C. sec. 51.2

6. San Francisco L.E.C. sec. 51.2

7. San Francisco L.E.C. sec. 51.8