A. General Notice

 A general notice from the [Agency head] announcing the testing program, as required by the Executive Order Section 4(a), will be provided to all employees no later than sixty (60) days prior to the implementation date of the Plan. The notices shall be provided immediately upon completion of the congressional certification procedures pursuant to Section 503 of the Act, and shall explain:

 1. The purpose of the Drug-Free Workplace Plan;

 2. That the Plan will include both voluntary and mandatory testing;

 3. That those who hold positions selected for random testing will also receive an individual notice, prior to the commencement of testing, indicating that their position has been designated a Testing Designated Position;

 4. The availability and procedures necessary to obtain counseling and rehabilitation through the EAP;

 5. The circumstances under which testing may occur;

 6. That opportunity will be afforded to submit medical documentation of lawful use of an otherwise illegal drug;

 7. That the laboratory assessment is a series of tests which are highly accurate and reliable, and that, as an added safeguard, laboratory results are reviewed by the Medical Review Officer;

  8. That positive test results verified by the Medical Review Officer may only be disclosed to the employee, the appropriate EAP administrator, the appropriate management officials necessary to process an adverse action against the employee, or a court of law or administrative tribunal in any adverse personnel action;

  9. That all medical and rehabilitation records in an EAP will be deemed confidential  "patient" records and may not be disclosed without the prior written consent of the patient, an authorizing court order, or otherwise as permitted by Federal law implemented at 42 CFR Part 2.

 In addition to the information provided in the general notice, an individual notice will be distributed to all employees in testing designated positions explaining:

 1. That the employee's position has been designated a "testing designated position;"

 2. That the employee will have the opportunity to voluntarily admit to being a user of illegal drugs and to receive counseling or rehabilitation, [If there is no safe harbor*, add: "in which case disciplinary action is not required;" If there is a safe harbor, add: "and shall not be subject to disciplinary action."];

 *Refer to Section VIII(F) for safe harbor option to create an absolute bar to disciplinary action for certain volunteers.

 3. That the employee's position will be subject to random testing no sooner than thirty days following the notice.

C. Signed Acknowledgement

 Each employee in a Testing Designated Position shall be asked to acknowledge in writing that the employee has received and read the notice which states that the employee's position has been designated for random drug testing, and that refusal to submit to testing will result in initiation of disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal.  If the employee refuses to sign the acknowledgement, the employee's supervisor shall note on the acknowledgement form that the employee received the notice.  This acknowledgement, which is advisory only, shall be centrally collected for easy retrieval by the [operating unit head].  An employee's failure to sign the notice shall not preclude testing that employee, or otherwise affect the implementation of this order since the general sixty-day notice will previously have notified all agency employees of the requirement to be drug-free.

D. Administrative Relief

 If an employee believes his or her position has been wrongly designated a Testing Designated Position, that employee may file an administrative appeal to [specify the designated official] who has authority to remove the employee from the Testing Designated Position list. The appeal must be submitted by the employee, in writing, to [the designated official] within 15 days of notification, setting forth all relevant information.  The [designated official] shall review the appeal based upon the criteria applied in designating that employee's position as a Testing Designated Position.  The [official's] decision is final and is not subject to further administrative review.
 

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