P.R. Laws tit. 3, § 2505

2019-02-20 00:00:00+00
§ 2505. Requirements

Any regulations that are adopted for the implementation of the provisions of this chapter and the creation of the Controlled Substances Detection Program in each agency, shall include the following:

(a) Each official or employee shall be given a notice in which he/she is informed of the implementation of the Program, at least thirty (30) days before its effective date. The same terms and conditions shall apply to the notices and distribution of copies made with respect to subsequent amendments to the regulations.

(b) The Program’s main objective shall be to identify the officials and employees who perform their functions or duties under the effects of controlled substances and achieve their rehabilitation, with the exceptions provided in this chapter, so that they can reliably perform their functions and duties in the public sector.

(c) A statement of public policy on the illegal use of controlled substances pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, which includes a description of the sanctions and penalties that apply to the processing, distribution, possession or illegal use of drugs under the laws of Puerto Rico and the United States of America, and a statement that said practices are forbidden in the workplace.

(d) A directive to the officials and employees on the risks to the health and safety related to the consumption of controlled substances and the plan that will be available for the treatment and rehabilitation of the officials and employees who show positive results in the controlled substances tests. This includes the education and training of the supervisors regarding the kind of conduct that is observed in the official or employee that is produced by the use of controlled substances, in order to frame the reasonable and individualized suspicion. If the supervisors do not receive the education and training required hereby, their suspicions could be presumed as contestably unreasonable, and as such, they may be legally vulnerable in an adjudicative process on a given day.

(e) The rules of conduct regarding the use of controlled substances, including the description of the circumstances that will allow the agency to require an official or employee to submit to drug testing. It shall also mention the preventive and treatment measures in benefit of the official or employee whose initial corroborated test is positive; and shall include the corrective or disciplinary measures to be imposed on the official or employee who refuses to allow the administration of the detection tests or to submit to the orientation, treatment and rehabilitation plan after showing positive results to the use of drugs, or who continues to use controlled substances illegally.

(f) A detailed description of the procedure to be followed for the administering of drug tests, including the confidentiality of the results. The agency shall guarantee to the maximum the protection of the right to privacy and personal integrity of the official or employee in question.

(g) A list of the controlled substances that are to be detected with the tests to be made.

History —Aug. 14, 1997, No. 78, § 8.