Pre-Employment Drug Screening Guidelines

Appointment Process

A letter of offer must be sent to the faculty candidate for a position that meets the criteria for pre-employment physical and drug screening or physical only screening with details of the initial steps required once the position has been accepted.

The faculty candidate may elect to have the physical and drug screening or physical only screening at Wellstar/MCG Employee Health & Wellness or a drug screening only at a Labcorp facility near them.

Wellstar/MCG Certified Testing Facility

Wellstar/MCG Employee Health & Wellness (Wellstar/MCG EH&W) is the official Augusta University certified testing facility for faculty applicants who require pre-employment physical and drug screening or physical only screening. Wellstar/MCG EH&W will bill hiring departments for these charges based on the information provided on the Wellstar/MCG Employee Health & Wellness Service Approval Form.

Department schedules appointment with Wellstar/MCG EH&W. They will complete and submit Service Approval Form (SAF) to Wellstar/MCG EH&W. Department adds hire/employee name and CFC information on form.

LabCorp Facility

LabCorp conducts remote and local drug screenings. Faculty Support Services will make the appointment. The following steps should be followed for a drug screening only:

• It is recognized by the Faculty Support Specialist that a LabCorp drug screening is necessary due to availability of Employee Health appointments, candidate’s current location, etc.
• The Faculty Support Specialist ordering a LabCorp drug screening ensures the following information has been obtained:
  • New Hire’s Name
  • Position Title
  • Department Name
  • Department ID
  • Department Point of Contact
  • Start Date
  • New Hire’s State of Residence.
  • New Hire’s Zip Code
  • New Hire’s Email Address
  • New Hire’s Cell/Telephone Number
• Register the new hire in the LabCorp System.
• Send the registration instructions with the registration number to the candidate via email.
• Send the department instructions for reimbursement of LabCorp expenses (Appendix A) and the (IDR) Inter-department Request form (Appendix B).    
• Follow up with the department within 48 hours if the IDR is not received and continue to follow up as necessary.
• Department Contact receives email request for IDR form and completes requested sections of the form.
• Department Contact sends IDR form to HR representative identified in email request.
• VP Human Resources/CHRO Office receives final bill from LabCorp for Augusta University drug screenings.
• VP Human Resources/CHRO Office completes the form with the cost and sends the completed IDR via BoxSign to the Fund Approver identified on the IDR for signature.  
• Upon receipt of the signed IDR, VP Human Resources/CHRO Office submits it to Financial Accounting for processing.

A faculty candidate's failure to submit for testing, or who receives a positive result for illegal drugs, will render the faculty candidate ineligible for employment.

VA Faculty

Many Augusta University faculty hold VA appointments. Salary funding and distribution differs with the commitment between the two agencies. It is possible that a faculty member could receive all of their salary from the VA or receive funding from both the VA and Augusta University. Georgia's pre-employment drug testing law applies only to employees and does not distinguish between full-time and part-time employment. Therefore, the law requires that any VA faculty who receive any salary support from Augusta University must submit to pre-employment drug testing. This means any new VA faculty appointment in this category should be advised of the pre-employment testing requirements and must comply with them prior to their effective date of employment.

Testing is not required in the following situations:

1. Individuals providing services to the VA pursuant to a contract (e.g. shared services, scarce medical specialist services) between Augusta University and the VA Augusta; and
2. Individuals participating as investigators or co-investigators on research grants, but who receive direct salary support from Augusta University, unless conducting research within a laboratory environment.

Faculty who receive 100% salary support from the VA are not required to undergo the Augusta University drug screening requirement; however, if their salary distribution changes to include any portion of Augusta University funding, a drug screening will be required at that time. Therefore, it is advisable to request at the time of appointment that they voluntarily undergo the drug screening. Please note that this is on a voluntary basis and should not be construed as a requirement.

Testing by Laboratories Outside the United States

Currently, there is no international licensing or accrediting process for urine toxicology screening; therefore, prospective faculty who reside outside the United States and its possessions must present for and submit to testing at a facility inside the United States.