Order a Drug Test in South Carolina

Pre-Employment Drug Testing in South Carolina

A private employer generally may make employment conditional on a negative drug test when the requirement is lawful, communicated clearly, and applied consistently to similarly situated applicants. The policy should identify covered positions, the panel, the timing of testing, and the consequences of a refusal or confirmed positive result.

• Give clear advance notice of the testing requirement.
• Use job-related, neutral criteria for covered positions.
• Apply the same criteria to similarly situated applicants.
• Use documented collection and chain-of-custody procedures.
• Confirm non-negative screens at a professional certified laboratory.
• Use Medical Review Officer review when appropriate.
• Keep test and medical information confidential.
• Review federal, discrimination, contract, and collective-bargaining rules.

Employer Testing Programs

A defensible program explains who is covered, substances tested, testing reasons, specimen and laboratory procedures, refusals, confirmation and review, employee opportunities to provide legitimate medical information, consequences, records, and confidentiality. Apply the written policy as drafted and revise it before changing program practice.

• Use a neutral selection process for any random program.
• Train supervisors to document objective reasonable-suspicion facts.
• Tie post-accident criteria to legitimate safety concerns.
• Keep DOT and non-DOT programs, forms, and records separate.
• State how refusals, adulteration, and substituted specimens are handled.
• Use laboratory confirmation before treating a screen as positive.
• Use consistent review and consequence procedures.
• Limit disclosure to personnel with a business need to know.

Select the panel and enter the donor information first. After the case is created, checkout searches available collection sites using the South Carolina city, ZIP code, or area entered for the donor.

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Private-Employer Framework

Private employers generally have room to use pre-employment and employee testing under a lawful policy. The absence of a single statewide testing code is not a license for arbitrary treatment: the testing reason, job coverage, selection method, panel, review, and consequences should be legitimate and consistently administered.

Government employers, union workplaces, federally regulated employers, and organizations operating under a contract, grant, or licensing rule may have additional limits or mandatory procedures.

Written Policy and Consistent Administration

A written policy should identify prohibited conduct, covered workers, testing reasons, collection and laboratory procedures, refusals, confirmation, medical review, retesting, consequences, confidentiality, and any assistance options.

The policy matters directly in unemployment cases: Section 41-35-120(3) requires the company to have communicated a policy prohibiting illegal drug use and stating that a violation may result in termination.

State law: S.C. Code § 41-35-120(3)(a)(i)

Unemployment: Refusals and Positive Tests

Section 41-35-120(3) can disqualify a discharged worker until the worker obtains employment and earns at least eight times the weekly benefit amount when the employer proves the communicated policy and statutory conditions. Covered conduct includes refusing to provide or cooperate with a specimen request, providing an adulterated specimen, or a qualifying positive test for illegal drugs or legal drugs used unlawfully.

For a positive-test case, the specimen must be collected and labeled by an authorized person, tested by a laboratory certified by HHS/SAMHSA, the College of American Pathologists, or SLED, and confirmed by GC/MS or an approved equivalent or more accurate method.

State law: S.C. Code § 41-35-120(3)

Workers’ Compensation and Intoxication

South Carolina bars workers’ compensation when an injury or death was occasioned by the employee’s intoxication or willful intent to injure or kill. The party asserting the intoxication defense bears the burden of proof.

Because the statute focuses on whether intoxication occasioned the injury or death, employers should not describe a positive drug-test result by itself as automatically defeating a claim.

State law: S.C. Code § 42-9-60

State Contracts and Grants of $50,000 or More

Under South Carolina’s Drug-Free Workplace Act, a non-individual seeking a domestic state contract or grant valued at $50,000 or more must certify that it will provide a drug-free workplace. Required steps include a published prohibition and consequences, an awareness program, employee notice, workplace-conviction reporting, a response to qualifying convictions, and a good-faith compliance effort.

The Act does not itself say every covered contractor must drug test every employee; it establishes the listed workplace, notice, education, reporting, and response duties.

State law: S.C. Code §§ 44-107-30 to 44-107-50

Federal, Government, and Contract Rules

DOT-covered transportation testing must follow 49 CFR Part 40 and the applicable agency rule. Federal contractors and grantees may have duties under the federal Drug-Free Workplace Act, and government testing may raise constitutional, civil-service, or other public-employment requirements.

Collective-bargaining agreements, licensing rules, client contracts, and industry-specific requirements can also determine whether, when, and how testing occurs. Keep any federally mandated process distinct from a general non-DOT program.

Federal source: U.S. DOT — 49 CFR Part 40

Marijuana Remains Illegal Under State Law

The South Carolina Department of Public Health states that it is currently illegal in South Carolina to use or distribute marijuana. The state has not adopted general adult-use legalization or a broad dispensary-based medical-marijuana program.

Employers therefore are not operating under the applicant or employee cannabis protections found in some legalization states. Other employment laws, valid prescriptions, disability issues, federal requirements, contracts, and consistent policy administration still matter.

State source: South Carolina Department of Public Health — Hemp in Beverages

Julian’s Law Is Narrow

Julian’s Law concerns FDA-authorized cannabidiol clinical trials for qualifying patients with severe forms of epilepsy. The statute defines cannabidiol for this program as a finished preparation containing at least 98% cannabidiol and no more than 0.90% THC by volume.

This limited research framework is not a general medical-marijuana card program. Employers should evaluate any verified medication information through their normal confidential review process rather than assuming every cannabis-derived product has the same legal or testing status.

State law: S.C. Code §§ 44-53-1810 to 44-53-1840

Employers May Set Lawful THC Policies

A private employer generally may decide whether a non-DOT panel includes THC and may prohibit workplace possession, use, or impairment under a lawful and consistently administered policy. The policy should say whether a confirmed THC result is prohibited, which positions are covered, and what review and consequence process applies.

A urine THC result can reflect prior exposure and does not by itself establish when use occurred or whether the person is presently impaired. Separate the testing result from any impairment or accident-causation determination.

Hemp and CBD Products Can Create Risk

Hemp and marijuana are legally distinct, but South Carolina DPH explains that some hemp-infused products may contain THC. Product labels and marketing are not guarantees that use will never produce a positive marijuana metabolite result.

An employee’s explanation should be handled through the policy’s established review process. Employers should avoid promising that any retail CBD, delta-8, or hemp-derived product is “test safe.”

State source: South Carolina Department of Public Health — THC, CBD, and hemp information

DOT Rules Are Separate from Non-DOT Testing

A personal or employer non-DOT drug test should not be substituted for a test that is required under DOT regulations. DOT programs have specific requirements for test reasons, forms, collection procedures, laboratories, Medical Review Officers, refusals, records, and return-to-duty processes.

Federal source: U.S. Department of Transportation — 49 CFR Part 40

Examples of DOT-Regulated Industries

• Commercial motor carriers regulated by FMCSA.
• Aviation employers regulated by FAA.
• Railroad employers regulated by FRA.
• Public transit employers regulated by FTA.
• Pipeline operators regulated by PHMSA.
• Other covered transportation operations under federal rules.