Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 110 Part 6.djvu/589

 CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS—APR. 16, 1996 110 STAT. 4411 pharmacy department where the controlled substances which are the subject of the investigation were stored, such as maintenance personnel or pharmacy cashiers, would have "access". Certain other store personnel whose job duties do not permit or require entrance into the pharmacy department for any reason, such as produce or meat clerks, checkout cashiers, or baggers, would not ordinarily have "access". However, any current employee, regardless of described job duties, may be polygraphed if the employing office's investigation of criminal or other misconduct discloses that such employee in fact took action to obtain "access" to the person or property that is the subject of the investigation—e.g., by actually entering the drug storage area in violation of company rules. In the case of "direct access", the prospective employee's access to controlled substances would be as a part of the manufacturing, dispensing or distribution process, while a current employee's "access" to the controlled substances which are the subject of the investigation need only be opportunistic. (d) The term "prospective employee", for the purposes of this section, includes a current employee who presently holds a position which does not entail direct access to controlled substances, and therefore is outside the scope of the exemption's provisions for premployment polygraph testing, provided the employee has applied for and is being considered for transfer or promotion to another position which entails such direct access. For example, an office secretary may apply for promotion to a position in the vault or cage areas of a drug warehouse, where controlled substances are kept. In such a situation, the current employee would be deemed a "prospective employee" for the purposes of this exemption, and thus could be subject to preemployment polygraph screening, prior to such a change in position. However, any adverse action which is based in part on a polygraph test against a current employee who is considered a "prospective employee" for purposes of this section may be taken only with respect to the prospective position and may not affect the employee's employment in the current position. (e) Section 7(f) of the EPPA, as applied by the CAA, makes no specific reference to a requirement that employing offices provide current employees with a written statement prior to polygraph testing. Thus, employing offices to whom this exemption is available are not required to furnish a written statement such as that specified in section 7(d) of the EPPA and section 1.12(a)(4) of this part. (f) For the section 7(f) exemption to apply, the polygraph testing of current employees must be administered in connection with an ongoing investigation of criminal or other misconduct involving, or potentially involving, loss or injury to the manufacture, distribution, or dispensing of any such controlled substance by such employ- ing office. (1) Current employees may only be administered polygraph tests in connection with an ongoing investigation of criminal or other misconduct, relating to a specific incident or activity, or potential incident or activity. Thus, an employing office is precluded from using the exemption in connection with continuing investigations or on a random basis to determine if thefts are occurring. However, unlike the exemption in section

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