What Happens When an Employer Receives a Dilute Specimen Drug Test Report?

Dilute Specimen Drug Test Results

For Department of Transportation (DOT) regulated drug testing, if an employer receives a "dilute specimen" test result, action may be required. If the specimen reported as dilute is a positive test result, it is treated just like any other positive drug test.

If the specimen is reported as negative and dilute, the employer may, but is not required to, direct the employee to take another test immediately. Such recollections must not be collected under direct observation, unless there is another basis for use of direct observation.

The employer must treat all employees the same for this purpose. For example, employers may not retest some employees and not others. Different policies may however be established for different types of tests (e.g., conduct retests in preemployment test situations, but not in random test situations). Employers must inform employees in advance of decisions on these matters (usually by including this in the drug testing policy).

If the employer direct the employee to take another test, the result of the second test, not that of the original test, becomes the test of record (the first result is disregarded). If the second test is also negative and dilute, the result of that test still stands; there is no third retest. If the employee refuses to take the second test, this is considered a refusal to test under the regulations.