Los Angeles Employment Lawyer

The Employee Polygraph Protection Act

The Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA) of 1988 is a federal statute which protects workers from employers’ abuse of polygraph and/or lie detector tests. Because both lie detector tests and polygraph tests are highly controversial in the legal, academic, and scientific communities, their reliability and admissibility in court have been repeatedly called into question.

Under the EPPA, employers in the private sector (i.e., not federal, state, or local governments) are generally forbidden from utilizing polygraph tests or results for employment purposes. Among the practices forbidden by the EPPA are:

• Requesting or requiring employees or prospective employees to submit to lie detector or polygraph tests
• Asking for the results of polygraph tests previously taken by employees or prospective employees
• Using lie detector results as a condition for determining the employment status (hiring, firing, promoting, or demoting) of an employee or prospective employee.

Exceptions to EPPA Protection

The EPPA does allow private-sector employers to legally administer or require polygraph tests to certain employees or prospective employees, including:

• Employees reasonably suspected of engaging in activities (such as theft) which cause economic damage to the employer
• Employees or prospective employees of a firm which provides security or protection for money, health/safety, or national security, etc.
• Employees of prospective employees of a firm which produces or distributes controlled substances and who have or will have direct access to such substances

If you believe that your employer has violated the terms of the Employee Polygraph Protection Act by requiring you to take a polygraph test, contact Los Angeles employment lawyer Perry Smith for more information. Call 888-356-2529 today.