If you go on a job interview today and are asked to take a lie detector test, the chances are you would be the victim of an illegal act. The same situation applies if your boss has a polygraph examiner come into the warehouse tomorrow to hook wires to randomly selected employees and question them about merchandise missing from the company's shelves. It is now illegal across America for most employers in interstate commerce to use the controversial polygraph for pre-employment screening purposes or to use them randomly against workers already on their payroll. These restrictions on lie detectors, whose accuracy has long been under attack, are enumerated in a federal law that took effect Tuesday, six months after it was signed by President Reagan. ``This is a holiday gift for working people,'' said Judy Goldberg, legislative representative for the American Civil Liberties Union. ``We expect that the new law will ban 80 percent of the approximately 2 million polygraph tests given annually,'' Goldberg said in a prepared statement. The law's restrictions will be felt most heavily in 28 states that lack their own statutes restricting the use of lie detectors, Goldberg said. Not covered by the new rules, however, are federal, state and local governments and firms doing sensitive work under contract to the Defense Department, FBI and CIA. The only other private-sector exceptions to the general ban apply to companies that manufacture, distribute or dispense controlled substances and some types of firms in the security guard, armored car or security alarm fields. The law prohibits an employee from being fired, disciplined or discriminated against solely for refusing to submit to a polygraph examination. An employer can request an employee to take a lie detector test if the worker had access to missing or damaged material and if the employer sets forth in a written statement a reasonable suspicion that the worker was involved in the loss. Any such polygraph exam would have to be conducted under strict conditions, with no questions about personal beliefs and sexual behavior, and the exam results alone could not be used as a basis for discipline or a refusal to hire. ``Complaints about polygraph abuse and firings based on polygraph abuse have been one of the single largest sources of calls to ACLU offices nationwide,'' Goldberg said. ``Now employees can complain to the Department of Labor or go into court to protect themselves against these inaccurate gadgets,'' Goldberg said. She said the law would have the greatest impact in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming. Goldberg said employers in the following states, which allow businesses to request people to take lie detector tests, could be affected by the new law: California, Hawaii, Idaho, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The remaining 14 states and the District of Columbia have laws banning polygraph examinations for employment purposes, and these laws take precedence over the new federal statute if they are more restrictive, according to Goldberg.
A law took effect yesterday that makes it illegal for most employers to use the controversial polygraph for pre-employment screening, or against workers already on the payroll. It is expected that the law will ban 80 percent of the two million polygraphs administered annually. The law will have its greatest impact in those states that have no laws banning or restricting polygraph use. Firms providing armored cars, security alarms and security guards are exempt, as are companies that manufacture and dispense controlled substances. In a statement released yesterday, President Obama said he was “deeply concerned” about the new law.