NCJ Number
120947
Date Published
1989
Length
65 pages
Annotation
Intended primarily for polygraph examiners, this manual is a guide to compliance with the Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988 (EPPA), which prohibits the use of all mechanical lie detector tests in the workplace, including polygraphs, psychological stress evaluators, deceptographs, and voice stress analyzers, with specified exceptions.
Abstract
EPPA allows for one type of lie detector test -- the polygraph -- to be used by private-sector employers for certain types of pre-employment screening and as an aid in investigations of incidents involving economic loss or injury to a business. These uses of the polygraph, however, are subject to several restrictions and procedures. The EPPA does not apply to the Federal Government or any State or local government as employers. After summarizing the provisions of the act, this manual presents checklists for compliance with the EPPA. This includes a checklist for the use of polygraphs to assist ongoing investigations, a checklist for security service companies wishing to conduct pre-employment screening, and a checklist for drug companies wishing to conduct either pre-employment screening or certain types of incident-specific investigations. The manual also includes commonly asked questions about the EPPA and a review of legal and constitutional challenges to the EPPA. Appended supplementary information.