Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988 (EPPA) prohibits private employers from using lie detector tests for pre?employment screening or during the course of employment.
Polygraph tests can be administered to job applicants in the follwoing areas:
- security service firms (armored car, alarm, and guard) and
- pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors, and dispensers.
In addition, subject to restrictions, the Act permits testing of employees of private firms who are reasonably suspected of involvement in a workplace incident (theft, embezzlement, etc.) that resulted in specific economic loss or injury to the employer.
The act is administered by the Wage and Hourly Division of the US Department of Labor.