Employee Drug Testing - Drug Testing for Employers

Legally Permitted Pre-Employment Drug Testing Reduces Workers Compensation Costs
Being injured on the job under the influence of drugs is one of the most critical problems facing employers today. The United States Department of Health and Human Services indicated in their study “National Household Survey On Drug Abuse” that nearly 70% of those Americans who engage in illicit drug use are employed. To bring the point home, in its survey of those employees seeking help from a telephone call in service, the “National Cocaine Hotline” revealed:

75% of those that called in said they had used illegal drugs on the job;
64% admitted that drug use had adversely affected their job performance;
44% said they had sold illegal drugs to other employees;
18% said they had stolen from fellow employees to support their drug habit.

Also, the U.S. government, in a National Institute of Drug Abuse publication, reported the results of a study finding that those who illicitly use drugs are:

2.2 times more likely to request early dismissal or time off;
2.5 times more likely to have absences of eight days or more;
3.6 times more likely to injury themselves or another person in a workplace accident; and
5 times more likely to file a workers compensation claim.

Other studies have shown that drug users who are employed are one-third less productive and incur 300% higher medical costs. Clearly, employees who use illegal drugs in the workplace are a hazard not only to themselves but to the safety of fellow employees.

By far the most common type of drug testing in the workplace is the testing of job applicants. There are several reasons for this, including:

Pre-employment drug testing is the least controversial. Job applicant testing is the type of drug testing that is least likely to cause morale problems in the workplace.

Pre-employment drug testing is cost effective. Employers can more effectively screen out potential drug problems before they become their drug problems and can channel their limited resources into employee assistance and rehabilitation programs for those employees who develop or already have drug problems.

Pre-employment drug testing is the legally safest type of drug testing available to employers. There are no issues of performance, severance pay, benefits, seniority, or pensions. Also, the ADA excludes from the definition of disability the current illegal use of drugs.

The mere existence of a drug testing program has self-screening effects. Generally when an organization announces that it has a drug testing program three things happen – it gets fewer job applications, some applicants want away from the application process when they realize they will be tested for drugs, and applicants who are called back in the post-offer stage decline to do so when they realize there will be a drug test. All three results are good because the organization is better off without these applicants as employees.

The bottom line is that pre-employment drug testing, when implemented in accordance with state and federal law, is extremely cost effective. It also reduces both insured workers compensation costs and indirect workers compensation costs. The productivity of your organization will be greatly enhanced as well.

DRUG TESTING LAWS BY STATE