Why Implement an Employee Drug Testing Policy
Dec 17, 2012
I grew up in the 80’s and loving Saved By The Bell. So, naturally when I find a way to reference it I do. Ironically, one of my favorite episodes is when Johnny Dakota goes to film an anti-drug commercial at Bayside and ends up doing drugs himself. Anyway, speaking of high school, here is a little history lesson for you.
Did you know that drug-free work places did not exist before 1980? According to The Journal of Global Drug Policy and Practice position paper by Neil A. Fortner, it all began in 1981 when a Navy jet crashed into the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier and killed and injured numerous military personnel. He noted that after several investigations, including drug testing, it was revealed that many of the individuals had drugs in their system. This led President Ronald Regan to issue Executive Order 12564, mandating a drug-free federal workplace.
And so it begins.
I had an interest in what the rest of this paper would say so I began reading the twenty-two-page document. Included in the research was a study by the Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry Associates that polled human resource professionals about employee drug testing policies in their workplace. One of the grids showed that of 1,048 polled in 2011 only 57% of employers were giving pre-employment drug tests to all job candidates. What?!
Do you know what percentage of job applicants HireLevel gives a pre-employment drug test to? 100%.
Anyone who applies for a position through Extra Help will take a drug test. No exceptions. We have implemented this drug testing policy for a reason and that reason was reiterated as I read the title of the aforementioned article: Employee Drug Testing: Study Shows Improved Productivity and Attendance and Decreased Workers’ Compensation and Turnover. It is funny to think we have had previous blog posts highlighting how to improve productivity, time, and attendance, and decrease workers’ comp fraud and turnover individually, but we can improve them as a whole by implementing an employee drug testing policy.
Some people will argue that drug testing without cause is some sort of violation and then you open a giant can of legal worms I am not qualified to talk about, but there is the thing… drugs are illegal and people should not be doing them in the first place. Not only are they illegal, but they are also harmful and significantly increase the likelihood of workplace injury.
The biggest complaint I hear when I am talking to a prospective client is that drug testing is too expensive. My argument is that you can’t afford to. Think about it. If you outsource your drug testing to Extra Help it will cost you an extremely small amount compared to what you would pay if an injury on the job resulted in a work comp claim or, even worse, a lawsuit.
How are you protecting yourself? Have you thought about implementing an employee drug testing policy at your workplace? If you are unsure of how an employee drug testing policy can help you or are interested in the cost, give us a call. We would be happy to partner with you to create a drug-free workplace.
If you still don’t want to take my word for it, maybe you’ll listen to my friends at Bayside…
