Why do employers conduct pre-employment drug screenings?

Only 57% of companies screen all job applicants for drugs prior to hiring them, according to a recent research, and 29% do not test any applicants for drugs at all. Pre-employment drug testing has several advantages, and these advantages still hold true today. In reality, the advantages are larger than ever due to the rise in drug usage, healthcare costs, and employer liability claims.

Many businesses have a pre-employment drug testing policy in place before they will hire an applicant. A drug and alcohol test could be required of job applicants as part of the application process. As a business owner, you're constantly seeking for strategies to guarantee that you're selecting the greatest candidates for employment. One of the best preventative measures a company may do is a drug test as part of the pre-employment screening process.

In the last 20 years, employment lawsuits have increased. Employee lawsuits, whether they are for wrongful termination or a workplace incident, can easily cost businesses hundreds of thousands of dollars in liabilities. Some businesses enact these laws to shield themselves from liability, while others do so for good reason to limit drug use among employees. Making sure a new hire is drug-free enhances workplace security and efficiency while lowering accidents. According to statistics, drugs and alcohol are becoming more and more common causes of workplace accidents. For both small and large businesses, illicit drug use results in a number of issues.

These issues can include:

decreased productivity

Enhanced Risks to Employee and Customer Safety

Higher Turnover

Regular Absenteeism from Work

Increasing Costs of Healthcare

Companies who hire people in positions that are subject to federal regulation and need high standards of safety, such as those employing truck drivers, bus drivers, pilots, boat captains, rail workers, etc., ARE REQUIRED TO COMPLY BY DOT drug & alcohol testing regulations, which also include the screening of marijuana. Furthermore, the DOT has made it very clear that people who use medical marijuana are subject to the same rules as everyone else.

Employers who voluntarily comply with state workers' compensation premium discount programs (Drug-Free Workplace Program) may receive incentives from several of states. The company must comply with a complex set of guidelines, including when to test, how to test, and for what substances, in order to qualify for the benefits.

Making sure drug testing is done effectively needs a lot of planning on your part, just like any other area of your business, but if you succeed, you'll soon learn the many advantages that many other companies have already benefited from!

After an incident or event, employers ought to conduct employee testing to see whether drugs may have been a factor. Employers are advised to require testing from everyone who might have contributed to a particular accident or occurrence.

Employers might require employee drug testing where there is a reasonable suspicion of illegal drug use, which has become even more important with an increase in marijuana use. Employers are strongly encouraged to train their managers on the risks of drug addiction in the workplace as well as how to appropriately detect and address instances involving reasonable suspicion. Each event's specifics should be carefully documented.

Employers frequently want to set up a random employee drug testing program, in which a particular percentage of all employees are tested at random throughout the year. This is an excellent way to make sure employees continue to be drug-free after the typical pre-employment drug test. Employers are advised to make sure the process of random selection is computer-based, recorded, fair, and administered randomly throughout the year.

Do employers have to tell you about pre employment drug test?

If an employer requires their candidates to take a drug test, it is required to disclose this in their job advertisements. Companies disclose to potential hires that they conduct drug testing as part of the application process. Employers frequently conduct drug tests including: amphetamines, opiates, barbiturates, marijuana, cocaine, benzodiazepines, and oxycodone (as well as other synthetic opioids).

Drug testing methods

urine:

Employees must provide a sample at a predetermined facility for this drug test because it frequently requires gathering and analyzing a urine sample in a lab.

Hair:

The longest detection window, at three months, is provided by hair. The flaw is that it's not very good at identifying infrequent users. Individuals' hair samples are collected for hair drug tests, which involve analyzing the samples for traces of drugs.

Blood:

An accurate assessment of recent drug use can be obtained from blood testing. Compared to urine or saliva, testing for drugs using blood is less common, but it has some advantages. Blood testing is less frequently used for workplace drug testing since it is typically more invasive and expensive than other types of illicit drug screenings.

Employers seeking to conduct pre-employment testing on their employees can contact Precision Mobile Testing to set that up for you or schedule from our website. #precisionmobiletesting