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January 23, 2004
Screening Employees for Drug Use
Posted by Carole Matthews at 10:31 AM
Do you want to know if your employees are using drugs? Skip the urine tests. Try testing your offices for the presence of drugs. Kris Maher of the Wall Street Journal recently reported that Global Detection & Reporting Inc. markets a drug-wipe test that's less costly than a urine test, which run about $35 per employee, and can test for five drugs, including marijuana and cocaine. A single $10 kit offers a general assessment of drug use by employees and can be used to test multiple work spaces. The test is proving to be an affordable alternative for smaller employers -- the company has sold its drug wipe kit to more than 100 small companies during the past year.
Swiping your office light switches and employee keyboards for the presence of drugs sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen, but legal experts say workers would have little recourse against this type of testing. "Anything in the workplace is fair game for a company," Maher quoted Lawrence Lorber, a partner in labor and employment group of Proskauer Rose LLP.
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One question I have about the tests though is if one comes back positive, the general situation seems to be that the prospect has failed and won't be made an offer. How solid are the test results since of course it's hard to give the tests again once someone knows about them.
And does it specific what drugs were positive? I wouldn't think a marijuana user is much of a concern.
gene
I must agree about the marijuana part...
This swipe test seems absolutely useless to me. A urine test makes sense because there is no denying where it came from. Employee pees in cup, said contents are tested and the results can not be disputed. But a positive swipe test result on an employee's computer, desk or light switch can easily be denied by the employee. ie, "I don't know how it got there, but it sure as heck wasn't from me." What is the employer supposed to do then? Firing that employee based on results from a swipe test would be a recipe for a lawsuit. You can't prove with any degree of certainty how those drug traces actually got on those surfaces. If your business can't afford proper, legally binding drug testing, don't bother looking for a cheaper alternative like a swipe test. It could cost your business far more in the long run. Businesses that can not afford urine tests, should use performance as the key barometer for monitoring their employees. Gaining added knowledge of your employee's lifestyle is a benefit if you can legally use that information. Failing that, it's useless and could even become a business liability for the employer.
In an "office" environment I can understand what has been previously said, but in almost any other environment, I can't. On the other hand, that is not true either.....
Marijuana... No different (in my opinion) than drinking. So what? You want someone who is drinking to be running the hydraulic press next to you? Do you want someone who is drinking to fall down the steps at work, get a good sized settlement from Workers Comp and send the company's rates through the roof, enough so that you may not have a job anymore? Worse yet... he/she grabs the coffee pot, stumbles and pours scalding hot coffee on the side of your face???? No different with the use of marijuana. Thank you, I'd rather see NONE of it.
As for the viability of the "wipe"... No big deal. For $10.00 I can find out IF a possible problem exists that I might need to follow up on, NOT who, specifically, might be involved. Once I know a problem exists, I can always send an individual down to be tested. OR, leave it alone... of course, should someone ever get hurt, and I "knew" a problem existed, I would be sued for not having followed up on it... Either way, it's fun...
The swipe / wipe test "could" be just another tool that might be used to make sure the work-place is safe, both for the employees as well as for the business itself. It is not an "end all" answer, just one tool of many. No different than our managers "paying attention" to how employees act to see if they "may" be under the influence... would I risk a law-suit based only on an impression...no, but I might follow up on it and do further, more specific, testing.
My job is to keep the business going and I will do what I have to, to do that. Any "tools" I can use to accomplish that, is a benefit to me, my company and most importantly, to ALL the employees.
What about the people that abuse legal drugs that won't be pick about by any drug test. Are people who take a lot of vicodin more dangerous that someone who smokes a joint. I have seen both and i feel that the vicodin people are far more dangeous.
I've posted on a similar topic.
I don't feel it is an employer's business what an employee chooses to put into their bodies when not at work. I don't do drugs, by the way.
For those of you who do feel it’s your business, would you subject yourself to a drug test after making a bad business decisions? Or, how about a business IQ tests? A test that is much more relevant. After all, if you screw up on a big business deal all of your employees could lose their jobs too.
I find that being up front and letting employees know your boundaries (i.e. one drink maximum at lunch and no using illegal drugs while working) is enough. It shows them that you have respect for their privacy, and trust them to be responsible professionals. This goes a long way toward gaining respect as a leader and manager.
Loosen your ties,
Dion
The value of this product and others like it is that if you find something (powder, pills, etc) you can quickly and cheaply screen for substances you are worried about. If it's nothing, then forget about it. If there are drugs present in our workplace, it is a big deal and have a plan to address it.
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