The biggest companies have some type pre employment drug screening. Since drugs can impair or slow an individual’s concentration and ability to react they believe workplace drug screening is justified. Hello I’m Yancey and as an employee I wouldn’t want to work with someone who freaks out or goes on a bad trip at work!
Unfortunately the majority of businesses and organizations have been given legal authority to perform a alcohol and drug screening test. As a condition of employment employers require job seekers to submit to drug screening tests. Medical examinations that include a preemployment drug screening are allowed under the (ADA) Americans with Disabilities Act.
This applies after the employer has offered you the job and before you actually start work. Research shows that four out of five companies do drug screenings before hiring. Employers want to be certain that when they hire us we are who we say we are. They also have a legitimate concern about violence in the workplace.
Let’s say your co-worker in the next cubicle or working the drill press in the shop goes off one day and hurts someone or worse. After the damage is done its discovered the individual was abusing the drug PCP (phencyclidine). PCP is a hallucinogen and has many of the same effects as LSD, but can be much more dangerous. PCP is known for inducing violent behavior.
pre employment drug screening
Drug Screen Test
The family of the injured co worker find out the company didn’t do an appropriate pre employment background check which involved him taking and passing drug screening. If they had they would know about the attackers past history of violence and ongoing drug abuse. The family sues the company for what’s called negligent hiring.
This is one reason drug screening and drug abuse detection has become important concerns for employers. Companies also see alcohol and drug screening as a way to reduce…
employee theft
lack of productivity
tardiness
psychological or problems with attitude
absenteeism
turnover
Statistics show that well over half of all job related accidents involve some form of drug and alcohol abuse. Research shows that workers compensation and health care claims are a lot higher for workplace drug abusers.
Abuse in Drug Screening Test
Employers make a good case for pre employment drug testing. However U.S. courts including the Supreme Court have found that obligating you to pee in urine drug test cup amounts to a “search”. The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution prohibits the federal government from performing “unreasonable search and seizure”.
pre employment drug screening
The Fourteenth Amendment prevents individual states from denying you of life, liberty or property without due process of law. The U.S. Supreme Court has decided that due process involves most protections of the Bill of Rights. These protections also include the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure from federal and state government.
A “search” is government interference in your life when you expect to have a reasonable expectation of privacy. A “seizure” is government imposing control over an individual or property. Many including myself believe that having someone stand and watch us pee for drug urine tests is a search an invasion of privacy. Having the tester take the urine sample amounts to seizure of your property.
What do employers search for in an employment drug test? That depends on things like…
cost
government regulations
drug testing company used
the businesses drug testing policy
other factors
Certain professional employees that have commercial class driver’s licenses along with those in the security and safety industries are usually required under federal guidelines to submit to drug testing programs. A lot of states also require drug test in employment for the same types of jobs. These jobs include…
healthcare
food processing
heavy machinery workers
utility workers
U.S. government regulations are directed by the (NIDA) National Institute on Drug Abuse and (SAMHSA) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and mandate a drug testing screen for the above mentioned jobs.
pre employment drug screening
Drug Screen for Drug Abuse
A lot of private employers also use a form of the federal drug free workplace program. Drug abuse testing is done in five special groupings called a 5 drug panel test or the “NIDA-5”. There are five other classes of drugs many a drug testing company now offer to employers. This enlarged category is called a 10 drug panel test.
I'm amazed at how little job seekers and employees know about these substances in a drug testing screen.
This link will provide great information about 5 and 10 drug panel test.
Pre employment drug screening like everything else in this world, is imperfect. That is why I believe it is critical that job applicants understand how the workplace substance abuse screening process works. There are several drug and alcohol test methods. Each one has some good, bad and ugly qualities about them.
The various types of drug test methods include…
saliva
sweat
urine
hair (alcohol)
hair
blood
Drug urine tests are used most often by companies because they are the least expensive. However like each of the others it has some major disadvantages.
If you are looking for a job or already have a job chances are you have or will be asked to take one or more of these different tests.
Follow this link to learn which of these tests can work for or against you.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Association (SAMHSA) regulates how and when a drug will test positive in a job seekers or employee’s system. Before testing is performed the containers or cups used to collect drug samples must be checked.
The container can’t be used if the tamper proof seal has been opened or broken. The laboratory won’t accept a damaged drug sample. A drug testing lab will do two different types of tests to reveal what drugs are present. The screening test is performed first and the confirmation test is used if the screening test is positive.
The minimum amount of drugs or metabolites in the pre employment drug testing sample is called the cutoff level. This is the amount that has to be there before the lab will report the results as positive. Metabolites are the substances that are left or produced after a drug is taken.
The amount of time after an individual last took a drug it or its metabolite can be spotted is the drug testing detection time.
You should also learn more about drug detection by following this link to drug detection times.
pre employment drug screening
It appears that pre employment drug screening is here to stay. I am an employee who believes that…
learning and understanding the process is the only way to ensure my success!
If you believe that too, continue to read these important pages.
My new sites provides the MOST current changes affecting career seekers and employees. Some employers are constantly working to take away the rights of employees. Follow this link to EMPLOYEE RIGHTS GUIDE, EMPLOYEE WORKPLACE RIGHTS and EMPLOYEE RIGHTS QUESTIONS for the latest employee news you can use!
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