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7 Benefits of Conducting Drug Tests for Employers!

 


Testing your current and potential employees for drugs can help you keep your workplace free from drug abuse. Moreover, by enrolling in the workplace drug testing program as an employer, you may receive discounts on the workers’ compensation insurance premium.

Drug and alcohol abuse is costing the U.S. Government millions of dollars that lead to turnover of employees, unnecessary absenteeism, workplace accidents, clash with other employees, workers’ compensation claims, etc. Many companies implement mandatory workplace drug testing that includes pre-employment drug testing, random drug testing, and post-accident drug testing.

Drug Testing Laws for Employers

The drug testing laws for employers may differ from one state to another in the United States. An employer can conduct the drug test as per their drug test policies without discrimination and ensure that the employees’ rights and reputation are protected during the testing process.

The federal government requires a mandatory drug test for the employees who are working in safety-sensitive positions. The Department of Transportation created guidelines for the employer to conduct drug tests for the present and the potential employees working in the transportation and other safety-sensitive positions.

Some states like Kentucky, Iowa, Ohio, etc., have legislated medical marijuana law, which denotes the employer not to disqualify the employee only on prescribed marijuana consumption. But the employer can test for marijuana and other drugs and disqualify the candidate or employee if the drug level is above the threshold.

Most Common Drug Test by Employers

Most of the Fortune 500 companies drug test employees and candidates before hiring them and during employment. The most common drug test by fortune companies would be the urine drug tests and oral saliva drug tests.

Some organizations with strict drug-free workplace policies may conduct hair drug tests to identify the drug consumed long before, say a maximum of 90 days.

7 Benefits of Drug Testing for Employers

  1. Enhances company Image — The Company with the drug test policy creates trust among the customers, which helps them in improving their image. It also helps to showcase indirectly that the company is highly disciplined and keeps their employee in such a manner. If you are an employer, make sure that you create your drug testing policies in line with the drug testing laws in that state.
  2. Reduced employee health costs — Illegal drug use is the main reason for employee health problems. This leads to unnecessary health hazards and has a heavy hit on the company’s productivity. Pre-employment and random drug testing can help the company check the employees’ health status and drug intake status. This may allow the employer to make wise decisions during recruitment and employment.
  3. Decreased workplace accidents — An alert employee will put his best to prevent workplace accidents and work per the employer’s vision. But if he is drunk or under addiction, specific psychological effects of those drugs might not allow the employee to work with involvement, thereby leading to workplace accidents. If proven positive during a post-accident drug test, the employee might lose his workers’ compensation claim.
  4. Compliance with the state laws and regulations — An employer should comply with the state laws and regulations and adopting a drug-free workplace is one of them. You can make specific changes in your drug testing policies at your discretion, but it should not exceed the state and federal law jurisdictions.
  5. Saves time — The employer need not waste time in frequent recruitment if he conducts pre-employment drug testing. Therefore, it saves time as the employer can determine the drug levels in the individual’s body before hiring him. If an employer finds out about employee drug abuse, he may fire him immediately.
  6. Keep the employees educated — Having a strict drug testing policy will keep the employees educated about drug testing. Educating employees about the effects of drug abuse and conducting seminars and webinars about drug abuse and preventive measures are some of the social measures that the employer can take. This will improve the credibility of the employer among the locals.
  7. Discounts in insurance premiums — If the employer has enrolled in the drug-free workplace program, he may receive discounts in workers’ compensation premiums. Make sure you follow the employer guidelines to get eligible for the compensation discounts.

Drug testing has become more common in schools, employment organizations, sports activities, etc. Apart from the benefits, it should be the duty of employers to conduct the drug test as per the state and federal law guidelines and abide by the law in recruiting or firing the employee based on drug abuse.

 

Originally published at https://deepadvices.com on August 25, 2021.

 

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