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Drugs change a person’s reaction time, personality, and ability to concentrate. Because of this, it’s no surprise that few employers want to deal with workers who abuse such illegal substances. For the most part, large businesses have policies to cover drug screening employees.

Smaller businesses, however, are more likely to unknowing hire drug users. Because many of these businesses do not require pre-employment drug screening, substance abusers are more likely to apply for positions. According to U.S. Department of Labor statistics 44 percent of illegal drug users work for companies that have less than 25 employees. Another 43 percent work for medium sized businesses, places that employee between 25 to 499 individuals. Only 13 percent of the country’s illegal drug users are able to seek past the drug screening efforts of larger employers.

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As the name indicates, pre-employment refers to “prior to employing” or “before hiring” someone for a job, or simply signing a contract for employment. Screening means “full” checking or viewing. So the term pre-employment screening means viewing or checking a person’s history before employing him/her for proposed jobs, or signing any employment contract. The method of such screening is different in different organizations or companies, depending on the status of job/work they are providing and the nature of business/company/organization. However, some of the tools used for screening are similar in most of the organizations e.g. credit check, reference check, history check, criminal check etc. Some of the tools are more important for certain organizations and less important for others, for example drugs check and health check etc.

Pre-employment screening helps an organization a lot in assessing the ability of a person and his/her strength for the growth of the organization. Sometimes an employee becomes quite an opportunity for that organization, helping it in achieving its goals and objectives in a more efficient and effective way.

Consider the case of a company that employs someone for a labor vacancy. The company will be screening his/her health, references, his/her previous work place record, and his/her organizational dealing with his/her clients and colleagues. On the other hand, if a company is hiring someone for a management vacancy, then it will be screening his/her previous employment record along with his credit history check, his criminal record, and his/her behavior with other members of the company (other workers and the owner or “boss” of the company) during the period of employment. The prospective employee’s organizational record will be checked as well to assess the level and quality of his/her skills and anticipate his/her usefulness to the organization in achieving its end tasks.

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It’s Everyone’s Obligation

To test or not to test…it is not a question. Rather it is an obligation for both employers active in recruiting and every employee on the payroll team. In the business world, survival of the fittest is the general rule. Therefore, a company has its own interests and agenda to protect. This, in addition, to the health and well-being, safety and security of all humans in the work environment.

Unlike employees, a company implementing a drug-screening program has enormous responsibilities and multi obligations that cannot be overlooked or ignored. The U.S. federal government in respect to privacy rights and legal aspects mandates some of these especially if an employee proves positive for illicit substances. We advise those who do not understand or possess knowledge in respect to these obligatory requirements should consult a professional source for further information before implementing such a background check program.

An employee, on the other hand, has little if anything to contribute to a drug-screening program with these two obligations being the exceptions:

An employee must:

1. Remain drug and alcohol free.

2. Take the screening test when ordered.

The actual intended purpose of this article is to promote a basic respect for employment drug screening by presenting the issues surrounding such program implementations for both the employer and employee. Yet, despite the hardships an employer will certainly encounter it is important to highlight why such drug screening is necessary.

For instance, employers can be held accountable for failing to protect those who enter their environment. Which means avoidance and protection from harm for non-employees, employees, and customers must be at the forefront of the many reasons why a program implementation is a good idea. In the event of injuries, or harm, workers comp claims, medical costs and providing new training for new workers due to the injured party being unable to remain on the job can prove costly. In the event of death, whether or not criminal charges are filed, civil suits for wrongful death have a hefty price tag attached.

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