Employee Drug Testing
Drug testing in the workplace started in 1986 when President Ronald Reagan ordered that federal agencies to conducted urine testing its employees in order to create a drug free working environment (Maltby, 1999). From then on the use of employee drug testing spread in both the public and private sectors. This is the case despite the cost of drug testing programs. For example, in the aviation industry, the annual cost of drug testing programs is estimated to be $14 million (밊ocus on Federal Drug Testing? 1991). This can go up depending on the number of lawsuits filed in relation to the programs as well as the rehabilitation of workers who tested positive.
However, few employers have actually studied that correlation between drug abuse and perceived negative effects on the performance of the employee. According to the American Management Association (1996), there is a lack of statistical evidence that drug testing can reduce absenteeism, theft and violence and thus there is no conclusive evidence to back up the claim the employers do employee drug testing to maintain the profitability of the company. With this in mind, what can be left as a reason behind the implementation of drug testing programs? If there is none left, then the programs can be considered as nuisances.
This is exactly what employees feel. Many employees feel that failing a drug test should not be the sole basis for their termination. They also believe that drug testing programs invade their privacy. The nature of drug testing is in its self are invasive. It is usually the case that employees are humiliated during these tests since they are required to pee in front of other people. This is a violation to the employee뭩 right to privacy since employers do not have the right to intrude to the employee뭩 personal life without just cause (Gibson, 1983; O묷eefe, 1987). This means that drug testing can be valid if the employer has valid proof that the performance of the employee is affected by drug use.
The efficacy of drug testing in determining the competence of an employee is also being questioned. Drug tests only prove the presence of drugs in a person뭩 system. However, it does not in any way provided evidences to suggest that the drugs affect their daily job performance. This means that employers should not terminate an employee on the basis of testing positive on a drug test. It must be taken into consideration the track record of the employee to validate the claim that his/her performance is unsatisfactory and affect the profitability of the company.
Questions:
- Why do companies do employee drug testing?
- How do employees feel about drug testing?
- What is the aim of employee drug testing?
- Does your company implement employee drug testing?
- What are your opinions about employee drug testing?
Vocabulary
Invasive - to enter for conquest
Intrude - to enter without permission
Efficacy - effectiveness