Aiming for a Drug-Free Workplace
"There is no shortage of reasons employers test their workers for drugs. At one company, an employee high on marijuana forgot to lock the wheels on his forklift and it dropped five feet off a loading dock, while employees at another built a crystal meth lab in the back of a truck.
Employers say workers who use drugs raise a company's insurance costs, steal equipment and scare away clients.
''The drug and alcohol issue is a concern for America,'' says Mary Wheeler, co-owner of Wheeler Landscaping in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, who began screening job applicants five years ago and now randomly tests her 76 employees. ''Until you have a drug-free workplace you don't realize how prevalent it is.''
Companies lose $82 billion in productivity each year because of substance abuse, the federal government estimates. Now, a growing number of employers are fighting back with workplace drug programs. They say better technology has made drug screening more reliable, while insurance discounts and government grants have made it cheaper.
The math is simple. More than three-quarters of America's 14.8 million drug users have jobs. Drug users are almost four times as likely to be involved in a workplace accident as sober workers and five times as likely to file a workers' compensation claim, according to government data. Drug users miss more days of work, show up late and change jobs more often. The cost of a drug test, meanwhile, is usually less than $50.
While drug programs are slowly becoming more popular, they still rarely make it to the top of an entrepreneur's priority list, says Richard A. Chaifetz, chief executive of Com-Psych, a company that helps employers set up drug screening and rehabilitation programs.
''Small-business owners will typically say I know my employees very well, nobody is abusing substances here,'' he says. Employers also often worry about violating their workers' privacy or hurting company morale by appearing distrustful.
Many do not know that almost 6 percent of all employees randomly screened and 4 percent of job applicants typically test positive, according to Quest Diagnostics, the largest laboratory. (Technology is so refined now, Quest said, that false positives almost never happen.) While users tend to work in restaurants, bars, construction, food preparation or transportation, they can be found in all industries.
When Cassie Oney, human resources director at PreCheck, a private investigation firm in Houston, randomly tested employees for the first time last year, there were no indications that anyone would test positive. Still, three clerical workers, or about 4 percent of the staff, failed the test.
''In H.R. you try to get into that 'nothing surprises me' mode, but I was still extremely surprised that it was those three people,'' Ms. Oney said. ''One of the individuals in particular had been doing a great job. The other two had been long-term employees.''
Random tests are more prevalent today than they were five years ago, experts say, but they are still fairly rare.
Employers who do not want the bother or expense of randomly testing their employees opt for pre-employment screening instead. Viewed as the simplest and cheapest way to filter out drug users, pre-employment tests are also considered an effective deterrent.
''Employees who use drugs are less likely to apply at a company that has a drug-testing program,'' said Nancy N. Delogu, a labor lawyer at Littler Mendelson in Washington, and co-author of the ''Guide to State and Federal Drug-Testing Laws.'' ''What small-business owners find is they're not getting the cream of the crop, in terms of applicants, if they don't do testing. They may be picking up drug users which they can ill afford.''
Tests administered after a workplace accident are also considered an effective way to filter out drug users, especially because a large percentage of all industrial accidents can be attributed to drug and alcohol abuse. Some workers' compensation insurers require post-accident drug testing, and a few will even refuse to pay a patient's benefits if they find that drugs or alcohol caused an accident.
Drug tests yield results immediately or within a couple of days, depending on whether urine, hair or saliva samples are used. (Urine and hair samples are sent to a laboratory, and take two or three days to process. Saliva tests can be administered on the spot by the employer, and the swab shows instant results.)
Companies usually opt for urine tests that check for marijuana, cocaine, PCP, opiates and amphetamines, although employers should know that many products -- from herbal teas to prosthetic penises filled with fake urine -- are available to help drug users beat the tests.
Many business owners avoid giving drug tests altogether. Greg Phillips, founder of AirTegrity Wireless, a maker of broadband equipment in Stateline, Nev., says he does not screen job applicants or current staff members. ''There's a lot of trust within the group, and we've worked together for a long time,'' Mr. Phillips said of his 22 employees.
Other employers worry about violating workers' privacy.
Ethical concerns notwithstanding, testing employees or job candidates for drug use is perfectly legal. Heather Gatley, general counsel at the human resources company AlphaStaff Group, says it is illegal to fire a worker or reject an applicant for discriminatory reasons, like race, age or gender. But singling someone out for drug use is not considered discriminatory.
In some cases, financial incentives trump all other concerns.
Companies in accident-prone industries usually want to maintain a drug-free workplace to keep their insurance rates down. Both health and workers' compensation premiums fluctuate depending on how often a company files for claims.
Will Isherwood, head of human resources at AIT Worldwide Logistics, a shipping company based in Chicago, says drug testing helped cut workers' compensation expenses for the 560 employees to less than $250,000 a year from over $400,000. ''It made a huge difference.''
In addition, some states reward employers who test staff members. The Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, for example, gives up to 20 percent premium discounts to employers that comply with its drug-free workplace programs, and also grants companies up to $20,000 over six years to draft a policy and train employees and managers.
Legal Advice Is a First Step In Setting Up Screening
Business owners interested in setting up a drug screening program should consult a lawyer first, as rules vary by state.
While Ohio encourages drug testing, states like Vermont and Rhode Island specifically prohibit companywide random screens. Minnesota and Vermont require employers to offer workers a chance at rehabilitation the first time they test positive.
Nancy N. Delogu, a labor lawyer at Littler Mendelson in Washington, says these states worry about violating workers' rights. Those laws were passed in the early days of drug testing, she points out, when lawmakers were concerned that false positives could lead to damaging accusations.
To make it work, employers should clearly communicate the details of a drug policy to employees and ensure that workers understand the consequences. Equality is also important; chief executives and heads of personnel should be tested as frequently as everyone else.
Once an employee fails a random test, business owners have a choice. Some employers immediately fire the guilty party, while others prefer to give employees a second chance.
''I usually recommend an auto-termination policy where the employer does not have a good rehabilitation program,'' said Heather Gatley, general counsel at the human resources company AlphaStaff Group. ''However, you have to defer to the tolerance level of the company.''
Small companies or family-run businesses often go to great expense to rehabilitate loyal or long-term workers.
More important, employers should not jump to conclusions. Tests occasionally yield false positives, and employees who are legitimately taking prescription drugs should not be penalized.
Sometimes, however, there is no doubt about a drug user's habits.
Mary Wheeler, co-owner of Wheeler Landscaping in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, says one job applicant, when informed of the pre-employment drug test, assured the interviewer he would pass it. While filling out his paperwork, the interviewer asked the applicant for a driver's license. The applicant reached into his pocket, and by accident pulled out a small bag of cocaine.
SMALL BUSINESS"