Better Business Practices - Pre Employment Drug Screening F

By Essie Osborn


Your workplace may be becoming more difficult to manage. Accidents may be on the rise, absenteeism and tardiness rampant, and theft a commonplace occurrence. One way to combat these difficulties is to put pre employment drug screening in place. This is very important in companies where employees use heavy equipment or drive company vehicles and machinery.

When individuals apply for a specific position at a company, they will be advised that if they are going to be considered for employment, they will be required to take a mandatory drug test. It is important that they are aware of the company's policy before time and expense is spent before reviewing an application and interviewing and conducting a background check on each individual that arrives to apply. If online applications are utilized, it should be clearly stated in the application that tests will be conducted on all prospective employees.

Applicants are sent to an off-site clinic where the tests are administered. They are usually at a location that is convenient to the workplace or can be found in multiple locations which will be simple for all individuals to locate and get to.

Prospective employees are asked to give a urine sample when they arrive at the clinic. The results are processed at a lab and reported to the hiring business within a short time, sometimes even within 24 hours. A positive drug test will eliminate that individual from the hiring process. The test site will often inform the individual of positive results first before contacting the company.

Hair strands can also be tested for the presence of unauthorized substances. Although this is a less common practice, activity can be detected over the 90 days previous.

Some businesses will actually purchase and use their own testing kits. This is sometimes a much faster and much less expensive manner of testing but the findings will not always hold up in a court of law. It is wise to send a positive sample, preferably the original sample, to an independent lab for re-checking and confirmation.

Some of the illegal substances which may appear in a positive drug test may include cocaine, marijuana, PCP or amphetamines. Signals that drug testing may be compromised also can become apparent and applicants can be sent for re-testing if this occurs.

After this screening, new hires may be informed that random testing will be done at various dates and times within the company. This will keep individuals who have stopped taking or smoking harmful substances from beginning again. It will also deter potential first time users from trying anything that is harmful to their bodies and minds. In the case of work-place accidents, testing is often set up to be automatic whenever an employee is sent to a clinic or emergency room on a workman's compensation claim.

If companies add these precautionary steps to their hiring agendas, the quality of employees will improve and productivity increase. Morale will also be much higher and there will be far less incidences of theft, absenteeism, tardiness, and poor attitudes. Screening your employees will make for a better workplace for employees, management and customers alike.




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