Workplace Drug Testing on the Rise : Hiring: Employees screened at 85% of major companies, compared to 75% a year ago and 22% in 1987, according to poll.
Drug testing in the workplace has grown at a frantic pace, with 85% of major companies testing workers and job applicants, compared to 75% a year ago, a survey released Thursday showed.
“Every year a greater share of companies without a testing program begin to test; every year a greater share of companies with programs expand them,” said Eric Greenberg, director of the American Management Assn. survey.
In 1987, when the survey was initiated, 22% of companies tested for drugs. Since then testing has soared nearly 300%, reaching a record level each year. Big companies account for the bulk of testers.
The management group attributed the rise to new federal regulations for transportation and defense workers, new corporate policies and attempts to reduce liability insurance costs.
Although the survey polled 630 companies, the management group said that it can infer that more than a third of all Americans applying for jobs this year will be asked to take a drug test, most likely by giving a urine sample.
As companies have thrown a wider net in testing workers and job applicants, the amount of people testing positive has dropped rapidly.
Only 2.5% of all workers tested and 4.3% of job applicants gave a positive signal for drug use. In 1989, 8.1% of employees and 11.2% of applicants tested positive.
“The decline in test-positive rates reflects a wider testing pool, not lesser drug use,” Greenberg said.
While the group said there was no evidence yet to support the contention that drug testing prevents drug use, they did find that education had a positive effect.
Among companies polled in the January, 1993, survey, those that had education programs for employees and managers had a 26% lower rate of positive drug tests.
“Drug education and counseling can increase any program’s effectiveness and should be the cornerstone of any company’s efforts, regardless of whether it conducts drug testing or not,” said Bill Current, executive director of the American Council for Drug Education.
Because of the cost--an average of $43 for each test--most companies test employees randomly. Three-quarters of all companies test job applicants, and 87% of these test each and every prospective employee.
Despite the proclivity of companies to test for drugs, only 73% retest for verification. A worker who eats a poppy seed bagel for breakfast may test positive for heroin use. The common, over-the-counter pain reliever ibuprofen may appear as marijuana.
But nearly a quarter of all companies do not follow guidelines in verification, and 6% don’t bother to validate the results at all.
Applicants who test positive face virtually no hope of being hired by a company.
If an employee tests positive, 54% of all companies will suggest counseling, while 25% will fire the worker outright. The remainder would demote, reassign or deny promotion to the worker.
Overall, companies believe that drug testing is effective and worth the cost. Eighty-four percent of the companies that undertake drug testing believe that it is an effective way to deal with drug abuse. Only 12% disagreed.
Drug Testing
Drug testing in the workplace has shot up more than 300% in the last six years, according to surveys by the American Management Assn. Companies test applicants or workers or both. Thnis year, for example, 73.5% of the companies said they tested applicants and 81.8% said they tested workers. Below is the percentage of employers who say they do any type of testing.
1987: 21.5% 1993: 84.8%
Source: Reuters
