A Guide to National Drug Testing Services for Employers

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Have you ever considered introducing drug testing in your company? These programs have become popular in employers of various industries due to the abundance of benefits for every member of the company.

Drug screening assists businesses in boosting productivity and morale, reducing absenteeism and tardiness, minimizing employee turnover and workplace incidents, as well as helping employees receive proper treatment.

The variety of screening methods, such as pre-employment, post-accident, return-to-duty, follow-up, and random screens comply with the requirements of different businesses.

The comprehensive guide below will introduce you to the types and benefits of drug testing for employers.

Types of drug testing

Given the increasing number of employees using illicit substances, it’s no wonder employers require their workers to get tested for substance abuse in various circumstances. For example, pre-employment testing is becoming more popular among companies, allowing employers to test applicants before deciding to hire them. Go to this website for some useful tips about preparing for a drug test.

In order to conduct pre-employment testing, job applicants need to agree to such screening as one of the conditions for applying for a vacancy. Those applicants failing the test will be deprived of the chance of getting hired regardless of their stellar qualifications. Nevertheless, checking the state laws related to pre-employment drug screening is mandatory for employers in order not to end up breaking the law by imposing testing as part of the application procedure.

Moreover, random drug testing is another effective screening method, devised for the purpose of discouraging substance abuse in employees. Usually, employers use the social security numbers of workers in the random choice of candidates for screening to ensure fair selection. These tests are rarely announced by companies, which means workers need to be clean at all times to pass the test if randomly selected.

In contrast, reasonable suspicion testing takes place whenever some of the workers are suspected of drug abuse. In such scenarios, employees are observed for a longer time period in order for supervisors to have probable cause to subject them to reasonable suspicion screening. The most common signs of drug addiction in employees range from constant tardiness, neglect of personal appearance and hygiene, absenteeism, bloodshot eyes, dilated pupils, mood swings, short temper, etc.

Furthermore, post-accident testing takes place after a worker gets involved in a workplace incident such as getting injured, being in a car accident, damaging a vehicle, etc. The purpose of post-accident tests is to assess whether the use of drugs and alcohol played a major role in the incident. These tests are best performed in the course of twelve hours after the incident in order for the substances to be still present in the body system.

Reason-to-duty testing is a special form of screening designed to test substance abuse in employees with a positive test at the last screening. Nowadays, a myriad of companies, such as the Nationwide Testing Association, offer various substance abuse testing programs to employers. Reason-to-duty screening isn’t only conducted in workers with a history of drug abuse but also in individuals absent from work for a longer period of time. Conversely, follow-up tests are specially used for workers violating the policy of their companies regarding drug and alcohol use.

Period drug testing refers to screening all employees a few times or once annually. Nevertheless, this screening is always announced by employers, which makes it less efficient than random testing. It’s common for employees to refrain from using illicit substances for a given period prior to the test in order for the results to be negative.

Benefits of drug screening at work

Drug testing provides a multitude of benefits to both employers and employees, hence encouraging the largest part of companies to adopt such programs. Such screening promotes a more stable and safer workplace, as substance abuse might be detrimental when it comes to the safety of workers. For instance, employees addicted to illegal substances are believed to be more prone to making unreasonable decisions. Also, their reaction time seems to be substantially reduced, increasing the risk of workplace accidents.

Workers under the influence of drugs and alcohol often suffer from impaired judgment, leading to an increased number of incidents. Employees operating heavy machinery should be regularly tested for substance abuse in order to prevent fatalities.

Another benefit of introducing such programs in companies is boosting productivity in employees. Individuals using drugs show signs of low morale, unpunctuality, and frequent absence from work. The morale of all workers, not just of those using illegal substances is decreased when companies do nothing to discourage this abuse.

An incredibly important benefit of adopting such testing policies in companies is the remarkable drop in business costs. Due to the reduced turnover of employees, business owners will no longer have to pay for training and recruitment costs on a regular basis. Instead of training new workers every few months, investing in a screening policy has proven far more cost-efficient. Check out the following link, https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikekappel/2017/08/09/5-ways-to-reduce-employee-turnover/?sh=193fb29d5001, for some practical tips related to reducing employee turnover.

Instead of firing workers whose results turned out positive, some employers decide to give them another chance to get their job back after getting proper treatment. After spending a couple of months or more on treatment, individuals are allowed to work on their previous position as long as they pass the return-to-duty or follow-up tests. Giving another chance to addicts is of tremendous assistance to their families, not just the addicts themselves.

Ultimately, pre-employment screening has proven incredibly beneficial in preventing potential problems from the very beginning. Companies are encouraged to subject applicants to such tests to reduce the risk of future fraud or thefts, typical for addicts. Although these tests aren’t a complete guarantee of hiring clean workers, the program warns future employees of the company’s attitude towards drug and alcohol abuse.