Necessity of Pre-employment Drug Testing

Drug testing in the workplace is becoming a necessary requirement for most of the companies. Employee background checks are conducted by various companies while hiring new employees. Pre-employment drug testing is conducted on job applicants to avoid problems caused by drug abusers at workplaces. It also helps in increasing productivity and profitability of companies. Let us know why a pre-employment drug testing is necessary for employers.

Necessity of Pre-employment Drug Testing:

  • It is necessary for employers to ensure safety at workplace environment. Any workplace injuries, accidents and crimes can be avoided by pre-employment drug screening.
  • Lot of money is being spent by companies for health insurance and workers’ compensation costs due to drug abuse at workplace. In order to avoid these problems, it is better to avoid hiring such employees. So pre-employment drug testing is performed to enhance effective hiring decision making.
  • Loss of productivity, decreased quality of work, unprofessional behavior, and corrupt workplace environment are some of the problems caused by drug abused employees. In order to avoid these issues, it is essential for employers to conduct pre-employment drug testing.
  • Certain disciplinary actions are taken against current drug addicted employees. Sometimes they are terminated from employment. They have to be replaced by hiring new employees. This would waste a lot of time and money. So it is better to conduct drug testing before hiring a new employee.

The testing is conducted by various methods including urine drug testing, hair drug testing, and saliva drug testing. Most commonly urine drug testing is implemented by many companies. Many multi-panel drug test kits are available which can detect multiple drugs at a time. Pre-employment drug testing results in increased productivity, quality of work, and profits for organization.