Hiring and onboarding a new employee can be a stressful and sometimes scary process. You probably couldn’t count on both hands the number of times a new employee failed a background check or didn’t complete their onboarding paperwork or just simply ghosted you. While it’s ultimately probably for the best that their employment with your organization didn’t come to fruition, it still puts you in an uncomfortable: not only have you just spent however much time trying to onboard this person, now you need to go back and restart the process with someone else. And what happens if the same thing happens?
If the situation described above sounds a lot like one you’ve just found yourself in, don’t sweat: you’re not alone. At Payday HCM, we’ve seen plenty of companies going through this exact issue. Hiring can be a long and tedious process, one that Payday’s tools have played a crucial role in getting companies to the light at the end of the tunnel. And, depending on your organization, one of those steps might be a drug screening.
In this article, we’ll go over the advantages and disadvantages of drug screenings. We’ll go over the different benefits that the practice can have for your organization as well as the possible drawbacks. By the end, you’ll have everything you need to make the best decision for your company and get ahead of the hiring curve.
In this article, you will learn:
The Pros of Pre-Employment Drug Screenings
Drug testing at the time of hiring has been a long-standing practice for a reason. It can have its benefits when it comes to hiring top talent.
Risk Mitigation
The first pro for employment drug screenings in risk mitigations. This advantage doesn’t strictly apply to drug screenings performed before hiring and can provide improvements to workplace safety whether the test is carried out prior to employment, upon reasonable suspicion, or post-accident.
According to a study cited by the Centers for Disease Control, 55 percent more industrial accidents and 85 percent more injuries were found among employees who tested positive for marijuana when compared to those who didn’t. For those working in more safety-sensitive industries, performing drug screenings can help to minimize these types of incidents.
For safety-sensitive positions, employers should consider when to test. While pre-employment screenings can be helpful, performing testing at random or post-accident is also an option. Employers who perform random drug screenings should take into account local and state laws surrounding drug screenings as some cities or states have laws prohibiting or strictly banning the practice.
Federal And Regulatory Compliance
Performing pre-employment drug screenings may also be a necessary condition for maintaing compliance with certain federal regulations. While this doesn’t apply to all companies, it does apply for those who receive federal contracts or grants.
The Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 dictates that any company that receives a federal contract or grant must operate a drug-free workplace. This means that, regardless of the other benefits drug screenings may have, if you receive any sort of federal money or contract, you’ll need to ensure your drug-testing policy aligns with federal law.
The Cons Of Pre-Employment Drug Screenings
Alongside the potential benefits of performing drug screenings, there are also some potential downsides as well. These generally relate to the equity of these kinds of tests as well as expanding laws of legalization of recreational and medicinal cannabis.
Is Pre-Employment Drug Testing Equitable?
Despite its advantages, there are still some disadvantages to drug screenings. Unfortunately, there are concerns surrounding the equitability of these kinds of tests. A study conducted in 2010 published in the American Journal on Addictions found that Black and Hispanic workers are more often employed at places with required drug screenings than white workers.
While diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives have been put under scrutiny over the past few months, employers looking to ensure their hiring practices are fair and equitable to all candidates might want to take a second look at their drug testing policies.
Possible Harm To Onboarding And Company Culture
Another thing to consider when looking at drug screenings is how they may impact the actualy onboarding process as well as your company’s culture. Performing pre-employment drug screenings can not only increase the time and money that it takes to actually bring a new employee on, it could also harm the image that the new employee has of the company.
Alongside this, workers currently employed may not be so thrilled about their organization’s drug-testing policies. The idea that drug testing is used to affirm managerial status or authority could lead some employees to feel disillusioned or frustrated with the company.
Drug Screenings In States With Legalized Cannabis
Should you still drug test if your business is based in a state where cannabis is legal? It’s an interesting question and one that doesn’t necessarily have a good answer. Some states with legalized cannabis have laws that prohibit employers for testing for cannabis such as California, New York, and D.C.
Performing drug testing in states with legalized cannabis, given changing moods surrounding opinions on marijuana use, could mean you’re limiting your talent pool. However, in safety-sensitive industries, this may not be an option.
Put Drug Tests To The Test
Every HR manager hopes that the onboarding of a new employee will go as smoothly as possible. Unfortunately, this almost never happens. With so many things that can go wrong, it can be stressful to bring on new talent. Ultimately, the processes by which an HR team takes to onboard a new employee is going to vary by organization. Not all businesses are the same and your onboarding process should reflect that.
Drug screenings are one thing you and your team will need to decide is a fit for your organization. Take this article as a jumping off point to start that conversation and look at every angle—good or bad.
The work doesn’t have to stop there. While taking a look at your company’s drug testing policy, it might be time to clear the dust off some other policies that haven’t maybe gotten a proper update in some time. Check out our article on four changes you can make to your employee handbook.
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