Drug Testing

Dick Bowie is the president of College International Publishers Company of Austin, Texas and facing a difficult decision about the control and monitoring of his employees.

Problems he is experiencing with his employees include increasing theft, employee absenteeism, sloppy follow-up on assignments, lethargy, and morale problems.

Interviews with employees have confirmed to his satisfaction what Dick has long suspected: Drugs are a major factor in reduced employee performance, morale, and overall productivity.

Pivotal in Dick’s thinking is that his company’s finances are now so shaky that its parent is considering absorbing it into an international division of the parent company.

Bowie has hired two consultants whom have laid out a plan for the implementation of a drug testing program within the company but he is still having seconds thoughts about several issues regarding the tests.

In our argument in favor of workplace drug testing, we intend to calm Bowie’s fears of the tests and explain what a benefit they really are to overall safety in the workplace and increased productivity among employees.

We will argue that the testing process can be implemented fairly and professionally and explain the procedures for conducting the drug tests.

Finally, we will discuss the reliability of the tests and outline an employee assistance program for employees who happen to test positive.

1. Undercover Investigations for the Workplace by Eugene Ferraro

2. www.globalchange.com/drugs

3. www.setonresourcecenter.com/alerts/feb/feb_2003c.htm

4. www.roughnotes.com/rnmagazine/search/general_articles/01_05p114.htm

5. Skinner v. Railway Labor Executives' Assn., 489 U.S. 602 (1989)

National Treasury Employees v. Von Raab, 489 U.S. 656 (1989)

One of the main reasons employers implement drug testing is to increase their company’s productivity. Employees who use drugs are absent from work more often than non-users, are less productive while on the job, and contribute to lower company productivity and employee moral. Employees who use drugs have a 78% higher rate of absenteeism than non-users. (1) Besides coming to work less often, when drug-using employees do report for work, they are also much less productive. Workers using drugs are 33% less productive than non-users. They are also 25% more likely to steal from their employer. (2) The fact that drug abuse hurts their work performance is not even opposed by workers; in fact 64% of them admit their job performance suffers when they use drugs. (2) The absentee rate and poor job performance of drug users does not go unnoticed by their co-workers. When people come to their job high on drugs, overall employee morale suffers. When there are people abusing substances in the workplace, the clean employee must work harder to compensate for their co-workers negligence, and as a result moral declines. When surveyed 63% of workers said substance abuse negatively impacts their morale.