Pre-employment Drug Screening -What you need to know

What You Should Know About Pre-Employment Drug Testing

This is the policy for well-established and reputable companies, and it is an expected part of the application process for any position.

When a pre-employment drug test is required, the job offer is contingent upon the applicant’s passing the test with a clean result. Here’s what you should know about pre-employment drug testing and who you can turn to for this crucial step in the hiring process.

Statistics

• The Surgeon General, as reported by NIDA, states that alcohol and drug abuse, including tobacco, costs the economy over $740 billion per year.

• The rate of positive pre-employment workforce drug screens in the general U.S. population hit a fourteen-year high in 2018, according to a new 2019 analysis from Quest Diagnostics.

• Looking at data from close to 9 million urine drug tests from January to December 2018, the overall rate of positivity increased from 4.2% to 4.4% of samples.

• This is nearly a 5% increase and the highest level since 2004.

• The rate of positive tests from opiates has dropped, from 0.39% in 2017 to 0.31% in 2018, a 21% decrease.

• Results from marijuana (THC) testing continue to rise: in the general U.S. workforce, positive results from 2017 to 2018 have gone up from 2.6% to 2.8% of samples, a greater than 7% increase.

• Positive results from post-accident testing have also risen: from 7.7% in 2017 to 8.4% in 2018.

• Licensed farmers can now grow hemp, as long as it contains less than 0.3% THC.

• A recent study found that 20% of CBD products (1 in 5) were contaminated with THC.

• Cottrell Q. Americans struggling with opioid addiction miss 50% more work than everyone else.

What is a pre-employment drug test?

A pre-employment drug test is used to determine if a prospective hire uses illicit substances or abuses prescription medication. It may also be used for employees who are returning to work after an injury or absence, at which time it may be referred to as a pre-placement drug test. It is common for employers to require a job candidate to complete a pre-employment drug test, and a job offer may be contingent upon the applicant’s ability to pass. These drug tests typically screen for the use of the following illegal drugs (but can test for others if needed):

• Methamphetamines (meth, speed, crank, ecstasy)

• THC (cannabinoids, marijuana, hash)

• Cocaine (coke, crack)

• Opiates (heroin, opium, codeine, morphine)

• Phencyclidine (PCP, angel dust)

Why employers should require pre-employment drug testing?

If workplace safety is of the utmost importance to a company, then conducting pre-employment drug tests can help mitigate risks associated with drug misuse. By indicating on a job application that an offer of employment may be contingent on the results of a drug test, an employer can help to deter substance abusers from applying altogether. For occupations that place employees in safety-sensitive environments, pre-employment drug testing is critical. As it can help reduce the number of costly workers’ compensation claims involving drug or alcohol use.

Drug use may represent as much as a five-fold increase in workplace injury claims

Hair and nail clippings may provide information from 30 days up to a 6 month timeframe. In urine, drugs may be detected for up to a week to ten days. Blood and saliva will offer more information on immediate drug use, especially if the applicant appears impaired at the time of testing.

It is possible to undermine the test results of a urine drug screening by diluting the urine, purchasing synthetic urine or using an oxidizing agent to break up any detectable amounts in the urine. However, any employer with a comprehensive drug testing program will be able to detect if urine is tainted.

What You Should Know About Pre-Employment Drug Testing

Most companies require potential employees to undergo a drug test before finalizing the job offer. This is the policy for well-established and reputable companies, and it is an expected part of the application process for any position.

When a pre-employment drug test is required, the job offer is contingent upon the applicant’s passing the test with a clean result. Here’s what you should know about pre-employment drug testing and who you can turn to for this crucial step in the hiring process.

What Is Tested in Pre-Employment Drug Screening?

Drug testing before an employment offer is final is usually conducted at an offsite healthcare facility. A urine test is the standard type of drug screening specimen and is the one mandated by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

The other types of pre-employment drug tests are the saliva test, blood test, and hair test.

A urine drug test can detect a variety of substances that may have been ingested up to five days prior to the test. Cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, and opiates are just a few of the illicit drugs that can be detected in a candidate’s urine. The urine can also be screened for other drugs as requested by the employer.

What types of laboratory tests are used for drug testing?

It is important to be sure that the drug testing occurs at a reputable and certified laboratory. Any credible drug screening program will involve a two-step process. Initial (immunoassay) and confirmatory (gas chromatography-mass spectrometry [GC-MS] test) are the methods most commonly utilized to test for drugs. Using a combination of both tests allows a high level of sensitivity and specificity, meaning there is an extremely low chance for false positives or false negatives.

The immunoassay is performed first and is often used as a screening method. If the immunoassay is negative, no further action is required, and the results are reported as negative. If the sample is non-negative, an additional confirmatory GC-MS analysis is performed on a separate portion the biological sample. The more specific GC/MS is used as a confirmatory test to identify individual drug substances or metabolites and quantify the amount of the substance. Confirmatory tests, such as GC-MS should be utilized prior to reporting positive drug test results to employers.

What happens during workplace drug testing?

An applicant is notified that pre-employment drug testing will need to take place as part of the application process. They may have to present to the laboratory within a specified time frame, for example within 24 hours, to lessen the chance that drugs in their system will be excreted and undetectable. Applicants are directed to a specific laboratory to submit a sample for drug screening (usually for urine test results).

Once at the facility, the applicant must submit a sample at the discretion of the laboratory personnel and in keeping with their standard policies. Hair, sweat, saliva or blood drug test samples may also be used in pre-employment drug screen, although this is not common practice.

During the laboratory evaluation, strict chain-of-custody practices and standards are followed to prevent adulteration of the sample. This legal procedure requires documentation of each person who handles the specimen through the entire phase of testing.

Certain laboratory procedures may require direct visual observation while the specimen is being voided, although this is not common. This occurs most often when the donor has previously attempted to tamper with a sample.

How long do drugs stay in your system?

Many variables may affect the amount of time that a drug remains detectable in the urine or other biological samples, including: a drug’s half-life subject’s state of hydration and fluid balance frequency of drug use route of administration cut-off concentration used by the testing lab to detect the drug.

General guidelines are available for detection times. Many drugs stay in the system from 2 to 4 days, although chronic use of marijuana can stay in the system for 3 to 4 weeks or even longer after the last use. Drugs with a long half-life, such as diazepam, may also stay in the system for a prolonged period of time.

How long does alcohol stay in urine?

Results from workplace drug testing are fairly quick and can usually be received in a few days. An employer may also request to have the test done with a rapid test that can provide results on the same day. Negative results are usually received within 24 hours; however, a non-negative screen will require further testing that may take a few days up to one week.

If the initial screen is negative, a medical review officer (MRO) will typically contact the employer with the results. If a positive result occurs, an MRO will contact the applicant for further questioning. It is important to notify the laboratory or MRO of any medications currently in use, including prescription, over-the-counter or herbal medications. The applicant may have to provide proof of a valid prescription and prescriber information for prescription medications.

Can a workplace drug test be a false positive or false negative?

A concern for anyone undergoing drug testing is the possibility of a false positive result. Initial screening drugs tests may infrequently result in false positive results, although confirmatory (GC-MS) testing greatly lessens the chances of a false positive – reducing the risk to close to zero.

It is important that a person undergoing drug testing complete an accurate history of all prescription, OTC, and herbal drug use prior to the time of the sample collection. Certain substances, over-the-counter (OTC) or prescription drugs may result in false positives due to cross-reactivity with other substances However many assays have been reformulated to avoid these possibilities.