Employment Drug Testing Tips for HR

Drug testing is one of the sensitive procedures that has become mandatory in many companies and organizations in the United States. It is the responsibility of the Human Resources Professional to handle the workplace drug testing program as per the company policy and protect employee’s rights at the same time.

Drug Testing Policy

Drug Testing policy is the vital test that the company conducts to identify illegal drug usage among employees and new hires. The drug testing policy of companies may vary from one to another, but they must have to follow the local, state, and federal guidelines before constructing their policy.

Federal and state laws require employers to drug test their employees in safety-sensitive positions like drivers, public workers, etc. They do not mandate drug tests for others, but it is up to the company to draw their drug testing policy and conduct drug test for pre-employment candidates and random drug testing for employees without discrimination or deteriorating the employee's rights.

Top 10 Drug Testing Tips for Company HR

HR, who is the company's representative, needs to follow these 10 tips to manage the workplace drug testing program effectively.

1. Knowledge of when and who to conduct the drug test - There may be different reasons for drug testing. The company may conduct pre-employment drug testing for a new hire, random drug testing for employees, and post-accident drug testing for workplace injured employees. The HR should know when to drug test and who to test. Drug testing is sensitive, and any wrong move might lead to an unnecessary problem (Sometimes lawsuit). For instance, HR should conduct pre-employment testing after providing the conditional offer of employment to the candidate.

2. Know the needs and test accordingly - The needs of the companies would determine the type of drug test. So, as an HR, you should know the cause of drug testing for the company and conduct either urine, mouth swab, or hair drug tests. For instance, HR in the transportation sector would conduct a mouth swab or urine drug test for the transportation hire as it can provide immediate results compared to other drug tests. Moreover, it is conducted as per the federal (DOT) guidelines.

3. Test for common drugs - It is unnecessary to test for all the drugs during the drug test. It is best to follow the federal guidelines as they have indicated the most abusive common drugs prevalent all over the United States. Your drug test can go for additional drugs if there is a necessity, like regional drug use patterns, employee demographics, job type, and the frequency of the drug availability.

4. Risks involved in not conducting drug tests - Drug abuse is increasing in the United States, and so is the mortality rate due to drug abuse. According to some trusted sources, the death rate due to drug intake has risen from 20.5 per 100,000 in 2018 to 22.7 per 100,000 in 2019. Drug abuse is a severe problem. Employment centers, companies, and organizations should make it mandatory to conduct a drug test. The HR should ensure that the employees are drug tested for common-abusive drugs to ensure a safe work environment for the workers and the company.

5. Define your drug test window - The HR needs to be transparent about the type of drug test window - drug test for short-term use or long-term use. This could help the candidate or the employee know what kind of drug test they will participate in. This will also help the individual to determine the drug test type and their combinations.

6. Who will collect the drug test specimen - It is up to the company to determine the collecting authority. Sometimes, the company manages and checks the drug specimen for drugs using bulk trusted drug testing kits. Some companies might depend on the testing facility to collect and administer the drug specimen and check results. The HR should ensure that the drug specimens are rightly used to check for drugs and carefully disposed off in the workplace after the results.

7. Update your company drug testing policies - Make sure that you update your company drug testing policies as per the current state and federal laws. Laws are changing, and you should be aware of those changes and indicate them in your updated drug test policy. For instance, some states have fully legalized marijuana, while some of them have allowed it partially. The opioid epidemic cannot be forgotten. So, there is a need to update your drug testing guidelines as per current testing guidelines.

8. Keep your supervisors in check - You should provide training programs to your supervisors to be updated in the drug testing guidelines. They should be trained in a way that they should be able to identify the employee of their drug abuse before testing the employee. Further, the training should include employee assistance programs, health insurance coverage, etc.

9. Transparency about drug testing - The Human Resources professional needs to be more transparent to the employee and new hire about the drug testing policies. The new potential employee has to know about the random drug testing company policies conducted during their employment.

10. Sign up for drug testing programs - Employment organizations may sign up for effective drug testing programs to keep their employees updated about the drug testing and keep them informed. Workplace drug testing programs also help employment organizations and private companies to save their insurance premium for workers’ compensation as per the Federal Drug-Free Workplace program. Once you enroll in this program, you need to follow the federal guidelines to conduct the drug test and test for the commonly affected drugs. You may add some other drugs to the test if it is deemed necessary to the prevailing situation.

Wrapping it up

Drug testing would help the Human Resources professional identify the right talent with a sound mind without drug abuse cases. The tips mentioned above would allow you to keep track of all the essential functionalities that HR should follow while getting into workplace drug testing.