Pre-Employment Drug Screening

System

At what point in the hiring process can we require an applicant to submit to a pre-employment drug screen? Is it a requirement that they have been offered a position contingent upon the outcome, or can we do this earlier in the process? We have encountered a situation in which an individual was offered a job based on the results of his drug screening. When he reported for the drug test, this individual produced a prescription for pain medication that he had taken before coming in. Naturally it causes us concern that he is taking such medication then driving, but since the prescription makes it a legal drug, we don't know any alternative than to go ahead and hire him. If the drug screening could be done before an offer of a job is extended, we might have been able to approach this situation a little differently.

Terry

My experience has been you offer someone the job contingent upon passing a drug screening. With the guy that showed up with meds, did you test him anyway? Even though he may have taken medication, it can be noted and most labs can screen out that particular medication. Most test are looking for illegal drugs, primarily marijuana, cocaine, etc. Some companies actually start the employee working while waiting for the results but this can be a dangerous practice.