Drug Testing for Applicants
plhepner
12 Posts
Believe me, I've searched everywhere for advice on this topic but can't find a specific cite for it. I have always been in the school of thought that, for potential applicants, you send him or her to a certified lab for the test. That way it is also supervised and there is little potential for someone to try to alter the test. However, since I gave up my recruiting duties, my replacement is starting to test potential applicants on-site with no supervision. I think this is a bad idea.
Say, my cousin is about to be hired from a temporary worker to a permanent full-time employee. He confides in me that he didn't know he would be hired on so soon and he smoked weed over the weekend. He asks me to help him out. So, we both go in the bathroom, I take the screen, and it is read as a negative. No one ever knows the difference.
I also hear there are potential problems with drug screens that aren't conducted by certified labs but that's where I can't find anything to corroborrate that statement.
What are your opinions?
Say, my cousin is about to be hired from a temporary worker to a permanent full-time employee. He confides in me that he didn't know he would be hired on so soon and he smoked weed over the weekend. He asks me to help him out. So, we both go in the bathroom, I take the screen, and it is read as a negative. No one ever knows the difference.
I also hear there are potential problems with drug screens that aren't conducted by certified labs but that's where I can't find anything to corroborrate that statement.
What are your opinions?
Comments
Who is doing the on-site testing?
Our pre-employment drug testing is done as part of the physical and the employee goes to the apt. alone. Have had a couple who never showed for the physical when they got wind there was a drug test.
Probable cause/WC we take them.
It is our Drug Free Workplace policy/rules that mandate a certified lab, chain of custody etc.
Saves a lot of headaches in my opinion.
Because of the immediacy of the testing (aka, "element of surprise"), I had more candidates bail on the onsite test, and more candidates fail the onsite test, than with offsite testing. Having done both for extended periods of time, I can make the case that onsite testing is more reliable as a pre-employment screening tool.