As a boss, it’s your job to make sure the workplace is safe and effective. Having a program for drug tests can be an essential part of your safety plan for the job. However, it can take a lot of work to figure out the legalities and practicalities of drug tests. This guide to best practices will help you run your employee drug screening processes well.
Learn the Rules of the Law
First, it’s essential to know that companies can test for drugs without breaking any government laws. Still, different states and cities may have rules about what kinds of drug tests are allowed and for what jobs, especially those that are seen as safety-sensitive. Thus, businesses should seek the advice of attorneys to guarantee that their drug testing programs adhere to all relevant national, state, and municipal laws and ordinances.
Guidelines for Conducting Drug Tests on Employees in a Fair Way
Taking into account the knowledge of individuals is just one part of the picture. It is also essential for your business to understand the best ways to do things. You’ll also need to make plans to test your employees before and after they are hired. Let’s look at some specific best practices for employee drug screening that you could add to the rules your company follows.
Protect the Privacy of Applicants
When it comes to privacy and secrecy, drug tests should be treated the same way as any other medical process. It’s clear what this process is when you think about it. So, it would help if you tried to keep an environment where the candidates feel respected. For instance, take samples privately, especially for urgent tests that you need to do right now. It is also a good idea to use third-party labs where applications can send test samples.
Make Drug Test Rules Clear and Follow the Law
Your rules about drug tests should be familiar to everyone. If you’re using drug tests to hire people, make sure that the applicants know what’s expected of them right away. Put precise wording about what you expect from drug tests in job ads to make your expectations apparent. Also, be sure everyone knows when and how the tests will happen.
Make Sure Everyone Is Treated the Same
Being consistent is the most important thing for a drug test consortium strategy that keeps you out of trouble with the law. Everyone has to go through a drug test. That includes everyone from the newest employee to the top leaders. In today’s litigious climate, it is not worth the risk to apply various standards to different worker classifications.
Five Most Common Pitfalls in Drug Testing
Companies in many fields, such as transportation, building, healthcare, government, education, and more, test their workers for drugs. Many places do drug test consortiums on a regular basis, but mistakes happen all the time. It’s very typical for people to make the following mistakes on drug tests:
- Lack of privacy.
- Not having a clear understanding of drug tests.
- Mistakes in collecting samples.
- Putting in the wrong drug panel order.
- Failing to follow business, local, state, and government standards for job drug checking.
Conclusion
Large companies have been drug-testing employees for a long time. Now, small and medium-sized businesses need to set up employee drug screening processes to make sure they hire good workers and keep them working hard.