The majority of U.S. companies now test their employees for drugs, having taken notice of the risks of workers’ drug and alcohol abuse on the company’s bottom line.
According to an American Management Association survey last year, two-thirds of companies said they test employees for drugs, with 61 percent of those conducting pre-employment screening and half of those testing current employees. In 1987, just 21.5 percent of companies tested their employees for drugs
Statistics abound highlighting the detrimental effects of employee drug and alcohol use:
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• Illegal drug users are four times more likely to injure themselves or others while on the job, and five times more likely than the average employee to file a worker’s comp claim, according to the National Council on Compensation Insurance.
• The cost of the misuse of alcohol on U.S. businesses in 1997 was $117 billion, due primarily to deaths, lost productivity and rehabilitation costs, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation
• Nearly 50 percent of workplace injuries can be traced to substance abuse.
In an ideal world, employers would be off the hook for injuries that stem from substance abuse. The federal Workers’ Compensation Act states “no compensation shall be paid when the injury or death is…caused by the employee’s violation of law, including…the illegal use of drugs.”
But the law also clearly states that the burden of proof is on the employer to show that the employee’s injury was a direct result of illegal drug use – a causal relationship that is often difficult to prove.
“I’ve never come across a company that has not had to pay for injuries because (the employee) tested positive for drugs,” said Dr. Jay M. Burstein, director of St. Joseph Health Services of Rhode Island’s corporate care program.
St. Joseph’s corporate care program provides drug-testing services for employers and also provides consulting and educational services to companies on how to set up a drug-testing program. The program tests for marijuana, cocaine, opiates (such as heroin), amphetamines and phencyclidine or PCP – the five narcotic substances recommended for testing by the National Institute for Drug Abuse, which certifies labs that conduct employer drug tests.
Burstein said employers that choose to test their employees for drugs have determined that the costs of implementing a drug-testing program are outweighed by the benefits of a drug-free work force. He said drug tests generally cost $60 to $75 per test.
“There is a cost, but you’re able to weed out employees that could have a large negative impact on the company, both financially and in terms of employee morale,” Burstein said.
But creating a drug-testing program is fraught with legal issues, according to Jeffrey Liptrot, a partner and workers’ compensation attorney at Morrison Mahoney & Miller in Providence.
Liptrot said that in order to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines, employers must be consistent in their drug-screening practices, being careful not to single out employees for drug testing, for example. If one employee within a certain job classification is tested, all employees in that classification must be tested, he said.
“The broader scope you take as far as the number and the type of employees that you’re testing, the better,” Liptrot said.
Burstein said drug-and-alcohol testing is just one of five main components of most drug-free workplace programs. Most also include: a formal written policy; employee assistance programs (often for employees found under the influence at work); supervisory training and employee education.
The Providence Center, Rhode Island’s largest nonprofit behavioral health-care organizations, provides employee assistance programs that offer case consultation and supervisory training around substance abuse. The center assists employers in establishing a drug-free workplace. Employers who are interested in learning about The Providence Center EAP may call (401) 276-4063.
Also, Beacon Mutual Insurance Co. offers training seminars for employers interested in creating a drug-free workplace. The seminar discusses the impact drug and alcohol use can have on an organization and how employers can comply with the federal Drug Free Workplace Act. The next seminar is 8-11 a.m., Nov. 19 at the Providence Marriott.
The use of hair samples to test employees for drugs has emerged in recent years, which provides a longer window of detection. Hair samples can trace a person’s drug use going back about 90 days, vs. about one month for urine tests.
But Burstein said employers rarely choose that option. For one, he said it’s easier for hair samples to become contaminated. For example, an employee who was exposed to marijuana smoke without actually smoking the drug might have picked up traces of the substance in his hair.
Also, some groups have charged that using hair samples for drug testing is racially biased, because they say darker hair tends to absorb higher concentrations of drug substances and retains it for longer periods than lighter hair. The Boston Globe reported in June that since the Boston Police Department began mandatory drug tests using hair samples three years ago, a disproportionate number of minorities have tested positive. The NAACP has complained that the practice of using hair samples for drug tests is biased.
