The Cost of Drug Testing in the Workplace

Drug testing is nothing new in the American workplace. Most larger companies have some kind of drug testing policy that employees have to conform to if they want to keep their jobs. There is an increasing amount of screening going on too when employers are hiring. This is understandable as the employer has to protect their own interests at all costs, and with the prevalence of substance abuse in our society, it’s a reasonable precaution to take.

Part of the reason for this policy is the aforementioned prevalence of drugs in society. The reduction of absence through illness is also a consideration as is employee safety while on the premises. There are also cost implication with many insurers lowering premiums for employers who have some kind of screening process in place for staff. This last point is the one we’re going to focus on now, as it was a primary driver for drug testing.

Cost-savings were an important driver when employee drug testing first became popular. Companies would save money in reduced absence, lower accident rates, lower insurance premiums and lower risk. Despite the cost angle, running a proper drug testing program costs a significant amount of money if it’s to be done right. For a coherent drug testing program to be successful, each employee is going to need to be tested more than once, and be truly random. Any positive indications are going to need to be investigated further using laboratory testing to protect the employer from unfair dismissal claims, and records of the testing are going to need to be kept properly just like any HIPAA information.

So to administer workplace drug testing takes a lot of planning and administration, which costs money. Any positive tests need further checks and maybe even hair or blood testing to verify. Despite what drug testing kit manufacturers may say, it’s not that difficult to fool a test if they aren’t administered properly. Even the best kits in the world can be fooled if they aren’t used competently. False positives need to be taken into account, as do spoofing methods. Administering a drug testing process starts to become expensive right now. Lower insurance premiums are worth a bit of extra expense, as is improved productivity from the workforce, but when does it become too much? When does the expense of running these drug tests become too much to make them viable?

The answer is never, because the health and safety of an employee is worth more than a drug testing process is likely to cost. The happiness in the workplace is something that every employer should be willing to expend a significant amount of money on if they want to succeed. So it isn’t all about the money, it’s also about creating a healthy and productive place to work.