There is a chance that you may be considering having drug testing in your workplace. Today, modern advances in medical technology offer companies the opportunity to conduct employee drug testing in the workplace. This helps to determine whether or not a staff member recently took some drugs. With employee drug screening, many people believe that they may just be getting a urine drug test because this is usually a type of drug test that is conducted during pre-employment.
But there are various types of drug tests available out there that can be used depending on the specific circumstance that is happening with your employee. The crucial things that can determine the kind of drug test include the type of drugs you want to screen for and the type of sample you want to test with. This post discusses what you should know about drug testing in the workplace.
Workplace Drug Testing
Employers can use workplace drug testing to figure out whether a job applicant or an employee uses drugs, such as illicit drugs, prescription drugs, and alcohol. Drug testing usually works well if the drug testing policy is clear and you share it with all your employees. You also need to share information with your employees about alcohol and drug abuse. Training and educating supervisors about the signs of alcohol or drug abuse is also crucial. It’s also a good idea to have an employee assistance program that assists your employees who are struggling with alcohol or drug abuse.
Alcohol and drug abuse can cause health and safety problems in your workplace. Worse still, it can reduce productivity and morale among employees. It may also lead to additional costs for your company when it comes to short-term disability claims as well as other healthcare claims.
There are various reasons why you need to drug test your employees in the workplace. This includes preventing hiring people who use illegal drugs, offering a safe and healthy environment for every employee, identifying and helping employees with drug or alcohol problems, protecting the general public, complying with state and federal regulations and laws, and keeping employees from abusing alcohol or drugs.
A drug-free policy in your workplace can encourage increased responsibility among employees. Drug testing can lead to enhanced responsibility in your staff members, especially, those who may otherwise work when they are under the influence of alcohol or drugs and cause harm to themselves, work colleagues, customers, and even the general public.
It can also help to identify employees who have alcohol or drug problems and require outside help. Employees who struggle with addiction to alcohol or drugs may not want to get help immediately, but drug testing may assist to identify employees with such issues instead of relying on self-reporting. An employer can then assist these employees by helping them with a rehabilitative program.
To support employees identified through testing, employers can develop clear pathways to care that outline treatment options and referral processes. One resource employers may consider is a local treatment provider offering medically supervised detox, inpatient and outpatient programs, and coordinated aftercare—often grounded in trauma-informed, evidence-based therapies and wellness practices like this Source: Legacy Healing Center (2025). Making information about such services readily available and facilitating time off or insurance navigation can increase the likelihood that staff follow through with treatment. Pairing referrals with an employee assistance program and confidential follow-up helps support long-term recovery and workplace safety.
Workplace drug testing can also help to improve the health and safety of your workplace by preventing employees who may otherwise regularly utilize drugs or alcohol. Drug testing can discourage such employees from abusing drugs, so it can reduce health issues and lower the risk of injuries or even accidents in your workplace.
It’s worth mentioning that drug testing in the workplace has its downsides. Random drug testing is not usually conducted in real-time. It simply allows an employer to know that a staff member used a certain drug some time ago, but there is often a time frame. As you can see, this is sometimes not helpful because the purpose of drug testing is to discourage your employees from using drugs while working.
Because workplace drug testing doesn’t identify drug use in real-time, it’s hard to use it as a safety measure. Most job applicants can just take a break from using drugs or alcohol once they realize that they have a drug test.
Sometimes, a drug test can give false positives. This is because some medications and foods can show up as illegal substances. Regardless of these drawbacks, it’s still necessary to do drug testing at your workplace.
The Effectiveness of Drug Testing
A urine test which is also called urinalysis is a common type of drug testing and most experts agree that it gives highly effective and accurate results. The doctor can do this drug test in their office, workplace health units, or any other place that you can choose. The job applicant or current employee provides a urine sample to be tested and it can then be sent to a certified laboratory. In most cases, there are multiple procedures needed to make sure that the testing process is accurate and valid.
Workplace drug testing often offers an objective and accurate way of determining if an employee or job candidate uses alcohol or drugs. That said, if drug testing is mandatory for job applicants and employees, then you need to have a couple of ethical principles in place so that you can protect the rights of your employees.
One of the ethical principles worth considering is informed consent. The employee needs to know before they take the job that they need to abstain from alcohol or drugs, and workplace drug testing can happen at some point. In this way, the member of staff can give consent to drug testing. You should also respect the employee’s privacy. This means that the drug results and consequences need to be kept private from other workers.
Also, you should set reasonable expectations. The employee’s ability to handle stressful work experience has to be considered in the interview process. For instance, some positions may include traumatic or stressful experiences, such as extended screen time, long changeable shifts, caring for sick or even dying patients, and large numbers of demanding customers. Therefore, make sure that the employee understands all the requirements and should be prepared for these situations.
Lastly, you should expect the employee to defend a positive drug test. Once a workplace drug test is positive, you need to conduct repeat tests. The employee must have the opportunity to explain why a drug test result came back positive and consider the consequences.
