Why drug testing at work ‘is the new don’t ask, don’t tell’
ONE OF the largest US drugtesting labouratories has analysed its millions of urine drug test results by industry for the first time, and found the two industries with the highest rate of positive test results for marijuana were also two that have to deal with consumers.
Some 5.3 per cent of tests given to retail trade workers, and 4.7 per cent of those given to health care and social assistance workers came back positive, according to an analysis by Quest Diagnostics.
The analysis, which comes from examining more than 10 million test results that are part of the lab company’s Drug Testing Index, found that five of 16 industries saw double- digit increases in the rate of positive test results between 2015 and 2017.
They included not only retail but transportation and warehousing, finance and insurance and wholesale trade, showing an increase in positive test results at a time when more states are loosening restrictions on pot use and more companies are said to be loosening drug testing restrictions amid low unemployment.
Barry Sample, the senior director of science and technology for Quest Diagnostics Employer Solutions, said the results of the new analysis did not surprise him.
“We’ve been reporting year-overyear increases of the positivity rates for almost all three of these illicit drug classes,” he said, referring to marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamines. “As we break it out by industry we’re seeing a number of industries with those same results.”
Still, the rate of growth stood out. The retail industry, for instance, saw a 43 per cent increase in positive test results for cocaine between 2015 and 2017, Quest’s analysis showed. And eight sectors saw at least 20 per cent increases in positive marijuana test results over the same period, as more states loosened laws restricting the drug.
“Clearly I think that there are likely some attitudinal changes with respect to marijuana, which may be driving some of the increases we’re seeing,” he said.
Sample said, however, that it would be a mistake to attribute the rise entirely to statute changes. Even in states with relaxed laws, he said, the rate of of change in positive test results was often on par with the national average.
Before movie- driven images of a stoned store clerk come to mind, it’s important to note such data doesn’t necessarily measure current impairment.
The test results measure use of the drug, not necessarily use of the drug at work, and with pot, in particular, the drug’s byproducts can stay in a person’s system and be detected even weeks after use.
But some labour lawyers say the legalisation of marijuana use – 10 states and Washington, District of Columbia, allow for recreational use of pot, while 33 states and the District have legalised it for medical use – is having a big effect on how employers view employee use of the drug.
“What I see employers doing is evaluating the positions, asking ‘ is this really a safety- sensitive position?’ “said Erin McLaughlin, a labour and employment lawyer with Buchanan, Ingersoll Rooney based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
“If it’s not, then there are more employers who are taking the position ‘ let’s not test for marijuana.’ “
She believes the tight labour market is also clearly playing a role. “Absolutely, I think in positions where there is a labour shortage right now and employers are looking for candidates for jobs that don’t have safety- sensitive issues or aren’t federally regulated (to require testing), I definitely think employers are eliminating drug testing as a whole when it comes to hiring applicants,” she said. She pointed to the construction industry, where there are big labour shortages, and said she’d seen it with some retail clients. “Quite frankly, for jobs like a cashier, a sales associate – many of them don’t do drug testing at all, especially considering the labour shortage.”
James Reidy, a labour and employment lawyer with Sheehan Phinney in New Hampshire, said he’s seeing similar responses.
“A lot of companies are recognising if I drug test at the post- offer, pre- employment position, I’m going to lose out on people,” he said.
As perceptions shift and legal use of marijuana becomes more common, he said, “it’s really become the new ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ “with many employers preferring not to know about an employee’s use. “If he’s got a positive drug test, and you knew,” Reidy said of an employee later who might later have a safety accident, “it’s in your system.”