Last updated : December 23, 2024
You may be surprised at the number of big businesses that don’t drug test their employees. Yahoo Finance ran an article a while back listing twenty-five of them—and, we’re not just talking cannabis here. The list of non-testing companies includes Alphabet Inc., Netflix, Meta Platform Inc., Amazon.com Inc., and Microsoft Corporation.
Moreover, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are millions more job openings than unemployed Americans. It’s been the case since May 2021. The bureau site states that there were 10.8 million job openings at the end of January 2023 with 5.7 million Americans still unemployed.
Talk about upside down! Our nation is experiencing a crisis in regard to drug addiction and abuse that, no doubt, was negatively impacted by the pandemic. But has it become so severe that it’s impacting the job market?
Why are the numbers so skewed?
The fact that there are twice as many jobs as the number of people seeking them has been a fairly new phenomenon here in the United States. The ratio ranged between 0.8 and 1.0 during 2018 and 2019. The big shift happened when we got locked down and the number of unemployed reached 23.1 million in April 2020.
They say that’s all behind us—for now, at least. If that’s the case, though, why do we have so many people who have opportunities but, apparently, no drive to return to work?
There are multiple reasons and they include:
- There are people who still have grave concerns about contracting the illness while out in public. That’s evident by all the masks still worn.
- Many people who are over 50 with the means to do so have retired from their careers. This fact affects both sides of the equation.
- The pandemic taught us some major life lessons. The work-life balance changed, most likely, forever.
- Some women aren’t returning to work because they have decided to stay at home with their children.
- Low-wage workers state concerns about finding a job that pays a pre-pandemic or higher wage or not finding a job at all.
Drug testing wasn’t mentioned
You may have noticed that the reasons listed above didn’t include “can’t pass a drug test.” Some companies—both large and small—claim they don’t drug test because they can’t find enough help. Marijuana legalization, for instance, has caused a significant rise in positive drug tests but it doesn’t necessarily mean that the employee was high when they submitted a specimen for testing. As a result, some employers are quietly removing the test panel from the company drug test.
Others, as mentioned above, have either stopped drug testing altogether or were never drug-free in the first place. Whether or not they promote the fact that they don’t drug test, rest assured the news spreads like wildfire. Still, is that the kind of promotion for hire they want buzzing throughout the internet?
Once the word gets out, the number of applicants is likely to pick up all right. The question is, what type of people are walking into the interviews? The workplace could, literally, become a haven for drug users.
Drugs have no place at work
Workplace drug and alcohol abuse costs U.S. employers billions of dollars every year. The loss comes in various forms. We’re going to list them and believe they prove why having a drug-free workplace is a reasonable employee mandate if owning a business.
Unexcused absences
The National Safety Council stated that employees who abuse drugs are two to five times more likely to either show up late or not come to work at all. When an employee calls in—or worse, is a complete no-show—it leaves employers scrambling to cover all the bases. Eventually, if not immediately, covering bases in a pinch is going to cause a drop in productivity.
High turnover rate
Drug abusers are known for abruptly quitting a job. If drug users are attracted to a job specifically because they don’t drug test, companies may suffer a high turnover rate as a direct result. When you have to pay people to train new hires while simultaneously trying to maintain your workflow only to then turn around and do it again, it doesn’t take long to eat into the company’s profit margin.
Lower productivity
People who use drugs aren’t in their right frame of mind. Drug use affects cognitive skills, emotions, and behaviors which in turn affects productivity, morale, and the safety of co-workers.
If everyone isn’t operating at their optimum performance level, your company’s production level is going to drop. This, of course, isn’t in anyone’s long-range business plan. However, companies that don’t drug test employees may see a steady dip in productivity over time.
When speaking of morale, one of the signs of drug use is a change in an individual’s demeanor or exhibiting uncharacteristic behavior. Workplace drug use negatively affects a company’s overall work culture though. Sure, drug addicts who are beginning to crave a fix can get cranky or become depressed. However, employers need to consider the effect workplace drug use has on everyone in the company.
It’s important that employees feel they can report drug abuse. It may sound crazy but sometimes that’s not the case. It’s likely that a co-worker may suspect that someone is using drugs on the clock but for some reason feel they are unable to bring it to a supervisor’s attention. That doesn’t mean it’s going to get swept under the rug though. Word gets around.
Maybe the co-worker is picking up the slack and working twice as hard for the same money. That’s break room scuttlebutt that can quickly send a negative vibe through your work culture. And once people start complaining, the list of wrongdoings tends to grow. Unhappy employees tend not to work as hard. Moreover, they may begin looking for a new job.
That’s serious but so is this fact. People who use drugs at work are far more likely to cause an accident.
Accidents happen
Statistics prove companies that don’t drug test report higher numbers of accidents. This in turn, often leads to an increase in workers’ compensation claims causing premiums to go up. The U.S. Department of Justice states that 50% of workplace accidents are caused by drug abuse.
Employee theft
We’ve been heavy on statistics today, but numbers talk! We’ve got one more to put out there for you. Drug users are responsible for 40% of employee theft.
Desperate times call for desperate measures is easily demonstrated by portraying an addict in need of a fix. They may be led to steal from the company to help cover their drug habit.
Leaving it on a positive note
Another huge benefit of employee drug testing can be said to mirror that of no drug testing for a drug user. That is the type of people that you attract to the company. People who live a drug-free lifestyle are apt to have their ducks lined up far straighter than those of someone lost in the throes of drug addiction or abuse.
Furthermore, employees who don’t use drugs realize that one of the reasons employers drug test is to keep them safer while they’re at work. It lets them know that their employer cares about them and their families.
That increases their degree of satisfaction. Employees who are satisfied with their job choice are far more apt to give their all each and every day. That’s going to put a positive spin on your overall work culture. And, a positive flow there carries over into every aspect of the business. Not to mention the fact that turnover rates are going to drop because satisfied employees tend to stay put!
We aren’t going to try and force the issue, but judging from our viewpoint, companies might want to rethink their plan to allow drug use at work because it’s far more likely to happen than not.
