Last updated : March 31, 2025
There’s more to a good job than pay and benefits. Let’s face it, clocking in at an unstable, maybe even volatile, workplace can take the shine off earning a fat paycheck. Well, believe it or not, nothing puts cracks in the company culture or destabilizes a workplace quite as quickly as employee drug use. Trust us when we say there are reasons working for an employer committed to keeping their business drug-free is in your personal best interests, but allow us to show you why.
Drug-free companies hire quality employees.
You want to be part of a winning team, right? Knowing coworkers were drug tested before they were hired gives you a level of assurance you couldn’t have otherwise—the comfort that comes from knowing you’re a quality employee and your workmates are, too.
Morale is higher in drug-free workplaces.
A drug-free company tends to be one where employees are actively engaged partners in success. Substance abuse, on the other hand, leads to lower morale, due to the influence of workers who have often become careless about, or totally uninterested in, doing the job. Social/behavioral problems caused by substance abusers can also sink morale.
What’s good for the company is good for you.
Companies that drug test understand substance abuse can cut productivity by up to 30 percent and thin out the bottom line by increasing workman’s compensation claims, healthcare costs, and theft. When the company loses, you lose, because the loss has to be made up somewhere. That may mean lower salaries or job cuts.
You can be confident in your higher-ups.
Could there be anything worse than getting instructions from, or answering to, a person with a substance abuse problem? Since drug testing impacts employees on all levels, you can be sure your supervisor or manager is competent and in control. That translates into fewer mistakes, misunderstanding, and do-overs, not to mention the accompanying flack that too often trickles down to workers like you.
You won’t have to carry low-performing substance abusers.
Substance abuse is a performance killer. You work hard; the last thing you want is to have to take up the slack for, cover for, double check behind, or correct mistakes made a coworker who can’t do the job right because of drug or alcohol abuse.
You won’t have to constantly step into the gap left by chronic absentees.
Alcohol abuse is responsible for some 14 million lost workdays per year. Drug use accounts for still more missed workdays. Unfortunately, your work life doesn’t stop or slow down, just because somebody else couldn’t make it in. Drug testing cuts absenteeism drastically, reducing the strain on dependable employees.
Drug testing can prevent workplace violence.
Did you know drugs and/or alcohol are a factor in a vast a majority of incidents of workplace violence? We’re talking about incidents that ranged from threats to pushing and shoving to homicide. If your employer drug tests, you’re much safer from this potential threat and working in a more emotionally stable company culture.
Drug testing increases your on-the-job safety.
Forty percent of all fatal workplace accidents involve substance abuse, and abusers are 3.6 times more likely to be involved in an on-the-job accident. Worse yet, a high percentage of those accidents don’t injure the user, but innocent coworkers like you. Drug testing is one of the ways employers express concern for, and ensure, your physical safety.
If your company drug tests, you know you matter.
Drug testing isn’t just about identifying substance abusers; it’s also about providing the help these individuals need. If you have a problem with drugs or alcohol, chances are your employer will have an employee assistance program in place to follow up with you, help you deal with your substance abuse, and enhance your overall wellbeing.
