Pre-Employment Drug Screening: What Employers and Job Seekers Should Know
Some organizations may require pre-employment drug testing as part of the hiring process to ensure compliance with workplace policies or meet requirements for certain jobs. Externally, the process may seem simple, but several steps occur between scheduling a test and receiving the final result. Drug-testing rules vary by employer, industry, and location. Federal requirements apply to some safety-sensitive and regulated positions. Other employers may run testing programs to comply with applicable state and local laws. An Explanation of Pre-Employment Drug Testing Pre-employment drug testing is the testing of a specimen for certain substances as part of an employer’s screening program. The type of test depends on the job and the employer's policy. Urine is the most commonly used specimen type. Some programs also might use oral fluid testing. Urine and oral fluid are allowed specimen types for federal agency testing under federal workplace testing guidelines. The substance...