Benefits of Testing Programs
- 5% of Workmen’s Compensation Premiums
- Increase in Worker Productivity
- Decrease in Workmen’s Comp Claims
- Decrease in Health Costs
- Decrease in Absenteeism
- Decrease in Tardiness
- Decrease in Training Costs
- Decrease in Accidents
- Decrease in Interviewing and Reviewing Applications
Legal Questions about Drug Testing Programs
Question: Can the liability of corporations be
reduced if they utilize professional third party administrator (TPA)
for random urine laboratory drug tests on employees?
Response: Use of a professional TPA for random urine
laboratory drug tests on employees can reduce the potential for
liability.
Discussion Summary: Random drug testing has proven to be a
valuable tool in maintaining a drug-free workplace. Random
testing, however, must be conducted properly to avoid liability on
the part of the employer.
Drug testing, including random testing, has been legally attacked
on a number of grounds. For example, some grounds include:
- Drug testing as a violation of privacy
- Laboratories have negligently conducted testing.
- Employees have been unfairly singled out for testing.
Employers have been charged with discriminating on the basis of
sex, race, and union involvement when conducting tests.
- Laboratory drug tests have admissibility problems in
court.
A professional TPA can reduce the potential for liability in all
of the above areas. A professional outside TPA can
insure that employees are properly selected for testing thus
reducing the concern that the employee was selected because of bias
on the part of management. A professional TPA can ensure that
the laboratory does its job and that proper records are kept so that
the drug testing program complies with state and federal laws and
the results are admissible in court.
Conclusion: Use of a TPA for laboratory drug tests creates
several legal advantages for an employer. Use of a TPA reduces
concern about violations of employee privacy. It ensures that
the dignity of employees will be protected and it will make the
process of drug testing more pleasant for the employees.
Employer concerns about negligence in specimen collection and the
analysis of the test are reduced because trained professionals
are guiding the process from step to step. Use of a TPA
reduces concerns about management bias and discrimination because it
provides an objective third party to oversee the selection of
employees for testing. A TPA provides expertise in drug testing
which employers cannot afford to be without. It prevents
liability from arising because it ensures that the drug testing
program is objectively and professionally established and
administered. |