An Analysis of Worker Drug Use and Workplace Policies and Programs

6.2 Likelihood of Working for an Employer Who Tests Employees for Drugs

Figure 6.4 provides information about whether, if given a choice, full-time workers would be more or less likely to work for an employer who tests employees for drug use. For all types of testing programs and for all establishment size categories, current illicit drug users reported that they would be less likely than non-users to work for an employer who tests for drug use. The observed differences were more pronounced in situations in which the hypothetical employer utilizes random testing. Almost 30 percent of workers who reported current illicit drug use, and only 5.9 percent of workers who reported no current illicit drug use, said that they would be less likely to work for an employer who tests for drugs at hiring (the magnitude of this difference is relatively constant across establishment size). Moreover, the overall percentages when asking about random drug testing were 40.4 percent for those reporting current illicit drug use and 11.6 percent for those reporting no current illicit drug use. Only 14.4 percent of current users and 5.9 percent of non-users indicated that they would be less likely to work for an employer who tests for drugs following a work-related accident.

The results also suggest that full-time workers, especially if they reported no current illicit drug use, were less averse to workplace drug testing programs conducted at-hiring or following a work-related accident than programs conducted randomly or upon reasonable suspicion of a supervisor. For example, while only about 6 percent of non-users would be less likely to work for an employer who tests at-hiring or following an accident, more than 11 percent of non-users would be less likely to work for an employer who tests randomly or upon reasonable suspicion of a supervisor. Those reporting current illicit drug use appear to be most averse to random testing programs (40.4% reported they would be less likely to work for an employer who tests) and least averse to post-accident testing programs (14.4% reported they would be less likely to work for an employer who tests).

This page was last updated on June 03, 2008.

SAMHSA, an agency in the Department of Health and Human Services, is the Federal Government's lead agency for improving the quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment, and mental health services in the United States.