No Drug Testing in the Workplace Essay -- legal issues, drug testing

Is it appropriate for employers to test staff for drugs or alcohol? How reliable are these results? Why should some one invade your privacy? Do drug testing determine your skills level for a job? What do drug testing in the work force prove? The arguments against drug testing are it is excessively invasive, may damage relations between employers and employees, and could hamper the recruitment and retention of good staff. In 1986 the Regan administration recommended a drug-testing program for employers. In 1991 The Omnibus Transportation Employee testing act of 1991 were passed. It required mandatory drug testing in trucking and other industries. Over the past 25 years drug testing in the military has increase. Today, approximately 62% of all employers in the US have mandatory drug testing program. Drug testing in the work force have been a very controversial topic ever since. Drug testing should not be in the workplace since it does not measure on the job impairment, do not prevent a ccidents and is an invasion of privacy. There is no clear evidence that drug testing at work has a significant deterrent effect. Drug testing is not a measure of current intoxication and will reveal information about drug use that can have no impact on safety, productivity or performance. Drug testing is designed to detect and punish conduct that is usually engaged in off-duty and off the employer's premises - that is, in private. Employers who conduct random drug tests on workers who are not suspected of using drugs are policing private behavior that has no impact on job performance. Someone may test positive after taking a drug days, weeks or months before. People not generally required to organize their lives to maximize their productivity at work... ...ation and labor. Oversight hearing on drug testing in the workplace. Hearing before the sub- committee on Employment opportunities of the committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives. Durham, Robert, Eugene. Labor Education and Research center. Oregon Univ., and Others and problems in the workplace: AIDS, Drug Testing, Sexual harassment, and Smoking Restrictions LERC Monograh series No. 7. Second Edition. n.p.: 1989. ERIC. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. Elliot, Karen, and Kyna Shelley. â€Å"Effects of Drugs and Alcohol on Behavior, Job Performance, And workplace safety.† Journal of Employment Counseling 43.3 (2006): 130. ERIC. Web. 2 Dec. 2013 â€Å"One Hundredth Congress,† Second Session n.p. 1988. ERIC. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. Zarlone, Tersa. â€Å"Drug testing in the workplace is a sensitive issue.† Caribbean Business 29.39. (2001): 38 Caribbean search. Web. 20 Nov. 2013