The misuse of drugs has a huge impact on a person’s ability to perform at work and day-to-day activities. Abuse of drugs not only puts a person at risk of accidents but also the people around them. For this reason, many employers today choose to implement an employment drug screening policy for their employees, especially in safety-sensitive industries such as transportation, logistics, healthcare and hospital jobs.
It is also the responsibility of employers to ensure that all employees are not under the influence of alcohol or drugs while at work. Otherwise, if they knowingly allow an employee to perform at work under the influence of drugs, they can be prosecuted.
But as an employer, you can’t just let your employees submit to drug testing. Your employees have rights and those rights need to be protected. Moreover, not all testing programs are legally permitted. Hence, if you are looking to implement a drug-free workplace through Florida pre-employment drug testing, it is important to arm yourself with the right knowledge on how to operate drug testing within legal constraints.
Consent
When it comes to Florida pre-employment drug testing, your applicants must obtain written consent for a drug test. It is important that as an employer, you should first establish a comprehensive written employment drug screening policy. It should include all the legal elements such as the purpose of the drug testing, implementation, definition of illicit substances, definition of all terms, and the responsibilities of both employer and employees. A comprehensive drug policy is also one way of educating your employees about the dangers of substance abuse.
This drug-free policy should be read and signed by the applicant or employee. If they refuse to sign the copy, you have no legal grounds to require them to take a pre-employment drug test, but as an employer, you can withdraw the job offer. On the other hand, employees who are already contractually obliged to take the drug test but refuse to do so may face dismissal.
Random Testing
Employers can perform random drug testing in the workplace so long as it follows the legal guidelines on how it should be executed. It should be genuinely random and does not only target certain individuals or groups. Otherwise, employers can be prosecuted for discriminatory behavior.
More importantly, employees need to sign a written contract at the start of their employment that they are allowing the company to perform drug testing on a random basis.
As an employer who wants to introduce drug testing at work, you must clearly state it in the employee contract. Your employees have the right to know:
- How the drug test will be conducted
- What the test is trying to achieve
- What action will be taken if the drug test results return positiv
As an employer, you should provide complete clarity to your employees with regards to your company’s drug testing policy. It should be for the best interest of your company and should be enforced to your employees without any bias.
