Are drug testing requirements driving up labor costs? Should you be drug testing potential employees? As the recreational use of marijuana becomes legal in more and more states, companies are finding it increasingly challenging to find employees that can pass their drug tests. In Kentucky, methamphetamine use is 47 percent higher than the national average and companies like White Castle, which makes 50,000 hamburgers per hour, is having trouble finding and retaining quality employees. In industries like construction or others that requires one to work around or operate heavy machinery, like forklifts or bulldozers, drug testing is routine. More and more people are losing their jobs and others are finding it difficult to get these jobs due to failing their drug tests. Marijuana tests are particularly strict and traces of the drug can show up positive on a drug test for up to three months after usage. Although there are plenty of jobs available, testing positive for drugs is causing the labor pool to shrink dangerously low.
Drug testing company Quest Diagnostics has reported that the trend for all drug use is up all across America. Cocaine use is up 12 percent in 2016 and methamphetamines up 8 percent. Obviously, marijuana use has never been higher due to its legalization. Job applicants are testing positive for these three drugs at a higher rate than ever before. These increases even take into consideration that marijuana states such as Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska exclude marijuana usage from their testing. Marijuana is considered illegal on a federal level and most US employers regard testing positive for marijuana to be grounds for not hiring or dismissal.
State’s attitudes toward drug use have been influenced by the shortages in the labor market and what once was a zero tolerance approach has been replaced with a more lenient attitude. The number of companies that are using drug testing pre-employment has fallen in recent years. Many employers have stopped regularly testing their employees and have substituted with testing only after a workplace accident.
As a new franchisee, you must be aware of the company’s policy for drug testing and obey their rules. A franchisor should include the employee drug testing requirement in the franchise agreement which you should read carefully before you agree to its terms. In todays drug culture society, strict corporate drug testing regulations could add thousands in labor costs, shrink your bottom line, and leave you unable to find workers to hire for your company.
