Low jobless rate hinders drug policies

Job applicants in South Carolina have become so confident that jobs are
easy to find that some are refusing to take preemployment drug tests.

A manufacturer in Arizona has postponed for six weeks the firing of 30
videotaped internal users and sellers of marijuana and cocaine while it
seeks replacement hires to keep the plant operating.

Last year, that would have been almost unheard of, says Charles Carroll,
CEO of ASSET, which contracts with companies to infiltrate the workplace in
search of employee drug abuse. "There's been a dramatic change."

The 4.8% unemployment rate in May, lowest in more than 23 years, is good
news for workers. But it has forced many employers to relax hiring standards.

Drug users usually are screened out by large employers. Drug testing is now
used by 95% of Fortune 500 companies.

Many smaller companies had started testing because the cost is offset by
increased productivity, reduced absenteeism and fewer accidents. Drug use
is a factor in employee theft and fraud that cost businesses $400 billion a
year.

"Safety is being jeopardized by leaving them on the job," Carroll says.

But today's applicants sense they have an advantage and can refuse to
submit to drug tests because the company will give them the job anyway, or
they'll go down the street, figures Ray Owens of the Federal Reserve's
Fifth District in Richmond, Va.

While collecting data for the latest "Beige Book," the Fed's periodic
report on regional economic conditions, Owens was told of job prospects
refusing drug tests in South Carolina. He was stunned, and is now on the
lookout for a trend. "This one caught our eye."

Companies can't reverse drug testing policies overnight without risking
discrimination lawsuits, says Clifford Thomas of Pinkerton Services.

But Carroll says even Fortune 500 companies are becoming "softer" within
their policies. For example, workers are being suspended and quickly
brought back after second and third drug offenses rather than being fired.

"It wouldn't surprise me if employers are loosening their practices to get
bodies," Thomas says.

Companies are stuck, Carroll says. They must choose between a plant with
drug abuse that "runs at 50% efficiency, or having no workers at all."

Thomas says the dilemma will likely worsen in August and September when
retailers, normally big on preemployment drug screening, begin hiring for
the holiday season.

By Del Jones, USA TODAY

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