Category: Drug Screening

Drug Testing Shows More than Five Percent Increase in Positive Results

Besides passing a background check, many jobs also require new hires to undergo a pre-employment drug-screening test. According to the Drug Testing Index (DTI), the rate of job candidates who failed the urine drug test has increased 5.7 percent in the first half of 2012 compared to 2011, although the positivity rate from random tests for current workers actually dropped 5.8 percent. This report from the DTI aligns with news reports that employers are having more difficulty recruiting new workers who are not drug positive. In order to gather accurate results, the DTI has been utilizing oral fluid testing instead of other forms of drug testing. Although both tests are highly effective in detecting recent drug use, collection of urine is unobserved. This allows people to potentially cheat and evade detection. In contrast, the oral fluid test requires the applicant to collect the specimen while a drug test administrator observes.

Home Health Aids Drug Screening Tests Show Low Incidences of Drug Use Among Workers

Patients with home health aides can rest easy as only 2.7 percent of applicants failed a pre-employment drug test last year. New York state law requires most home health aides and other healthcare workers to pass an employment physical, which includes 8-panel drug tests as well as standard background checks on potential hires. The test checks for amphetamine barbiturate, benzodiazepine, cannabinoids (THC), cocaine, methadone, opiates and phencyclidine in the system. Applicants who test positive for any of these illicit drugs are referred to their recruiter who then decides the next steps in the hiring process.