Employment Screening Stats

These Statistics Clearly Show How Important Employment Screening Is.

Over the last decade, state laws around the country and social morays have continued to relax when it comes to attitudes about marijuana use. Indeed, only six states, along with the federal government, continue to classify marijuana as criminally illegal with no exceptions for medical use. On the other end of the spectrum, 16 states have declared marijuana completely legal, even for recreational use.

For employers, however, the issues surrounding drug use, including marijuana, is less of a moral one and more concerned with the bottom line. The fact remains that, while it may be legal to use marijuana for medical purposes in states like Florida, drug use on the job can have dire consequences for the business owner. Here are some stats that illustrate the point:

• Drug abuse costs businesses a staggering $81 billion annually.
  Drug use at work leads to losses in productivity, high turnover rates, absenteeism, and increases in theft, all of which are a drag on profitability. It can also be the underlying cause in on-the-job accidents, which is a huge liability risk and can raise your insurance premiums.
• Drug users are 2½ times more likely to miss 8 days of work or more per year.
  There is a direct link between substance abuse and absenteeism in the workplace. And employees who are chronically absent from work leave a void where other workers have to pick up the slack.
• Over 70% of all people dealing with addiction also hold jobs.
  And while high-pressure, high-stress jobs may have a higher incidence of drug abuse among workers, no type of job is immune. No matter what an individual’s education level or job title is, it doesn’t mean they don’t deal with drug issues.

At Workplace Screening Intelligence, we provide a wide range of services that include clinical laboratory testing, employment drug testing, parental drug testing, and DNA paternity testing, as well as COVID-19 screening. For more information or to make an appointment, please call 800-338-5515 or schedule an appointment on our website.