Pubdate: Wed, 18 May 2016
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2016 The New York Times Company
Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/lettertoeditor.html
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Jackie Calmes
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)

ONE STEP SHORT OF HIRED

SAVANNAH, Ga. - A few years back, the heavy-equipment manufacturer 
JCB held a job fair in the glass foyer of its sprawling headquarters 
near here, but when a throng of prospective employees learned the 
next step would be drug testing, an alarming thing happened: About 
half of them left.

That story still circulates within the business community of this 
historic port city. But the problem has gotten worse.

All over the country, employers say they see a disturbing downside of 
tighter labor markets as they try to rebuild from the worst recession 
since the Depression: They are struggling to find workers who can 
pass a pre-employment drug test.

That hurdle partly stems from the growing ubiquity of drug testing, 
at corporations with big human resources departments, in industries 
like trucking where testing is mandated by federal law for safety 
reasons, and increasingly at smaller companies.

But data suggest employers' difficulties also reflect an increase in 
the use of drugs, especially marijuana - employers' main gripe - and 
also heroin and other opioid drugs much in the news.

Ray Gaster, the owner of lumberyards on both sides of the 
Georgia-South Carolina border, recently joined friends at a retreat 
in Alabama to swap business talk. The big topic? Drug tests.

"They were complaining about trying to find drivers, or finding 
people, who are drug-free and can do some of the jobs that they 
have," Mr. Gaster said. He shared their concern.

Drug use in the work force "is not a new problem. Back in the '80s, 
it was pretty bad, and we brought it down," said Calvina L. Fay, 
executive director of the Drug Free America Foundation. But, she 
added, "we've seen it edging back up some," and increasingly, both 
employers and industry associations "have expressed exasperation."

Data on the scope of the problem is sketchy because figures on job 
applicants who test positive for drugs miss the many people who 
simply skip tests they cannot pass.

Nonetheless, in its most recent report, Quest Diagnostics, which has 
compiled employer-testing data since 1988, documented an increase for 
a second consecutive year in the percentage of American workers who 
tested positive for illicit drugs - to 4.7 percent in 2014 from 4.3 
percent in 2013. And 2013 was the first year in a decade to show an increase.

John Sambdman, who employs about 100 people in Atlanta at Samson 
Trailways, which provides transportation for schools, events, tour 
groups and the military, must test job applicants and, randomly, 
employees. Many job seekers "just don't bother to show up at the 
drug-testing place," he complained. Just on Thursday, Mr. Sambdman 
said, an applicant failed a drug test.

In August, Gov. Nathan Deal of Georgia promised to develop a program 
to help because so many business owners tell him "the No. 1 reason 
they can't hire enough workers is they can't find enough people to 
pass a drug test."

That program is still under discussion. When job seekers contact 
Georgia's Department of Labor, which provides some recruitment 
services to employers, the state would like to begin testing them for 
drugs; individuals who test positive could receive drug counseling 
and ultimately job placement assistance, Mark Butler, the state labor 
commissioner, said in an interview.

"Obviously, it's not an easy process, and it would be costly," Mr. 
Butler said. "But you've got to think: What is the reverse of that?" 
People needed to fill jobs are turned away, and, he added, "it's 
pretty much a national issue."

In Indiana, Mark Dobson, president of the Economic Development 
Corporation of Elkhart County, said that when he went to national 
conferences, the topic was "such a common thread of conversation - 
whether it's in an area like ours that's really enjoying very low 
unemployment levels or even areas with more moderate employment bases."

In Colorado, "to find a roofer or a painter that can pass a drug test 
is unheard-of," said Jesse Russow, owner of Avalanche Roofing & 
Exteriors, in Colorado Springs. That was true even before Colorado, 
like a few other states, legalized recreational use of marijuana.

In a sector where employers like himself tend to rely on Latino 
workers, Mr. Russow tried to diversify three years ago by recruiting 
white workers, vetting about 80 people. But, he said, "As soon as I 
say 'criminal background check,' 'drug test,' they're out the door."

While the employers' predicament is worsened by a smaller hiring 
pool, the drug problem for those that require testing is not as bad 
as it once was. "If we go back to 1988, the combined U.S. work force 
positivity was 13.6 percent when drug testing was new," said Dr. 
Barry Sample, Quest's director of science and technology.

But two consecutive years of increases are worrisome, he said.

A much broader data trove, the federal government's annual National 
Survey on Drug Use and Health, reported in September that one in 10 
Americans ages 12 and older reported in 2014 that they had used 
illicit drugs within the last month - the largest share since 2001.

Taken together, Dr. Sample said, his data and the government's 
indicate higher drug use among those who work for employers without a 
drug-testing program than workers who are tested, though use by the 
latter increased as well in 2013 and 2014.

Testing dates to the Reagan administration. The 1988 Drug-Free 
Workplace Act required most employers with federal contracts or 
grants to test workers. In 1991, Congress responded to a deadly 1987 
train crash in which two operators tested positive for marijuana by 
requiring testing for all "safety sensitive" jobs regulated by the 
Transportation Department. Those laws became the model for other 
employers. Some states give businesses a break on workers' 
compensation insurance if they are certified as drug-free.

Here at the main yard of Gaster Lumber and Hardware, faded 
certificates and signs ("Drugs Don't Work Here") attest to its 
certification as a drug-free workplace since 1994.

Mr. Gaster's human resources director, Chuck Keller, said that status 
reduced workers' compensation payments for its nearly 50 employees by 
7.5 percent in Georgia and 5 percent in South Carolina. The savings, 
about $4,000 this year, offset costs of about $2,500 for laboratory 
and on-site testing and related requirements.

"We're always short of drivers," Mr. Gaster said, "and drug testing 
is part of it."

Terry Donaldson, 53, who was tested when he started 20 years ago, 
supports the policy: "If they want to have a good job, the drugs got to go."

So it was for some of his new co-workers.

Britt Sikes, 38 and a single father to three young girls, lost his 
teeth to methamphetamine and used marijuana since he was 8 - until 
three weeks before taking the test for his $13-an-hour job as a 
Gaster door installer.

"I'm a recovering drug addict myself, and to raise my girls, I had to 
learn to leave it alone," Mr. Sikes said.

Kevin Canty, 55, said that in his experience, "most people can't pass 
the drug test because they don't want to pass a drug test."

"They want the job," he added, but "they still want to be in that 
lifestyle. And they have to choose."

One of the newest hires, Frederick Brown, 34, said, "I come from a 
society where drugs is common - marijuana, weed, it's common," and 
people who cannot pass a drug test seek work at McDonald's. Most 
restaurants do not test. "I asked for this job," Mr. Brown said, 
calling it a blessing. "I already knew what I had to do - you know 
what I'm saying?"
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom