Week 5 Discussion

Drug testing as a requirement for employment: For many businesses, drug testing is a mandatory requirement for employment. For some businesses, there is an initial drug screening; for others, there are periodic tests to maintain employment. As more and more states legalize marijuana (for both medicinal and recreational uses), drug testing as a condition of employment is being re-evaluated by many businesses.

Select Recommended Search Terms: “mandatory drug testing in the workplace”; “drug testing in the workplace articles”; “disadvantages of drug testing in the workplace”; “benefits of drug testing in the workplace”

Pre-Reading Questions:

1. What do I currently know about this topic?

2. Is this topic important to me, the people I know, and/or the larger business and social communities? Why?

3. What additional information about this topic would be helpful?

4. What are the business implications of this topic?

Selected Links:

2020. STATE-BY-STATE WORKPLACE DRUG TESTING LAWS. American Civil Liberties Union https://www.aclu.org/other/state-state-workplace-drug-testing-laws

Windham-Bradstock, C. 2019. Navigating Workplace Drug Testing Has Never Been More Challenging -- Or More Critical. Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2019/02/20/navigating-workplace-drug-testing-has-never-been-more-challenging-or-more-critical/#370e11091dd7

Reidy, J. & Hewick, D. 2018. Are Employer Drug-Testing Programs Obsolete?

Two experts debate the issue. SHRM https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/0618/pages/are-employer-drug-testing-programs-obsolete.aspx

Hansen, C. 2019. Positive Workplace Drug Tests Hit 14-Year High, Driven by Marijuana Use. U.S. News & World Report https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2019-04-11/positive-workplace-drug-tests-hit-14-year-high-driven-by-marijuana-use

Gluck, S. Employee Drug Testing Pros and Cons. Small Business Chronicle https://smallbusiness.chron.com/employee-drug-testing-pros-cons-1276.html

Adapted Deliberative Dialogue Process modeled after the Kettering Foundation’s Framing Issues for Public Deliberation

a) Identifying Issues

(i) What are the main issues driven by this topic?

(ii) How are these issues relevant to interested stakeholders?

(iii) How are these issues important to the larger business community?

(iv) How are these issues important to society in general?

(v) Is there a dominant issue to be resolved?

b) Discussing Concerns

(i) What are the underlying concerns associated with these issues?

(ii) What concerns are most important to you, your colleagues, and the larger communities?

(iii) How are your concerns, the concerns of stakeholders, and the concerns of the larger community related?

(iv) Whose concerns have not been addressed? What are those concerns?

c) Exploring Solutions

(i) What are possible solutions to these issues?

(ii) Are these solutions related or unique?

(iii) Which stakeholder groups would these solutions appeal to?

(iv) Do these solutions address the underlying concerns?

(v) Does a particular solution standout?

d) Selecting a Solution

(i) What are the potential financial consequences of this solution?

(ii) What are the potential environmental consequences of this solution?

(iii) What are the potential social consequences of this solution?

(iv) What stakeholder groups will benefit from this solution? Which ones will be negatively affected?

(v) What compromises will be necessary for this solution to be successful?

e) Enacting the Solution

(i) What is an appropriate timeline for enacting this solution?

(ii) What are the tangible steps necessary to enact this solution?

(iii) What potential business/organizational practices and/or policies will be necessary to enact this solution?

Post-Deliberation Questions:

1. Has your opinion of the main issues changed over the course of the deliberation?

2. Have you developed additional insight into the business implications of this topic? Have you discovered additional business implications or re-thought your previously stated business implications?

3. Have you gained additional insight regarding relevant stakeholders?

4. Do you agree with the solution that was offered as a result of the deliberation? Why?

Additional Discussion/Essay Questions

1. Should businesses drug test employees? If so, how often?

2. Should the use of legal drugs be treated the same as alcohol use?

3. What are the business implications of drug testing in a tight labor market?

4. Can a business differentiate between who is drug tested and who is not in a single organization?

5. Is drug testing an invasion of privacy?