12-Year High For Employee Drug Tests

A study found an uptick in the percentage of positive urine drug tests among workers in 2016, when it hit a 12-year high. The 2016 figure was 4.2 percent, up from 4.0 percent in 2015. The last time it was this high was in 2004, when the figure was 4.5 percent, according to a Quest Diagnostics study. The rise is remarkable because it’s manifest in “virtually all drug test specimen types and in all testing populations,” according to a Quest senior director.  The general counsel for the Institute for a Drug-Free Workplace warns it’s important for employers to keep this issue on the front burner. “Employers may talk annually with their workforce about avoiding harassment and other forms of discrimination, and they should consider addressing this topic, too,” he says.