Hiring and maintaining a workforce is a constant juggling act, as the employer balances the needs of the company with the needs of the workers. Naturally, companies feel they are entitled to have their employees at work on time and at their best, free of illegal performance degrading substances. In order to ensure the workforce stays free of chemical influence, the use of mobile drug testing Texas is prudent.

Merely having good intentions is not enough to successfully create a program to keep the influence of chemicals out of the workforce. Unfortunately, there is no universal law to facilitate this process. The federal government passed legislation mandating employees be tested for illegal substances, but it made its provisions applicable only to federal employees.

In certain occupations, primarily those which affect large portions of the public, employees are subject to the federal law, such as long haul truck drivers or oil pipeline workers. The Lone Star state has not made such examination mandatory, but allows employers freedom to implement a program with few restrictions. The implementation of a no tolerance process that results in immediate termination for a positive test is also legal.

States can give considerable latitude to employers in implementing policies to keep chemicals out of the workplace, but there are still basic protections for all US citizens spelled out in the constitution. Employers seeking to initiate a program would do well to research the legal protections to avoid any complications. Fairness and reasonableness are the keys to success.

The Fifth Amendment to the constitution protects us from policies that do not allow for due process of law. This means the employer must be careful in the application of such processes. The assessment must be impartially and fairly implemented across logical sections of the labor force or across all employees.

Another concern is whether or not every employee must be subject to substance abuse policies . The courts have held that it is legal and fair to include employees involved in dangerous and difficult and leave other employees out. This reasonable clause means that those jobs which have greater risks are a logical group for inclusion, but the protection is that if a certain group is selected, then all of those employees similarly employed must participate.

For businesses, beginning such a program need not be difficult, all they have to do is run it fairly. It is important to communicate to the workforce which of them are included and why, what they will be checked for and what the penalty for positive results will be. As long as the program is conducted without bias, the process will be legal and effective.

As long as the company is motivated to implement a policy to keep illegal substances out of the workplace out of a genuine effort to increase safety for employees and the public, it should have little difficulty in accomplishing the task. Another issue is the stigma the process can have, but that problem can be easily handled by using an external company. To protect the privacy of employees and prevent any loss in productivity, using mobile drug testing Texas is a simple solution.