Impairment Testing: Issues and Convergence with Employee Assistance Programs

Drug testing is an increasingly popular corporate response to substance using employees. It has, however, some significant shortcomings as a means of identifying and controlling substance use. In this article, the authors describe and discuss drug-testing policies and procedures, and conclude that drug testing became popular in the 1980s largely as a workplace response to broader cultural and governmental concerns, rather than actual increase in the prevalence of substance use. Issues related to the implementation of performance testing as an alternative to drug testing are discussed. Finally, the authors consider the areas of distinction and convergence between drug and performance testing and employee assistance programs.