Pay for drug test time?

mar8267

We have just started doing drug screenings. Employees are hired contingent upon a clean test. We have to send them to a lab offsite for the test. My question is do have to pay them for the time & mileage to go take the test?

HR In NH

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 11-03-06 AT 02:07PM (CST)[/font][br][br]No, you do not have to pay for their time or mileage. Applicants are not yet employees when they go for pre-employment, post-offer drug screens. It is just one more screening technique, like an interview.

mar8267

What if they start working before their drug tests come back? We have a hard time finding nurses to work for public entity wages. When we had a couple that could start immediately, we grabbed them. They worked a day or two then went for the drug test.

E Wart

Absolutly not. Do you pay them for the time they spend filling out an application or going for post offer physical? I hope not.
E Wart

NeedCoffee

No, no, definitely not. Otherwise I'd be forking over a LOT of cash!

HR In NH

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 11-07-06 AT 09:31AM (CST)[/font][br][br]I would avoid letting anyone start before the drug screen results are back.

We do rapid result drug screens and we have an answer within one hour. (Of course, if there is any questionable issue with the sample, it does go out for further testing, which can take up to 48 hours.)

Either way, I think you are leaving yourself open for trouble, from both a safety and termination standpoint, if you allow candidates to start before the results are in. At the very least, do you have them sign an offer letter clearly stating the contingency of the drug screen results, regardless if they start before the results are in?

mar8267

Yes, they sign an agreement stating that their continued employment is contingent upon a clean drug test/background check. Hopefully we will get this process up and running a little more efficiently and be able to get the results back before they start working.