Greetings!
The summer months are a great time to review and revamp processes to ensure you are in step with current trends, regulatory requirements, and legislative changes. A properly designed, implemented, and updated drug testing policy will not only have a significant impact on your ability to maintain a safe and drug-free workplace, but it can also help your company avoid legal troubles.
In this issue of "The Monitor," we provide two articles that address this topic. The first features the legal expertise of Andrew Prescott, Esq., a partner in the Labor and Employment practice of Nixon Peabody LLP. In the second story, you'll find information about the latest testing procedures as well as questions you should answer before launching a program or re-designing your current one.
As always, the right hand column of this newsletter contains state and local updates, including the recent ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court in a Dish Network case involving medical marijuana, as well as the latest changes to 'ban the box' laws and restrictions on the use of credit history. New to the column for this edition are the Drug Screening Updates and FCRA Compliance in the News sections. From the DOT's approval of electronic chain of custody forms to FCRA lawsuits against Hertz, Home Depot, and Paramount Studios, there has been a lot going on in these two areas!
We'd like to extend a very warm welcome to the new clients who joined the Hire Image family earlier this month when we acquired Absolute Background Concepts based in Minnesota. We look forward to serving you and being your partner in compliance.
Enjoy your summer!
 Christine M. Cunneen
Chief Executive Officer
Hire Image LLC
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How to keep your company out of trouble
Can a drug screening policy keep a company out of legal hot water? What should be included in such a policy in order to ensure a company - and its employees - are protected from lawsuits or harm?
All human resource policies are created to protect employees and companies from unsafe and discriminatory actions, and to keep the workplace fair. Let's face it: having something in writing to refer to when an employee misbehaves or steps out of line helps HR managers and employers hold the employee accountable. Having a written guideline for employees regarding rules, regulations, and ethical or compliance standards provides a framework for enforcement, and inherently can be the most basic foundation for protecting a company should a lawsuit arise.
When it comes to drug screening policies, specifically, there is no tried and true universal template or "must haves" for what should or should not be included. According to Andrew Prescott, Esq., a partner in the Labor and Employment practice of Nixon Peabody LLP, the components of a policy depend upon the type of drug testing a company is conducting and the specific legal authority for doing it. "For example, an employer may be required to test candidates and employees under certain state and or federal laws, so its policy will need to conform to those laws and may need to be approved by a
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Hire Image Guide to Getting Your Drug Testing Program Off to the Right Start
 If you've been contemplating whether a drug screening program is the right choice for your company, the results of a recent study by Quest Diagnostics may help in your decision making process.
Analysis of the Quest Diagnostics Drug Testing Index (DTI) revealed that the percentage of American workers testing positive for drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamine has increased for the second consecutive year. The positivity rate for nearly 6.6 million urine drug tests increased overall by 9.3% from 2013 to 2014. In states such as Colorado and Washington, where recreational use was legalized in 2012, positivity rates for marijuana
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About Hire Image
Hire Image LLC is a specialist in the field of background screening, drug testing and verification services. Our priority is to provide timely background screening reports, thus enabling clients to make well-informed hiring and/or retention decisions. We work with organizations nationwide, from small businesses and associations to large corporations, in all industries. Our clients are best served through our exceptional support system and customized reporting, which is tailored specifically to meet their needs. By considering ourselves a partner with each client, our success is based upon their success.
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