The Universal Drug Testing of Employees

Abstract

Is the universal drug testing of employees ethical? Joseph DesJardins' and Ronald Duska's article Testing in Employment provides one of the clearest and most interesting answers to this question.1 Operating from a human rights perspective, the authors argue that universal drug testing is rarely legitimate since it usually violates an employee's right to privacy. While most of their arguments are forceful, I believe that they have not paid sufficient attention to an important aspect of the problem. They declare that the first issue related to drug testing is whether knowledge of drug use obtained by drug testing is job-relevant. Second, the authors state, In cases where information of drug use is job-relevant, we need to consider if, when, and under what conditions using a means such as drug testing to obtain that knowledge is justified.2 DesJardins and Duska have not been specific enough about the additional conditions, beyond job-relevance, that justify drug testing. I will argue that in addition to job-relevance there must be a weighing of the right to privacy of the employees and the rights of others involved. Drug testing is only justified when the rights of others outweigh the right to privacy of the employees.