Is drug testing an unwarranted invasion of employee privacy Essay

1. Is drug testing an unwarranted invasion of employee privacy? Applying for a job means that you are in conform to the rules and regulation of the company where you are applying. Once you have been accepted, part of that is the medical examination including the drug testing. If you are physically and medically fit, then you are hired. So, the question regarding unwarranted invasion of employee privacy is not relevant in this situation. You need the job so you have to submit yourself to the requirements of the company regarding drug testing. So, it means to say, that the employer has the rights to know the result of the drug testing for them to be able to qualify their employees for any promotion or acceptance to the company. 2. Which is more important—getting drugs out of the workplace or protecting the privacy of the employee? Once the employee is positive on drugs, the best thing is to eliminate or terminate the employee rather than having the employee on the workplace. As the saying goes, once there is a rotten thing in a certain place, in the long run it will make all the things in that place rotten. So, the best thing and the most important are to get the drugs out of the workplace rather than protecting the privacy of the employee. But judging the employee as drug dependent it has to be supported by documents stating that the employee is positive on drugs. 3. What about other health-threatening activities, i. e. smoking outside of working hours, unprotected sex, etc. – With the examples given, it is already outside the working hours of the employee and the company has no more control over those activities. An individual right of the person has to be considered in this matter. It is his/her prerogative to do those activities that will satisfy his/her needs as long as it will not affect his/her performance on his/her job. But once, the work is affected because of those health-threatening activities then I should say that the individual’s attention must be called or the company may give sanction regarding those offenses the employee may commit. The employee has the right to choose between the right and the wrong depends on what is best for him/her. 4. Should employers be allowed to use polygraph tests to â€Å"screen† out potentially costly employees who may engage in any of these activities? For the company’s benefit, the use of polygraph test to screen out potentially costly employee who may engage in those activities can be allowed. Using the polygraph tests will be of great expense on the part of the employer and the employee. Though it may give a great benefit on the part of the employer by screening the employees that they are going to hire and they are sure that the person who passed the polygraph test are people who can be trusted and will be an asset to the company. But the thing is, are the employees willing to submit themselves on the polygraph testing? An individual right again says that an individual has the right to refuse any test that has to be done to them. So, when they refuse, the employer can’t do anything about it but to agree with the employee. But if it is a company’s policy then the employee has to make a choice whether to continue or not to continue in applying in the said company.