Paper Topic:

• Mandatory drug testing in the workplace

Drug Testing Law

Laws for the test of employees or job applicants for drug or alcohol abuse have evoked the consciousness of many since its inception in 1986 when President Ronald Reagan signed an Executive 12564 , that prohibited all federal employees to refrain themselves from using illegal drugs , as a condition of federal employment . And then two years later , Congress passed the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 which created federal Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace Drug Testing which was applied to executive agencies of the federal government , the uniformed services , and

contractors or service providers under contract with the federal government

Although this Act was only applied to Federal governments yet states and Local Governments followed the suit . There is no doubt of the fact that Drug and Alcohol abuse by employees creates loss of billions of dollars each year and gives a great set back to the economy as a whole yet from the employees point of view it is a sheer violation of their personal rights , and its misuse is a cause of humiliation to several prospective employees . It is moral duty of the employers to check the menace of drug edicts in the work place but this moral policing disrupts Kant 's theology of Categorical imperative

Internationally , the of drug testing in work place is covered in a Universal Declaration of Human Rights , Article 12 whereby it is declared that "No one should be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy

The 1996 ILO Code of Practice on Management of alcohol and drug-related issues declares that the testing should be undertaken in accordance to national laws and practice . The Guiding Principles of this testing which is mentioned in the Annex V of the Code of Practice , clearly emphasis on workers rights , employers rights , public rights and individual rights

Infact even in 2003 , the International Labor Organization reported that , Drug testing in the workplace is an issue beset with technical legal and ethical controversies (Legal Testing In Work Place , Last Change On Tuesday , 31st October 2006

Even the European Convention on Human Rights , adopted in 1950 to guarantees the right to privacy , except in the interest of national security , public safety or the economic well-being of the country , for the prevention of dis and crime , for the protection of health and morals , or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others

In the European Union , In the European Directive 89 /391 /EEC on the introduction of encouraging in improvements in the safety and health of workers at work , applies according to Article 6 that the employer have a duty ensuring the safety and health of workers in every aspect related to the work , with Art .6 (5 ) exonerating the workers from liability for financial cost . Even in Artical 11 states that "Employers shall consult workers and /or their representatives and allow them to take part in discussions on all questions relating to safety and health at work

In different countries there are different patterns for...

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