Employers Have More Advanced Ways to Drug Test

by KYW’s Michelle Durham

Recent advancements in drug testing give employers more options. They can choose to have employees submit a urine or hair sample to prove they are drug free.

Brian Pedrow is a Partner in the Labor and Employment Group of Ballard Spahr in Philadelphia. He discusses the pros and cons of different methods of drug testing:

"One of the definite pros of hair testing is that it is less intrusive on employee privacy. With hair testing you don't have those issues. It's really a matter of plucking the hair."

Pedrow says if employers wanted to look at a person's drug use over the past few months, a hair test would be the better choice. If you wanted to just ensure that someone was not under the influence during an accident, a urine test is best. Urine testing has to meet strict federal guidelines, hair testing does not:

"As hair testing grows in popularity we are going to have to wait for federal guidelines to catch up to the most modern testing that is out there.”