Most Fortune 500 Companies Still Drug-Test Prospective Hires

    The large majority of Fortune 500 companies still drug-test prospective employees, according to a new analysis, discriminating in their hiring processes against people who use substances that include legally obtained cannabis.

    Many of the companies also conduct further drug-tests of existing employees, either at random or in specific circumstances such as after a work-related accident. The research highlights that even though over 40 states have passed either medical or adult-use cannabis legalization, many consumers are still far from protected in the workplace.              

    The analysis, commissioned by NuggMD, a cannabis telehealth platform, shows that 78 percent of the Fortune 500—the biggest companies by revenue in the United States—continue to have pre-employment drug screening policies. This information has now been made available through the website JobLeaf.org, where you can search a company and and its drug-testing policies. The analysts used publicly available employer drug policies and online job sites, such as Indeed, to compile their data.

    “No company should discriminate against lawful cannabis use. Unfortunately, we have found that a concerning majority of large and powerful companies do.”

    “No company should discriminate against lawful cannabis use,” Alexandra Arnett, MS, NuggMD’s lead researcher and fact-checker, said in a statement shared with Filter. “Unfortunately, we have found that a concerning majority of large and powerful companies do.”

    “We launched JobLeaf to force some transparency on this issue,” she explained. “A significant portion of the US adult population uses cannabis regularly, and they deserve the same opportunities as everybody else to find and keep well-paying, dignified jobs.”

    “If you are in a safety-sensitive position—for example, an [inventory] stocker for Walmart, you’re probably more likely to be subject to a drug test especially randomly,” Arnett told Filter. “And even if these companies didn’t initially test for THC at hiring, there’s a possibility their employees are subject to random testing that includes THC even if they are just a cashier. That’s done for liability purposes; if you get hurt on the job and you test positive for THC, there goes your compensation for getting injured.”

    Testing for THC and testing at Fortune 500 companies are only parts of the story. Nationwide, drug testing is a common feature of the hiring process, and of ongoing employment, for many jobs. It’s an example of how the drug war—most associated with arrests, policing and incarceration—has become institutionalized in other areas of our everyday lives.

    And just as racism is inherent to the drug war, the same applies to workplace drug-testing practices. A 2023 study, based on 2015-2019 national data including nearly 122,000 workers, found that Black workers were more likely than their white or Hispanic counterparts to be drug-tested on the job. Both Black and Hispanic people were more likely than whites to be fired for a positive drug test.

    There’s a chilling effect on people searching for work, according to a separate survey NuggMD administered to it users. The platform conducted a poll between October 31-November 3, in which over 83 percent of respondents said drug-testing policies made them less interested in working for a company. The survey was designed as a representative sample of over 35 million cannabis consumers in states with medical or adult-use cannabis, which NuggMD estimates is about 20 percent of the US workforce.

    “It’s a hard choice between choosing your income and your medicine.”

    Asked “How does a policy of pre-employment drug testing impact your desire to seek employment with a company?”, 74 percent of respondents said they would want to work for such a company “much less,” and another 13 percent said “a little less.”

    “When it comes employees choosing where they can work, obviously not many people can make that decision as easily as others,” Arnett said. “For some people, Walmart is your only choice—you don’t have another grocery store in your town that doesn’t drug test. Same with other construction companies, or areas in southern states or the Midwest … It’s a hard choice between choosing your income and your medicine.”

    The new analysis finds that over 97 percent of the 50 largest companies within the Fortune 500 have selective drug testing, meaning that not all job applicants are tested. By comparison, among the other 450 companies, only about 18 percent do selective drug testing. “Selective drug testing policies can result in the perception that executives are held to a lower set of standards than all other employees, which can be an indicator of poor management and culture that poses risk to shareholders,” NuggMD commented in a press statement.

    Filter received the full data from the analysis, showing a company-by-company breakdown. As one example, Walmart conducts pre-employment drug testing, “reasonable suspicion” drug testing, and drug-tests selectively, depending on employees’ roles.

    The retail corporation, NuggMD finds, “conducts a urine drug test for new hires (pre-employment drug test) as a part of their interview process, but not for all departments. Walmart runs a drug test only on candidates applying for certain positions … Walmart’s policy requires employees to undergo a drug test if there is reasonable suspicion that they are using illegal substances while at work. A supervisor or manager may initiate a drug test if an employee’s behavior or performance is at variance with the norm.”

    Apple also does pre-employment testing, and is “committed to a ‘drug-free workplace’ policy, requiring all employees to be drug-influence-free pre-employment and during job hours.”

    A small but growing number of employers worldwide are eliminating pre-employment drug tests.

    But as another example, Bank of America does not do pre-employment drug testing: “Nevertheless, the company maintains a comprehensive policy for reasonable suspicion testing, ensuring that the safety and well-being of its workforce remain a top priority. Additionally, Bank of America reserves the right to conduct random drug tests and post-accident testing when necessary to maintain a secure and productive work environment.”

    IBM doesn’t do pre-employment drug testing either: “Instead, the company evaluates candidates based on their skills, qualifications, and fit for the role,” however, “the company may conduct random drug tests as part of its ongoing commitment to employee well-being and safety.”

    A small but growing number of employers worldwide are eliminating pre-employment drug tests to “attract and retain in-demand talent,” according to a 2021 analysis by ManpowerGroup, which estimated that about 9 percent of over 45,000 employers globally had taken this step.

    “Why drug test when it doesn’t tell you anything?” asked Dr. Carl Hart, a Columbia University psychology professor, author and drug policy reform advocate, in a 2021 interview with TIME. “If we want to make sure people aren’t intoxicated in a workplace environment, that means looking at their performance. Urine drug tests certainly don’t tell you anything about levels of intoxication or a person’s ability to perform. They’re useless for that purpose.”

    Cannabis, for example, is unusual because of how long THC can remain detectable in a person’s body—up to several days or weeks after they used it. Because of that, and with legalization spreading rapidly accross the US, many states—California, New York and Colorado, among others—have sought to pass laws specifically protecting cannabis users from workplace THC testing.

    If people are using cannabis at home, that obviously doesn’t demonstrate that they’re showing up to work high. But the question of how to substantiate that distinction that has created controversy in states such as New Jersey, which relies on employers using a “Workplace Impairment Recognition Expert.” Advocates have argued that such subjective assessments could result in false findings and unfairly weigh against certain workers.

    Arnett urged more of the biggest companies to show leadership by ending pre-employment drug testing, and pointed out how it could encourage others to follow suit.

    “The companies that don’t drug test their employees for THC, I think coming out and making that very apparent in their marketing for job seekers would set a precedent for others to follow suit,” she said. “Many tech companies in the Bay Area don’t drug test for THC—you can assume many [people in that industry] would not pass a drug test.” She hopes that more other companies will start asking, “‘These are really successful companies and they don’t test for THC, why are we still doing it?’”

     


     

    Photograph by Cambodia, P.I. Network via Flickr/Creative Commons 2.0

    • Alexander is Filter’s staff writer. He writes about the movement to end the War on Drugs. He grew up in New Jersey and swears it’s actually alright. He’s also a musician hoping to change the world through the power of ledger lines and legislation. Alexander was previously Filter‘s editorial fellow.

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