• Pre-employment tests give employers the opportunity to test for illegal drug use before an employee begins work.
• Employers should drug test all applicants equally to avoid discrimination.

Pre-employment drug testing is done before an employee begins work or soon after the employee’s first day on the job. Because the employer has not yet had the opportunity to see the employee at work and potentially spot any signs of substance abuse, a pre-employment test is given to detect illegal drug use.

As with all company policies, a pre-employment drug testing policy must be implemented fairly and consistently, in a manner that does not conflict with any federal, state, or local civil rights or workers’ rights laws.

Discrimination: To avoid discrimination issues, employers should test all candidates for a position at the same point in the hiring process. A drug test is typically conducted after a conditional job offer is made.

See the section “Avoiding discrimination during pre-hire testing.”

Marijuana: Employers can usually determine which panel of drugs to include in a pre-employment test, but some states do not allow pre-employment testing for marijuana. A law banning pre-employment drug testing for marijuana does not mean that an employer needs to stop doing pre-employment drug testing altogether, however. Even when marijuana testing is not allowed, an employer can still use a pre-employment testing panel that tests for illegal drugs but does not test for marijuana.