Illegal substance abuse in the full-service restaurant industry: An evaluation of pre-employment drug-testing

The purpose of this research is to assess the effect of pre-employment drug-testing policies on employee attitudes and aspects of work performance in the full-service restaurant industry. Specifically, this study attempts to compare the rate of absenteeism, turnover, and work-related accidents and injuries in full-service restaurants with pre-employment drug-testing policies against the aforementioned aspects of work performance in full-service restaurants without pre-employment drug-testing polices. This research also attempts to explore the perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs of full-service restaurant hourly employees and management staff in regards to pre-employment drug-testing policies in the full-service restaurant industry. For the purpose of this study, work performance factors include absenteeism, turnover (voluntary and termination), and documented work-related injury/accidents. Results indicated no difference between employee absenteeism, turnover, or accidents among establishments with and without pre-employment drug-testing policies. In addition, no significant difference was found among employee attitudes toward pre-employment drug-testing policies based on employment level or presence of a pre-employment drug-testing policy at their current place of employment