Recruitment company wants plan to find jobs for drug-test failers

TRC Hawke's Bay branch manager Chris Gray shows how a pre-employment drugs test works. Photo / Warren Buckland

Shocked at the number of people unable to pass pre-employment drug tests, a Hawke's Bay recruitment company is pleading for something to be done before the situation gets "out of control".

Hastings-based The Recruitment Company (TRC) wants support to help people being left without jobs because they are unable to pass drugs tests.

"What we are seeing is a group of people that are unable to pass existing drugs tests," TRC Hawke's Bay branch manger Chris Gray said.

"Some of those that can't pass are not necessarily impaired, so what we are looking to try to do is put into place some sort of programme that will scoop them up in a bucket and take them somewhere that can help."

Commercial testing company TDDA group general manager Glenn Dobson said although non-negative results in pre-employment tests were usually on the lower side because people expected to be tested, Hawke's Bay's results were above the national average.

"We don't have statistics for last year yet, but in 2016 non-negative results made up 4.5 per cent of pre-employment test but in Hawke's Bay their results made up 6.8 per cent."

Not all those that were unable to provide a "non-negative" sample were impaired, because the tests did not show how long the active ingredient may have been in the system - or even the amount.

That meant a heavy cannabis user could still have traces of THC in their system up to three months after stopping smoking.

"THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, attaches itself to fat cells, so it can stay in your system for much longer and builds up over time."

That person would not be impaired at work over that time but they would still not be able to pass a test.

Gray said: "So, how do we quickly rehab those people that might have had a smoke on Friday night, and yet the underlying issue is, is someone who has a smoke on Friday night any more impaired on Monday than a person who has half a bottle of whisky? It's a hard one."

He added some people could not pass the pre-employment tests but they were by no means addicts.

"If somebody doesn't do something, what are we going to have in one year or five years' time? Or are we going to have a problem that's out of control?"

The company already had a ream of unfilled job opportunities because not enough people could pass the drug test.

The company had been working to bring together different groups and politicians to establish a co-ordinated approach to the problem.

Gray said pre-employment tests were not a legal requirement but the recruitment company had its own drug-testing procedures for health and safety purposes, and also to ensure clients' health and safety policies were protected.

Other companies also insisted on pre-employment tests because there was an underlying drugs issue in Hawke's Bay.

Tukituki MP Lawrence Yule said he fully supported The Recruitment Company's efforts.

"There is a real problem. In one sense, as we move more to a health and safety environment to keep people safe, the prevalence of drugs in society is meaning that a whole lot of people are not even getting past the first step.

"No drug use is good - I'm not condoning it whatsoever - but it's ending up that people are not even able to get pre-qualified because of this, so I am a big supporter of what [TRC] are trying to do.

"They have highlighted a real issue in our workforce environment that needs to be addressed head-on."