Testing Employees
Can you require your employees to submit to a medical exam, drug screen, psychological test, or lie detector test? Find out the rules here.
Workplace testing has become increasingly popular, as employers screen their workers in an effort to figure out who would be the best candidate for promotion or who is responsible for a workplace problem. As long as a test is designed to predict a worker's actual ability to do the job (and is relatively non-invasive), it is probably legal. For example, an employer can generally require typing tests for clerical jobs or agility/strength tests for positions requiring certain physical skills. (This article is about testing existing employees. For information on testing prospective employees, see Testing Job Applicants.)
Privacy Violations
Employers who require their employees to take more comprehensive or intrusive tests can get into trouble for violating their workers' privacy rights, particularly if the tests aren't closely related to the job in question. Generally, an employer should have a sound, work-related reason to require a current employee to submit to testing. But that might not be enough: if the test is too intrusive or delves too deeply into personal issues, it might invade the employee's right to privacy (and result in a lawsuit).
For example, one California employer asked applicants to take a comprehensive psychological exam -- including agreeing or disagreeing with such statements as "I am very strongly attracted by members of my own sex" or "I believe in the second coming of Christ" -- before considering them for the position of store security guard. The company eventually paid more than $2 million to settle the dispute.
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