Drug Test for Unemployment Compensation and Welfare

Drug Test for Unemployment Compensation and Welfare

Introduction

A drug test is a technical evaluation of biological samples, such as urine, blood, hair, sweat, saliva etc. to determine the presence of absence of a particular drug agent. One of the prime uses of this test is to ascertain the presence of performance enhancing steroid in sport or for the drugs which has been restricted by law. The detection of particular kind of drug primarily depends over several factors such as amount, frequency, mass of body, overall health, level of pH in urine etc (Blondel, 2007).

On the other hand, unemployment benefits include the social payments made by the governmental authorities to categorized unemployed people. The range of benefits varies from country to country, some states offer insurance benefits, while others give a certain portion of the last salary drawn. However, in United Kingdom, such kind of benefits are known as “the dole”, whose disbursement started in the year 1911, and expanded slowly and gradually. The Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) is given maximum £71.00 per week to the people aged above 25 years (MacDonald & Pudney, 2000). There have been debate over the period of time pertaining to the allocation of such benefits to the people who use drugs, or should there be drug test to as eligibility criteria for the allocation of such benefits. This paper will discuss the notion of unemployment benefits and the utility of drug tests over them.

Discussion

As matter of fact, there have been laws in most of the countries pertaining to the drug test before the commencement of formal employment. For instance, people have to have their urine tested for the presence of any illicit substance before gaining employment. Carrying forward this particular regard, there is consensus from many of the quarters ...