Delaware County to pay for pre-employment drug testing in competitive jobs market

Delaware County will begin paying for required pre-employment drug tests for the people the county hires.  As IPR’s Stephanie Wiechmann reports, it’s one way the county sees to help attract workers in a competitive market.

Pam McCammon is the human resources director for Delaware County.  She says the county now sends potential employees to Concentra for drug testing.  Those people used to pay for their own tests at $15.  Now, they pay $42.

“It’s just impossible for people to pay $42, at $4 a gallon gas, and come back here, like in my office, and get $12 an hour.  It’s just ridiculous.”

Commissioners took several steps to change that on Monday.  Drug testing will now be done through the county’s workplace health clinic, run by IU Health, for the cost of about $20.  And the county will pay for those tests itself out of an existing fund for pre-employment medical testing.

In previous meetings, county officials have talked about the difficulty in filling vacant jobs.  Indiana’s unemployment rate in March was 2.2 percent, the third lowest in the US.  Most economists consider unemployment rates around 4-5 percent to mean “full employment,” so there are less people to fill open jobs.

Last Friday, the county advertised openings with the Delaware-Muncie Metro Plan Commission, within the county jail system, and with EMS and the 911 Center.