Some employees for the city of Atlanta will no longer be required to perform pre-employment drug tests.
What We Know:
- On Friday, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms signed an executive order suspending physical examinations and drug screenings for select city employees. In an effort to promote equity, all employees not related to safety and security will no longer be required to submit these tests.
- According to the Atlanta Daily World, the Mayor’s office released a statement on the decision. In the statement, Bottoms said that “the current pre-employment testing requirements for those seeking jobs, not related to safety and security, are outdated and costly barriers to onboarding new talent in the City of Atlanta.
“As we continue to reform our employment process, creating a positive employee experience is key to attracting and maintaining a top-tier workforce, while ensuring opportunities are accessible to all,” she continued.
- Bottoms’ administration is known to focus on incorporating equity into their policies and decisions. In 2014, Bottoms banned the city requirement for people with criminal charges to disclose that information to city job applications. In 2019, she removed employment application questions about previous salaries to prevent wage discrimination.
- With this executive order, the mayor hopes to break-down systemic discrimination against communities of color that are disproportionately affected by underlying health conditions. The decision will also allow the Commissioner of the Department of Human Resources the authority to establish requirements for pre-employment physical examinations and drug testing for safety-sensitive positions and the ability to designate certain employment classifications as such.
This order makes the city of Atlanta one step closer to eliminating racial inequities for future employees.
