A major ethical consideration put forth by opponents of drug testing is that the process amounts to an unwarranted invasion of privacy. WDT impacts on privacy in relation to the right to personal i.e. bodily integrity. National legislation on this matter is often the same as that for searches, which requires the consent of the person concerned to be lawful. The question of consent is, however, a thorny one. Most guidelines for WDT (such as the ILO Guiding Principles on Drug and Alcohol Testing, 1996) require that informed consent be obtained before testing. Opponents of WDT, such as the German DGB and the Swiss Data Protection Commissioner, contend however that because workers are dependent on their employers, free consent to WDT is not possible. Consequently signing a contract containing a …show more content…
On the other hand, in the United Kingdom failure to comply with drug testing which is included in the employment agreement can be interpreted as a disciplinary offence (Alcohol Concern 2002). Some European constitutions, for example in Belgium and Finland, hold that fundamental rights such as the right to privacy are indivisible and that the individual cannot consent to waive such rights. In order to make
WDT legal in Finland, a new law had to be introduced.5
An extension of the privacy debate is related to whether