Some potential advantages and disadvantages of pre-employment screening from different viewpoints
| Applicant and his or her family | Employer | Society |
|---|---|---|
| Possible advantages | ||
| • Avoidance of future ill-health | • Less sickness absence and labour turnover; fewer ill-health retirements; more long serving efficient units of labour hired | • Reduced work related ill-health, leading to lower demand for health services and less attrition of labour |
| • Awareness of a special need to use precautions more fully in the job | • Less civil liability; lower insurance costs | • Reduction in risks to third parties from business activities |
| • Avoidance of wasted time and effort in training for an unfitted career | • Chance to target the deployment of control measures or make a special effort in selected cases | |
| • Avoidance of the distress that might arise from harming third parties | ||
| • Possible disadvantages | ||
| • Inconvenience | • Direct costs of programme (personnel, materials, overheads) | • Additional cost to industry and so to the cost of goods and services |
| • Discomfort (possibly) | • Indirect costs (e.g. disrupted production, labour disquiet) | |
| • Anxiety about future health and security of job | • Cost of excluding and replacing applicants | |
| • Potential loss of privacy | • Risk of legal suit for employment discrimination (in some countries) | |
| • Risk of not being employed in a desirable job, with loss of income | ||
| • Risk that employer may forego the cost of primary control measures | ||