Reactions to managing counterproductive behavior through the implementation of a drug and alcohol testing program: Americans and Canadians are more different than you might expect

Many organizations have begun to implement drug and alcohol testing programs to screen potential and existing employees for substance abuse in an effort to curb counterproductive behavior at work. Paradoxically, these policies can be seen as unfair and potentially result in counterproductive behavior. The present study investigated whether differences exist between Canada and the USA, two nations that have often been described as 'indistinguishable' from one another, with respect to their perceptions of fairness and acceptance of the introduction of a drug and alcohol testing policy in the workplace. Scenarios were used to test the hypotheses. The results showed that Canadians (N = 163) were less accepting of the policy and perceived the policy as less fair than their American counterparts (N = 127). In addition, the results showed that the difference between third-party observers' and recipients' acceptance of the policy was less for Canadians than for Americans.