Drug positivity rates affect retail the most, according to the First Advantage's Vertical Trends & Insights fourth report, focused on the retail, transportation, staffing, healthcare and financial services. 

In Retail, 5.8 percent test positive for drug use. Next is Staffing at 3.9 percent, then Transportation at 2.9 percent, Healthcare at 2.4 percent and Financial Services at one percent. Retail criminal discrepancy rates increased from 4.99 percent in 2017 to 6.11 percent in 2018, driven by a 0.7 percent increase in drug possession.

Criminal Records are the clear leader across verticals when it comes to what companies are screening for. Staffing stays focused on crime; however, all other verticals branch out to a few key searches on average. Retail worries about sex offenders, Healthcare focuses on employment and Financial Services on fingerprint “rap sheet” or criminal record adjudication. Transportation companies consistently order the most comprehensive reports, opting to include most searches available.

The report also found:

• Staffing brings in the highest rate of returned criminal records at 9.8 percent, followed by Transportation at 6.7 percent, Retail at 6.1 percent, Financial Services at 2.6 percent and then Healthcare at 1.9 percent.
• There is not a 1:1 correlation between a low criminal record return rate and the rate of reports requiring further review. Many industry-specific regulations often affect which reports require further analysis. Financial Services has a 29.3 percent “requires review” rate followed by Transportation at 19.6 percent, Healthcare at 18.8 percent, Staffing at 15.2 percent and Retail at 7.1 percent.
• Most common drug positivity—marijuana. For Retail and Financial Services, 82.3 percent percent of positive drug test results were for marijuana, followed by Staffing at 81.4 percent, Transportation at 73.4 percent and Healthcare at 59.9 percent. Amphetamines come in second for all other industries except Transportation. Cocaine came in second for that industry and tied with amphetamines for Staffing. Interestingly, Healthcare had the highest positivity rates of all other industries for amphetamines (11.9 percent), cocaine (9.6 percent) and opiates (7.1 percent).

The most ineligible crimes in Retail included:

• 7.4 percent Theft
• 8.2 percent Assault & Battery
• 5.2 percent Drugs - Distribution
• 5.1 percent Burglary
• 4.7 percent Drugs - Possession
• 3.5 percent Fraud
• 3.2 percent Marijuana - Possession