Though integrity tests are rarely used in the hospitality industry: an analysis by two researchers, finds that integrity tests can more than pay for themselves -  by identifying job candidates who have dangerous work habits

The report, "The Truth About Integrity Tests: The Validity and Utility of Integrity Testing for the Hospitality Industry," is available at no charge at http://hotelschool.cornell.edu/research/chr/pubs/reports/2007.html.

For their analysis, Cornell associate professors Michael Sturman and David Sherwyn examined test results of a large United States–based hotel chain. Using workers' compensation claims as a financial measure, the researchers found that employees who passed the test screen filed about half as many compensation claims as unscreened workers.

Because of the chain's size (over 27,000 employees), the cost savings were considerable. The data for the study were provided by American Tescor, LLC, a corporate friend of the center.

"We understand that asking job applicants to take an integrity test will cost money," said Sturman. "This needs to be seen as an investment in your employees. In fact, we calculated a return on that investment of at least 130 percent.

Furthermore, this return is only based on reducing workers' compensation claims, and we would expect additional benefit from reducing absenteeism, turnover, and employee theft, which the tests can also help screen out."

 Noting that use of the tests is within the scope of U.S. employment laws, Sturman and Sherwyn pointed out that the tests control for candidates who lie about their drug use or theft. However, they also note that test takers are "remarkably candid" in their test answers.