Globules of sweat gathered on the young man's forehead as he sat stiffly next to the machine. A rubber tube was wound around his chest and wires were taped to his fingertips. Two squiggly blue lines on a roll of paper winding out of the machine marked the progress of unseen physiological processes inside his body. His inquisitor kept coming back to the same insinuating questions about whether he had been stealing or was heavily in debt; every time he answered no, he imagined to his horror that the lines were jumping wildly. Fortunately, they were not. The young man eventually passed his lie-detector test —and thus qualified for a job as a store manager for a hamburger chain.
It could just as well have been a job for a trucking line, jewelry store or bank. Despite intense opposition from unions, legislators and civil libertarians, a growing number of companies are forcing present workers and/or would-be employees to submit to polygraph tests. Main reason; executives are looking for an easy way to cut down employee stealing, which insurance analysts estimate may total $3 billion this year.
The business of conducting the tests has become a growth industry. Restaurant chains and retail stores—both notorious targets for petty, in-house thieves—are known to be heavy users of the polygraph. Officials of Zale Corp., a Dallas-based jewelry chain, admit that they ask a large number of new employees to take lie-detector tests before they are formally hired. The Burger King and McDonald's hamburger chains also have used the polygraph on some employees, though McDonald's last month ended the practice at its California outlets under pressure from the state labor commissioner. Indeed, polygraphers figure that as many as one-fourth of all major U.S. companies now subject at least some of their workers to the lie-detector test.
As many as 400,000 tests were administered last year by commercial polygraph firms for an average fee of $25 to $50. The number of professional polygraphers has increased 50% in the past five years, to 1,200. Many operate one-machine offices, but a few companies, like Dale System Inc. of Garden City, N.Y., and Management Safeguards Inc. of Manhattan, have offices in a number of cities. Lincoln M. Zohn Inc. of Manhattan, probably the largest U.S. lie-detector firm, recorded sales of $1.5 million last year, double those of 1969, and has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a public stock offering.
To a longtime employee of one of their clients, polygraphers will put such questions as: "Have you taken any money or merchandise?" or "Have you violated any company policies?" New job applicants can expect such questions as: "Is there something important concerning yourself that you haven't told us? Have you ever been arrested or questioned by the police? Would you classify yourself as a light, medium or heavy drinker? Have you ever taken any drugs other than pot or hash?" (A surprising number of companies consider marijuana or hashish usage inoffensive.)