Drug Testing in the Work Place

[ice grillin you]

if you combined the work years of everyone on this board i bet you could count on two hands the amount of people any of us have seen high on the job

on the job drug use or lack of production due to drug use is so far down the list of concerns at the workplace its not even funny...yet lets test EVERYONE

[SunMo]

i don't think everyone should be tested, just those who operate machinery or equipment that can injure themselves or others...i don't think that's out of line

it's not exactly the same, but somewhat similar, but to have a commercial driver's license (CDL), you don't get the legal level for a DUI, you are held to stricter standard, even when not driving a commercial vehicle.  if you get pulled over and your BAL is above the level for a person with a CDL, you are in big time trouble

[phattymatty]

i think the only people who should get tested are minorities. 

[phattymatty]

oh, and shepherds.

[Rome]

I've never seen an enormously fat person working in a position of prominence....probably because of productivity issues. And fat issues.

William Howard Taft says... "arghhhhhhhh!"

[reese125]

You have to test everyone to have a fair and equal environment in the workplace. If you dont have that--more lawsuits. Yay.

[rjs246]

You have to test everyone to have a fair and equal environment in the workplace. If you dont have that--more lawsuits. Yay.

Or test no one, which is the way it should be.

[phattymatty]

testes

1...2...3?

[shorebird]

I've never seen an enormously fat person working in a position of prominence....probably because of productivity issues. And fat issues.

Andy Reid says hello.

[SunMo]

You have to test everyone to have a fair and equal environment in the workplace. If you dont have that--more lawsuits. Yay.

Or test no one, which is the way it should be.

yeah, some guy running a 500 foot tower crane high on meth is great safety measure

[rjs246]

Common sense is always welcome. Test every tower crane operator. Not every secretary or cube jockey.

[SunMo]

that's what i said before...

[shorebird]

It's easy to scream that 'drug users' are a liability but as long as alcohol is legal and people who drink alcohol are allowed to be employed by the same companies who require drug tests the argument holds absolutely no water.

Alcohol is legal. Drugs are not.

And it will stay that way as long as companies like Anheuser Bush are making millions. But it's still bullshtein. Alcohol is the most dangerous drug in America, imo, what with all the drunk driving deaths every year. How many jobs would be lost if breathalyzers were used after lunch break? I don't buy the bullshtein that just because "alcohol is legal", someone who drinks should be immune to the same type of treatment as someone who uses drugs occasionally or regularly. Only reason there is a diff is because most big corparate execs drink like fish. I know, I've built and done a lot of work on banks. It was my companies specialty a while back, and man let me tell you, the same people testing for drugs are getting smashed at least three or four nights a week.

[Diomedes]

I couldn't disagree with Wingnut more.  Corporate imagined risk/cost concerns do not trump an employee's right to privacy.  If a company cannot hire and manage employees well enough to tell when one has a drug problem that is affecting work, then the company has some big problems and I don't want to work for them.  Risk is part of being in business....that's why the employee makes 10 bucks an hour and for each hour worked the company makes 90 bucks.

I couldn't agree with vigy more.

rjs, if you believe the requirement is as farged up as you seem to, and you have the nuts to do it, refuse to take the test.  Tell them you consider it an invasion of privacy and you were raised to stand up for your beliefs.  If that means they let you go, then so be it.  Make the refusal quietly though..if you do it so other people hear, then you leave the company no wiggle room to make an exception for you.

Requiring testing for jobs that don't require you to carry a gun, fly a plane, etc. is farged up for a lot of reasons, and especially for low paying jobs like Home Depot.

The company has the job, the applicant has the labor.  Obviously, the company has the advantage, and so they use it.  If you want this job, you have to show us what's in your closet, is the message.  The company can always find someone who will take the test.  The more people accept testing as unavoidable, the more testing will occur.  Only people refusing will slow the march.

Of course, if you refuse to take the test, then you are assumed to be a drug user or addict.  Not many people will consider that it's a matter of principle.  I  use drugs (mostly pot, but I did have some wonderful mushrooms recently), and freely admit it.  So of course all of you think that's why I refuse to take tests.  And you'd be mistaken, though you probably can't conceive of how someone who does use drugs could have principles.  I could pass the test...it's a simple matter of cheating or abstaining for a certain period of time.  Neither are all that difficult (especially the latter option given my budget lately).  But if I abstain for their test, then I'm cowing to their idiotic reasoning and power, giving up some of my own by doing it.  I'm my mother's son and my grandfather's grandson...I'm not going to cave on my beliefs.  If I cheat to pass, then I'm breaking another principle which I value.  The only way to be happy with my decision is to stick to my guns and Just Say No.  I won't piss for employment and I won't cheat for employment.  There are other ways to make a living than buying into that scheme.

[ice grillin you]

my man