drug tests at work

AHarvey

AHarvey

AHarvey

Soldato
Joined
6 Mar 2008
Posts
10,084
Location
Stoke area
Hi everyone,

I work in industry that attracts a lot of dossers, and several of them insist on smoking weed while at work.

I know this, other people have told me as much but proving it or catching them in the act is impossible.

Does anyone know anything about introducing random drug tests? Do you have to give a warning or can you do them on the spot?
 
Cannabis stays in your system for weeks afaik so it wouldn't prove they were just taking it at work and thus perhaps a breech of privacy.

Dunno really.
 
I'd imagine you have to warn people that you're introducing random drugs tests, but I'm not sure about warning people before you test them - the whole 'random' element, right there. You could always play it safe and warn them a couple of days in advance - THC will still be detectable in urine, and any employees who are mysteriously ill every time they're expected to take a drugs test would probably qualify for dismissal. Just make sure you label the urine pots yourself before they fill em, because the 20ml sterile containers are obtainable everywhere and it's not uncommon to find people smuggling another dude's dribbles for this exact purpose.
 
Employee consent but you could be disciplined / sacked for refusing.

Frankly what reason would you have to refuse it if you're innocent.

I would have no objection to testing including DNA in theory so long as after it has been tested no records are held, I would only object if I knew I was guilty of something or if it was going to be held.

People should quit hiding behind the rubbish of 'privacy'.

Mind you it's a whole other issue whether drugs should be banned in the first place, I do not think they should be but should be subject to rules like alcohol so that it is the misuse that is an offence not the usage itself.
 
Happens on a lot of our client sides and it's completely randomised, all sub-contractors are expected to comply too. Mysteriously don't show up on that day (ie arrive and realise your about to be tested and bugger off) and you won't be able to work on that clients sites again however you'll probably keep your own job with your company that employs you.

Drug testing is completely legal and if staff fail it's legal to sack them (Gross Misconduct probably). It's also legal to randomise testing with no prior warning.
 
You can't tell whether or not people are smoking weed at work with a standard drug test. Only if someone has smoked it in the past few weeks, which doesn't achieve what you want.

It seems a really convoluted setup when you could just monitor said employees to see if they are committing said offence. No point in breaching privacy when there's no need to.

Orion21 said:
Frankly what reason would you have to refuse it if you're innocent.
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Maybe one of the millions of people who doesn't want their employer to know their medical history?
 
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"andy" said:
does it not need to be mentioned in the job advert and contracts ?
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Yes. You can't introduce drug tests without getting them to agree to a change of contract. And as has been said already it will only show if someone has smoked over the last couple of months.
 
Just out of curiosity - what industry is it you work in?

I believe cannabis can stay in your system for two weeks or so, we have random drug testing at my work (the distribution industry) though it isn't randomly implemented it is put to use after any accident occurs for obvious reasons.
 
The company I work for have the view that if its in your system then your gone. If you smoked it 2 mins before or 2 weeks before the random test. The argument that they cannot tell when you took it makes it more of a deterrant not to smoke it. One guy got sacked after coming home from a holiday in Holland and tried some weed to see what it was like. He got tested 3 weeks later and was sacked. My company said if your in the UK and get test and its in your system in the UK your under UK law and under contract which says a positive result is dismissal.
 
I'm more amazed they're smoking it AT work. I know of some companies that have done alcohol and drug tests at work, although they are American bluechips.
 
ive been subjected to a couple of random drug tests on various sites and really dont have a problem with them. Nothing to hide etc
 
so what would heppen to someone who had been over to Amsterdam for a weekend and got tested the week after ? they have done nothing illegal
 
If you had a drugs test at work then you could have smoked cannabis a week ago at the weekend or something. Would it even still qualify as under the influence of drugs at work?

I know certain jobs require you to be clean such as the police
 
the UK is VERY different from the states. We have lot LOT stronger pro-employee rules. You can not make someone have a test unless it is written into their contract. You can not give them any kind of disciplinary if they refuse to have the test unless specifically written into their contract.

Sacking someone if they fail a drug test they agreed to take (or were contracted to) may result in them sueing you for unfair dismissal as they have not done anything wrong whatsoever as proved in a court of law or industrial tribunal.

The bottom line, we are entirely different from TV shows you see in the states with regards to employee rights. Tread very carefully. Someone smoking hash in their private time, that doesn't affect their work and they have not been prosecuted for in a court of law (so are innocent because not yet proven guilty formally), IS LEGALLY NONE OF YOUR DARN BUSINESS. :(
 
If it's on the contract and they agreed to drug tests then yes, however, you can't just do them randomly. This isn't the states and we actually have employee rights.
 
Rotty said:
so what would heppen to someone who had been over to Amsterdam for a weekend and got tested the week after ? they have done nothing illegal
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this can be dependant on company. The one im with at the moment if this happens (and it has) the person is suspended for a couple of weeks until it is out of their system. That way if there is an accident they didnt have someone working knowingly under the influence.
 
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