Drug Testing.

flashheatingand

Back in 86', the Supreme Court ruled that employers could drug test. That is a decision, that I think is unconstitutional.

Today, athletes (n.c.a.a. & professional) have to strip naked & pee in a bottle. I have even heard that drug testing is a part of elgibility conditions with high school student athletes.. There is a reason the genital area is called privates. Employers have no right to go there.

I am not defending drug use while on the job. But, to me, there are civil liberty issues that are disregarded. In addition, drug tests do not really take into consideration if drugs are being used while on the job. So, the testing process must be modified.

For example, Joe Lunchbox smokes some weed over the weekend, all of sudden he gets a random drug test and turns positive...bam, he is fired after many years of service. Is that right? Or for whatever reason, the boss has a hard-on for Joe, or the company has to downsize (without paying un-employment) so there is a company-wide drug test. Then, the poor guy(s) are w/ out a job for no good reason.

Today, drug testing is the rule, not the exception with major employers. I am not an idiot, I know the effects of drug abuse. But, in a country where we pride ourselves with our freedoms, the current policy of legalized drug testing in the work place is a moral injustice.

Happy Holidays, and may we all have a prosperous new year.

dougchips

Joe Lunchbox should of never applied for a job at a place that drug tests their employees.

IMO, what you do off the clock it none of an employer's business. I much rather have employees that smoke herb on their own time than employees that drink booze and come to work hung over and suffer long term health side effects.

mickeyco

Dude, don't sweat it, you can get some stuff at the vitamin store or drink a pint of vinegar.








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Some people climb mountains. I take out the trash. But we both do it for the same reason.

fireguy

For example, Joe the sprinkler tech does some weed on the weekend. we have an emergency call, and fix broken sprinler pipe in the nursing home. Joe leaves a groovelok loose. The pipe comes apart and floods the room below and soaks the 89 year old person. the 89 year old person has comprimised health and gets pnemonia because of the exposure to the water. But what the hell, we claim personal freedom, right?

For example, Joe the alarm tech does some weed on the weekend. We have an emergency call, and repair the fire alarm in the nursing home. Joe does not cut the wire going to the smoke detector. He just strips and loops the wire around the terminal, he does not tighten the screw down on the terminal either. we test the panel and all is good. the wire comes off the terminal, but because the connection is not done properly, the panel does not go into trouble. The 89 year old resident leaves the micro-wave on and forgets the food in the appliance. The appliance catches fire. the smoke does not work and the old person burns to death. The fire is not reported until it breaks out into the hall. the hall detector trips hte system. The fire trucks roll, residents are moved to a secure location while the FD puts wet stuff on the red stuff. But, what the hell, we claim personal freedom, right?

Maybe you never work with equipment or fuel, that if not done properly, can injure people. But the HVAC companies we work with do work with gas, electric, fuels that can be hazardous. Please e-mail me who you work for. I will keep your name confidential, not happily, but I will. I have a daughter and 2 cute little granddaughters in Boise, I do not want you or your firm in their house.

mickeyco

When I was working at AT&T we had drug testing and a crap load tested positive, a few for heroine and a bunch were rescheduled because they took something to mask the drugs, I was shocked, are that many people using drugs or was it a fluke?




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Some people climb mountains. I take out the trash. But we both do it for the same reason.

DetailHandyman

OK..I'll bite...what brought this on?

Just get fired for popping positive?

Drug testing should be in place for all occupations as far as I'm concerned. I don't want my kid's bus driver getting high before the morning drive. (don't want him/her chatting on the cell phone either, but that's another thread)

I have been drug tested by many employers in the past, for both initial employment and random testing. Never have I been asked to "strip naked". Maybe someone was watching me piss, but that didn't cause any performance anxiety on my part.

mickeyco

Come on, it was just a little crystal methamphetamine (the reason we now have to provide ID to by cold medicines), some dope and a little cocaine, what's the big deal. Who hasn't had the occasional drug binge?




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Some people climb mountains. I take out the trash. But we both do it for the same reason.

MALCO.New.York

If he is "On-Call". He is "on the clock". So your argument is valid only to a point.

Some of us stand for, off-the-clock is NONE of your business! UNLESS a Company Vehicle is involved.

The Government agrees that Marijuana is safe and EFFECTIVE for many a malady.

I do, however, draw the line with elicits. The Government does NOT write Prescriptions for Crack!



MANDATING Drug testing WOULD BE Unconstitutional. Not the simple act of ratifying the right for an Employer to administer a test as a prerequisite to hiring.

Part of our Constitutional Freedoms "protected" by the First Ten Amendments, is the Right to sign away your "protection" by these Amendments or your "Constitutional Rights".

The simple act of crossing the Property Line of ANY Major Transit System in America, holds you in agreement to give up certain (4th Amendment) Constitutional Rights and Protections.

If you want the Job, sign away and stop whining. If not, go to a Hack Shop and sign on!

Here is what IS Constitutional: An Employer CAN NOT administer a Drug Test WITHOUT a Serious Injury or Accident prompting such an action. "Randoms" are Illegal.

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Something to One may be Nothing to another!

Ultimate Wisdom---------
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW-cnizLDEE

dougchips

The stats on usage are all over the place and the big question is how many people lie. MA just passed a law about having under an ounce is now a parking ticket! I would assume that my state must have either a fair amount of users or maybe herb smokers vote more than non herb users.

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dougchips

Fireguy, let's say that Joe drinks booze while he's on call.......or Joe gets into the cough medicine.......or Joe sniffs modeling glue.......the point is that Joe should be dead sober while on call.

To be a little silly, lets say Joe pounded a 12 pack of Bass Ale Sunday night and goes to work Monday feeling like crap. He has the beer do do's but he is trying to hold them off until he finishes his install, his head is hurting, his stomach is upset, he feels like he's going to go in his pants---do you want him on the job? Every employer has a least one Joe working for them and it scares the heck out of me, how about you?

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skyhook

The people who complain about drug testing are usually the ones who can't pass. BFD
As for smoking, drinking, snorting or whatever, weekend or not, I don't want him on my job period.

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dougchips

I only want people who sleep 8 hours a night and spend all of their free time honing their job skills. It would also be nice if they had a really balanced fitness routine and ate a really good diet. Odd how I can't always get what I want.

__________________
To get the best replacement windows, or sun rooms contact the replacement windows experts at FHI Vinyl Window Company.

Bodger

The only Worker's Comp claim of any magnitude I ever had filed on me was by some Vicodin-addled sh!thead who tied the guard back on a SkilSaw and cut through the toe of his sneaker. His third day on the job.
He was busted a few weeks later for having over 200 Vic's in his backpack whilst bicycling to make a delivery somewhere.
Drug use is rampant.

dougchips

Vicodin is a prescribed medicine for pain. As employers/GC's, when do we tell people to take the day off when they have a prescription for their drugs? Is there any reference chart for drugs that are not safe to use on a construction site? Would/could we be in trouble if we made the wrong call?

I've known people who take pain meds daily (legally) and can not function without them. I've also seen legal and illegal pain pill usage destroy people and their family.

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To get the best replacement windows, or sun rooms contact the replacement windows experts at FHI Vinyl Window Company.

Bodger

Good point, I don't have an answer for that. I know the guy I was talking about was desperately addicted to Vicodin as I found out later, and was taking amounts way past any prescribed dosage. He came as a referral for emplyment through a freind who did not know of his problem. I actually tried to follow up and help the guy, talked to his wife. He was in jail and I let it go.
Good question though, if an employee is taking precription meds, which ones make it hazardous for a person to work in our type of endeavor? And how could we enforce?

shanekw1

Prescriptions state right on the bottle whether they have adverse side effects.. drowsyness, dizzyness, etc. and warnings not to operate machinery or vehicles while under their influence. It is the responsibility of doctors to fully explain to their patient any effects a treatment may have upon a person's ability to perform his/her job effectively and safely, as well, it is the responsibility of the person taking the prescip to disclose this info to you.

Some people will opt to not disclose this info to you for fear of losing a day or two of pay. A few paid sick days a year would probably eliminate most of this type of problem.

As for the hard-core addicts, unless they are caught popping pills at work, or are visibly impaired, I don't think there is a lot you can do until they hurt themselves or somebody else, then, hopefully, a proper investigation would reveal their dependancies. Unfortunately, with addiction being sold as a "disease" these days, you are not even allowed to fire this person, you must now pay for him/her to go to rehab (which probably won't work) and then give them their job back. (This is one situation where I agree this person should be made to submit to mandatory random drug testing.)

As far as testing before getting a job, I say F*** off, what a person does in their free time has NOTHING to do with their job. If someone shows up hungover, smelling like the inside of a bottle of Jim Beam and is draggin his/her a$$ around, send them home without pay. If someone shows up with eyes like rudolph's nose and smelling like they just stepped out of Cheech and Chong's van, send them home without pay.

Why don't we start checking where people eat? That 300 pound guy with high cholesterol would really hurt if he had a heart attack and fell on me.

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DetailHandyman

I'll bet you'd be pissed if your daughter's daycare started hiring child molesters.

Hey, what they do at home has nothing to do with their job, right?

DetailHandyman

I don't see that anywhere in the Constitution.

The fact that random drug testing will take place is fully disclosed before you agree to employment / participation in sports. Like you say in your post "If you want the Job, sign away and stop whining".

shanekw1

I'm pretty sure that in your country, like mine, people are innocent until proven guilty, and once proven guilty of child molestation, I think it would be pretty hard to get a job at a daycare.

I suppose we could start requiring full disclosure of a person's internet browsing history and chat session logs (lots of child molesters use these to lure children) before getting a job, why not have a look at the library books they have been checking out while you're at it, maybe they are planning to build a bomb. Better tap their phones too, just in case they have plans with their uncle in Germany to take the world over.

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threaderman

Actually,you are presumed guilty until proven innocent.

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