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Drug testing at work, in a non DRUG FREE environment.

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Lou Zeffer

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Georgia


My employer is going to drug test employees at our auto shop next week. Drug testing was not a requirement for employement when I got hired three years ago. The testing is performed by a company employee on company property in the restroom. This testing is spontaneous. Our company has no employee handbook, no company policies. The owner micromanages all 30 employees from the hip. I have never signed any document about a drug free work environment. I feel as if this is being used to threaten my job. I understand drug testing is neccesarry, but is there a a proper way to do it? This seems all wrong to me.

Is my employer trying to catch people breaking the law by breaking the law himself? Is my employer out of line? What should I do?
 


Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Georgia


My employer is going to drug test employees at our auto shop next week. Drug testing was not a requirement for employement when I got hired three years ago. The testing is performed by a company employee on company property in the restroom. This testing is spontaneous. Our company has no employee handbook, no company policies. The owner micromanages all 30 employees from the hip. I have never signed any document about a drug free work environment. I feel as if this is being used to threaten my job. I understand drug testing is neccesarry, but is there a a proper way to do it? This seems all wrong to me.

Is my employer trying to catch people breaking the law by breaking the law himself? Is my employer out of line? What should I do?
Just a bit scared huh? :rolleyes:
 

ENASNI

Senior Member
what should you do?
stop smoking pot?

Georgia is not so strict on these things it seems they need a written policy to enforce drug testing. I understand you questioning the drug test but still ... stop smoking pot:cool:
 

Lou Zeffer

Junior Member
what should you do?
stop smoking pot?

Georgia is not so strict on these things it seems they need a written policy to enforce drug testing. I understand you questioning the drug test but still ... stop smoking pot:cool:
I'm only asking this, what is the proper way to drug test? Is it possible to do it improperly? What are the ramifications of improperly drug testing employees?
 

FlyingRon

Senior Member
No employer has to tolerate drug use regardless of whether they tell you it's a drug free environment or not. You're on notice.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Is my employer trying to catch people breaking the law by breaking the law himself?

There is nothing illegal in what your employer is doing.

Is my employer out of line?

I don't see anything out of line about it.

What should I do?


Prepare to be drug tested.
 

swalsh411

Senior Member
If you're worried that your employer could go to the police and have you charged with a crime based solely on failing a drug test you don't need to worry about that.

He's not trying to "catch people breaking the law" but rather ensure a safe workplace and not employ illegal drug users, both of which are perfectly legal and legitimate purposes.
 

cyjeff

Senior Member
Especially around things like power tools, vehicle lifts and situations where test driving customer cars is a frequent occurrence.

I am a little perplexed why your boss didn't start testing you guys years ago.

You do realize, by the way, that weed stays in your system a month, right?
 

Isis1

Senior Member
Especially around things like power tools, vehicle lifts and situations where test driving customer cars is a frequent occurrence.

I am a little perplexed why your boss didn't start testing you guys years ago.

You do realize, by the way, that weed stays in your system a month, right?
depending on body fat, it could be longer....
 
depending on body fat, it could be longer....
Could also be less.

The OP never stated he uses drugs, or smokes weed, and yet there are implications that he does. He might not use drugs at all or he might use crack, we don't know.

OP, just like an employer can decide to fire you if they don't wish to have you as an employee anymore, they can decide that they want their work to be a drug free environment. It sounds like this is an independent shop with an owner. If it's his choice to drug test, then he could do it by himself, as opposed to paying a lab to test and analyze. He could probably also lie about the results to you as an excuse to fire you if he didn't wish to have you as an employee anymore. Either way, you could always refuse to test and see what he decides he wants to do with you, but it probably won't end up well. Bottom line is that he doesn't have an obligation to keep you as an employee if he doesn't want to. He probably isn't looking for an excuse to fire you, if he didn't like you before he probably wouldn't have kept you until now. If you've got nothing to hide, then just test and be done and make your boss happy. If you're not clean, try to get clean if you can.
 

cyjeff

Senior Member
Could also be less.

The OP never stated he uses drugs, or smokes weed, and yet there are implications that he does. He might not use drugs at all or he might use crack, we don't know.

OP, just like an employer can decide to fire you if they don't wish to have you as an employee anymore, they can decide that they want their work to be a drug free environment. It sounds like this is an independent shop with an owner. If it's his choice to drug test, then he could do it by himself, as opposed to paying a lab to test and analyze. He could probably also lie about the results to you as an excuse to fire you if he didn't wish to have you as an employee anymore. Either way, you could always refuse to test and see what he decides he wants to do with you, but it probably won't end up well. Bottom line is that he doesn't have an obligation to keep you as an employee if he doesn't want to. He probably isn't looking for an excuse to fire you, if he didn't like you before he probably wouldn't have kept you until now. If you've got nothing to hide, then just test and be done and make your boss happy. If you're not clean, try to get clean if you can.
Please review the term "at will employment". Thanks.

If an employer didn't want him around anymore, why go to all this trouble? You just fire him.

I wouldn't refuse the test, though. Losing a job on an experiment is stupid.
 
Please review the term "at will employment". Thanks.

If an employer didn't want him around anymore, why go to all this trouble? You just fire him.

I wouldn't refuse the test, though. Losing a job on an experiment is stupid.
I agree with you, I just didn't word it very well. I was trying to say his employer could fire him for any reason they wish, and that drug testing would be a lot of work for his employer to use just to look for excuses to fire him. So it's unrealistic to say that his employer is going to lie to him about the results or look for reasons to get rid of people. The employer's reason is valid, he probably has insurance and may have people driving cars where he assumes liability for his employees if they mess up. Basically, in response to one of the OP's direct questions, it's not being used to threaten your job.
 

swalsh411

Senior Member
If you fail the test and are fired and apply for unemployment the employer would have to prove that you were high on the job in order to substantiate misconduct. I am not aware of any precedent that says using recreational drugs on your own time constitutes misconduct. Or you could also refuse to take the test, and if you are fired claim that you never agreed to testing as a condition of employment. Either way I think you have a decent chance of qualifying for unemployment.
 
If you fail the test and are fired and apply for unemployment the employer would have to prove that you were high on the job in order to substantiate misconduct. I am not aware of any precedent that says using recreational drugs on your own time constitutes misconduct. Or you could also refuse to take the test, and if you are fired claim that you never agreed to testing as a condition of employment. Either way I think you have a decent chance of qualifying for unemployment.
While I don't know the specific state laws for unemployment in GA, that doesn't make sense. The purpose of the test is not to see if employees are high on the job, it's to see whom uses certain substances. If you fail a drug test, that's a perfectly valid reason for an employer to fire you and I don't think they would be granted unemployment.

And to your second point, I refused a drug test to an employer that I was sick of (I was also dirty and knew I wouldn't pass) and didn't care to work for anymore. I could've just quit before refusing to test, but I refused to test and got fired instead in hopes that I might get unemployment. It was denied, so my personal experience is that you don't have a very decent chance of being granted unemployment. There is not very much sympathy for people who can't pass or refuse to take drug tests, nor should there be.
 

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