Requesting a different type of drug screen method from an employer / posible employer

[cbg]

Okay, with that understood and with the information now available, I don't see that you're going to have any option but to explain the situation. I don't see how you will be disqualifying yourself from the job - I take it this is pre-employment testing? - by this unless the job duties themselves require that you be able to pee on demand; an employer may not legally disaqualify an employee for medical reasons unless those reasons prevent the employee from doing the job. Just say, I have a medical condition which will not in any way affect my ability to do the job but which makes urinating on demand to be difficult - would it be possible to do a saliva or hair follicle test?

And if they say yes, you're fine, and if they say no, then you either find a way to take the urine test or you find another employer.

Not trying to be harsh here, just stating the realities of life. As I mentioned in my very first post, they're not obligated to make the exception and if they take a very conservative view of anti-discrimination practices, they may feel that they need everyone to take the same test.

And, it's always possible that they'll be looking at hair follicle tests anyway - more employers are going that direction anyway.

 

[commentator]

I am responding as I suspect 99% of HR people you'd be interviewing with will respond. As I said, "shy bladder" or "needle phobia" do not carry much clout in their minds. I have actually heard the "shy bladder" thing (sometimes even with medical excuses) used by locally famous and dedicated druggies, usually without effect. They just don't get the job.

Is that really a problem (drug use) you ask. Why do you think they're testing you ?

When there is a person who identifies themself as a person with some sort of special circumstances, it usually is simply seen as a deviation from the pretty much fixed protocols they like to use in their hiring processes. And yes, they will assume the worst, that you are a dedicated pothead trying to get around the test. It'd be a beautiful world if it wasn't this way, but such is life. The higher up you are, the more successful you might be in selling yourself, presenting yourself as the candidate they can't afford to miss even though there are special circumstances. But for your average job in today's job market, they have all they need to pick from, and don't have to be very open to exceptions.

I once took a lengthy complaint against an employer wherein the prospective employee described at length the humiliating and frustrating process whereby he was unable to produce urine in a drug test situation. It went nowhere, and he did not get the job.

You may do as cbg suggests, and explain yourself, but then the chips will fall where they may, and if it sounds hinky to me, it's likely going to sound very hinky to people who are doing the hiring in this hypothetical job situation. You'll certainly have to do a better job of explaining, and I suggest that you stress that your problem is a result of a definite and defined illness, not a chronic nervous or psychological condition, and that you provide more detailed information during your request than you gave us here. I may not be a trained medical person, but neither is the person who is going to be interviewing you for a job. They probably can't think of a legitimate medical condition you're hinting at with your euphemisms either. You'll have to be very blunt and very sincere.

You have been told that you have no real legal right to demand that you be given a different test.

If we're doing hypotheticals anyhow, let's just say that hopefully they'll soon be hiring using hair follicle testing, and maybe the issue won't come up.

What else do you need?

 

[!CuriousGeorge!]

If we're doing hypotheticals anyhow, let's just say that hopefully they'll soon be hiring using hair follicle testing, and maybe the issue won't come up.

Hey, I cannot have an employer pulling out my last hair on my head...

The OP was not clear but its possible that the OP is not worried about a positive drug result but of other things being discovered (diabetes, etc).

 

[horseatingweeds]

Thanks for the responses cbg and commentator. I wish everyone would switch to follicle tests. Since researching this question has inadvertently turned up numerous methods of thwarting the urine test, I think the follicle test would me more legitimate anyway.

Perhaps more detail will yield more advice? I'm currently working on a BS degree in computer science. So I'll be hopefully interviewing with larger corporations and tech companies. I'm specifically interested in developing software. Does that have implications here?

Here's an additional question, if that's OK. This is a disability. On an number of job ads I've read that they encourage "women, minorities, veterans, and people with disabilities" to apply. Is that just a sticker?

Also, don't larger companies have quotas they have to fill? In my experience, letting it slip out that you're sick ends the opportunity. So are these quotas more for visually identifiable disabilities?

 

[cbg]

I doubt that shy bladder constitutes a disabilty under the ADA. Drug use definitely does not. Are you referring to something else?

 

[horseatingweeds]

I doubt that shy bladder constitutes a disabilty under the ADA. Drug use definitely does not. Are you referring to something else?

I don't have a shy bladder. I've got a chronically inflamed bladder and a bladder neck dysfunction... I'm also on SSD.

 

[cbg]

Thank you for clarifying.

Encouraging people with disabilites to apply does not mean that only people with disabilities can apply; nor does it mean that if you have a disability you are guaranteed the job. It means that they are aware of their responsibilities NOT to discriminate and that they will give you exactly the same consideration as anyone else.

Which means they will NOT give you additional consideration - they will base all decisions on qualifications, period.

 

[!CuriousGeorge!]

Which means they will NOT give you additional consideration - they will base all decisions on qualifications, period.

Its standard boilerplate usually but some companies would pick a disabled person over a non-DA person. Impossible to say at this point.

I doubt they will test your urine for anything other than drugs unless its a physical exam too.

 

[cbg]

Well, of course it's possible that they might pick a disabled person over a non-disabled person. If they wouldn't, no disabled person would ever get hired. That's why we have the ADA - to level the playing field.

But the argument could easily be made that an employer who deliberately hired someone solely because they are disabled is engaging in illegal discrimination just as much as if they hired someone solely because they were a woman, or Hispanic, or Muslim.

 

[horseatingweeds]

Thanks.

Here's another related question then: What is the best way to explain an employment gap due to illness? For example, if I've been unemployed since 2005, and I'm having an interview in 2013, how might I explain the gap without giving away that I'm sick?

Also, assuming I manage to get a job without mentioning my illness, how do I keep from getting fired once they find out. Traveling is a problem for me, so I'll avoid any jobs requiring that of course. But some days I'm rather miserable to say the least--hoping that will improve. But even on good days I used the bathroom a lot, no worse that a bad smoker's smoke breaks though I suppose.

 

[ecmst12]

Urine tests are cheap. Hair tests are expensive.

 

[cbg]

I think you are overthinking this. I also think you have gotten a very incorrect idea into your head, as in, I won't be hired if anyone finds out I've been off work for medical leave.

In actual fact, one of the few acceptable ways to explain a gap in employment history is for medical reasons. Few employers will hold it against you that you missed a couple of years work due to illness. You MIGHT possibly get away with "I took a couple of years off while the kids were small" but you'd better have some recent pictures of couple of cute six and eight year olds in their first-day-of-school clothes on your desk if you do. "I was writing my thesis" might fly if you're applying for a job in academia or research, but again, we want to see that framed Phd with last May's date on it hanging on the office wall. Beyond that, "I was off for medical reasons but I'm completely recovered and fully able to return to work full time" is about all that's left.

You want to say as little as you possibly can. The ONLY question an employer is allowed to ask you about your disability or medical condition is something along the lines of, "The job requires x, y, and z. Are you able to fulfill those requirements with or without a reasonable accomodation?" That is, that's the only thing they're allowed to ask unless YOU bring up the subject first. So don't bring it up. Stick to the answer I gave you above when they ask why you've got a two year gap (or whatever it was) in your history. If they persist, smile and say, "It's not very interesting. I'm quite all right now. Tell me more about the purchasing process you mentioned - is there formal training in that?" or something similar. Then, when/if they ask if you are able to fulfil the requirements of the position, say Yes. Leave it at that.

Once you get into the job, if you find that you need an accomodation, you go to HR (NOT your manager) and you say, using exactly these words: I am requesting a reasonable accomodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act". Then tell them what the problem is and what kind of accomodation you need. Be open to alternate possibilities. Cooperate when they ask for medical verification (they're entitled to it by law - don't fight them). Work with them; offer suggestions when asked; don't demand the accomodation you want or the doctor recommends; give any suggestions they make serious consideration and only reject them if they simply Do Not Work.

If you do not need an accomodation once you get into work, do not discuss your condition at work. Period.

This really isn't as hard as you are trying to make it, if you handle it right.

 

[horseatingweeds]

Thanks cbg. That sounds like good advice.