Drug testing Cancel The title field is required!

1. Fleegel Timothy

   
   6/23/2011 9:06 AM

   I have an employee who I suspect is smoking dope at work. Does anybody do their own testing? How much does it cost per sample, etc. This is the first time I've had to deal with something like this.

   
   
   
   
2. Andy Jorgensen

   

   1 posts
   
   6/23/2011 2:06 PM

   Most of your walk-in clinics will do them. I'm not sure of the legal ramifications of you doing them yourself, and then firing an employee and facing a wrongful termination lawsuit based on the fact you have no training or certifications to give the test. Our tests run us about $45 each and take about 30 minutes to administer at the clinic.
   
   When we suspect, we will call the clinic and let them know who is coming. Once the employee is notified, they have 20 minutes to report. Failure to report or failure to report in the set time is immediate termination. Failing requires a second test. Failing that test is immediate termination.

   
   
   
   
3. Wahlin Scott B

   
   6/23/2011 2:06 PM

   Why do you suspect him?

   
   
   
   
4. Fleegel Timothy

   
   6/23/2011 6:06 PM

   wahlins said: Why do you suspect him?

   
   
   Because on more than one occasion I've been told he smells like pot, and this morning there were pot shavings on the ground in one of our bathrooms. I have no hard proof though.

   
   
   
   
5. Wahlin Scott B

   
   6/23/2011 7:06 PM

   I think you have to send him for a drug test. I don't know of anyone who is doing it at their site. The last few companies I have worked for test for drugs, but do not fire immediately. They offer counseling at the companies' expense and retests at the employees expense. For me, I think I would talk to him and tell him to cut it out unless the company had a set policy.
   
   When I was an apprentice, the club was building a new clubhouse. The construction guys smoked pot all day every day. After the work was completed and before CO was issued, my superintendent took our chairman for a tour of the landscaping. In it he found a number of marijuana plants. He brought them back to the office tied up with string and set it on the corner of my desk. He told me to show it to the crew so that they knew that we knew what it looked like.
   
   We always fed the on duty sheriff's deputies in a room on the back of the clubhouse. Since the clubhouse was closed the meager F&B operation was located on the back of the maintenance building. At lunch an officer came into my office, saw that the conference table was covered with plans and asked if he could move my pot and eat on the corner of my desk. He did and we talked sports. When he finished he put the pot back on my desk and left.

   
   
   
   
6. Sean Hoolehan

   

   0 posts
   
   6/24/2011 9:06 AM

   Tim,
   Unless you have a written policy as a drug free work place you should use caution on sending him for a drug test. If you have a policy it would clearly cover what to do. A drug test would not tell you if he had been smoking pot at work just that he had been smoking recently. If you do not have a policy you should be sure to have more than suspicion but hard evidence and have a witness with you. You could always let this person go for other reasons such as performance or attendance as people who smoke pot at work generally have these issues

   
   
   
   
7. Shane Schutte

   

   0 posts
   
   6/24/2011 9:06 AM

   Tim,
   
   What Hoolehan said, plus I would always send two employees. This gives you the excuse of starting random drug testing. Many times, especially with pot, they will just quit when you notify them of the test because it stays in your system for so long.
   
   Good Luck,
   
   Shane Schutte, GCS
   Ventanas de San Miguel Golf Resort

   
   
   
   
8. Fleegel Timothy

   
   6/24/2011 10:06 AM

   Thanks for the responses. I made a comment to the entire staff at lunch yesterday regarding drugs and alchohol use at work. Hopefully he gets the message. I'm going to try and get some firm, caught red handed evidence before I take the next step. Thanks again.