Drug testing at work

Does anyone actually get regularly tested?


I've only seen it three times:
-on new hires
-after an accident happens
-when someone is clearly messed up


I assume these are all a cover your ass thing from hr

Usually happens in govt/state jobs.
I work for a large private co. No testing. I have been with the co 10+ yrs so have no clue if they do testing on new hires...

No testing at my company...there was entrance testing when I worked at the federal reserve (and incident related after that...not sure that they did any "random" testing)

I have friends at the big investment banks who had to pass. They may have been tested before their internships and since they took jobs at the same firm, were never tested again (and from what you hear about bankers in NYC...I can't imagine they test regularly).

I suppose they did screen for coke (specifically only cocaine and nothing else) when I added some extra insurance (short and long term disability/life/AD&D) but I don't think they share those results with the employer.

I was tested when I started my government job. For most positions, they don't do any random testing after the pre-hire screen. Public safety positions and any job where you drive a government vehicle are the exception and subject to randoms.

We do after a safety incident or if supervisor feels you are under the influence. We had to stop on hire and randoms because we were having problems hiring and kept losing staff. When the majority of your staff are menial labour, i.e. food service, janitorial, house keeping and nursing (includes PCTs, CNAs, and nurses) you get a ton of recreational users.

Most companies don't do drug testing anymore because it's way too costly. I think they do drug testing only on people that have blue collar jobs.

I had to get screened every summer in college before various internships, and before I took my full time position. The end of Spring semester was always a bit of a downer for that reason.

Thankfully it's a one-time thing with most companies.

I was tested for my bank internship a few years back.

I was tested again before working as a doorman of an UES building. That was really weird.


Question: Does anybody know if the results are shared with employers? Assuming you fail the drug test, wouldn't the employer already assume so when he finds out you're not working?

This stuff about being tested for an office job blows my mind. Up here the circumstances you can test under are very strict and you can not, generally, discriminate against an addict. I can not think if a situation you can test under that us not safety related. And even that is limited. The basic idea is that unless you are impaired at work putting somebody else's life at risk it is none of your employer's business.

And the testing has to test current impairment if my memory serves me. Nor merely past use.

piob- what did you test for?

I'm assuming you just got a "pass/fail" back from the testing company but could you give them guidelines?

Could you tell them you don't care about traces of pot but would prefer to avoid candidates with a mixture of of heroin, coke, and meth in their system?

At my current job (and probably all jobs in my industry) you can be screened at any time. We can also be randomly brethalized on the road.

My uncle, who is an exec at a large chem company in Houston told me once that they do random testing for drugs and alcohol at any time during the day. They'll call you from your office and tell you to come down to one of the conference rooms.

Originally Posted by pseudonym

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I was tested for my bank internship a few years back.

I was tested again before working as a doorman of an UES building. That was really weird.


Question: Does anybody know if the results are shared with employers? Assuming you fail the drug test, wouldn't the employer already assume so when he finds out you're not working?

Of course they are, the doctor isn't going to tell you that you don't get the job.... The Employer receives the results and then tells you that you won't be starting work.

Originally Posted by Kvc06

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Of course they are, the doctor isn't going to tell you that you don't get the job.... The Employer receives the results and then tells you that you won't be starting work.

Thanks for that.

Probably the reason why I refuse to apply for any corporate internships that I know will drug test.

No drug testing whatsoever in my field. I'd say at least 20% of classical musicians occasionally have some fun with substances. Not sure about army/navy/marine bands.