My wife has chronic pain. When FMLA ran out, she lost her job. Now she is still periodically taking narcotic painkillers. She says she can’t get a job because the opiates would show up on a drug screen. I wouldn’t think this is a problem, but she insists that it is standard practice for employers to not ask questions and simply reject any applicants who are taking medication. There is plenty of medical support for a medical problem from several doctors/facilities. The presence of an observable, physical problem is well documented. Ironically, she has worked for years in the healthcare industry. So . . . medicine is only for patients? Workers are expected never to need or use prescription drugs? FWIW, we live in Louisiana (admittedly the home of much anti-drug hysteria). Does she really have to be off of everything before she can get any employment? Thanks in advance.
Does she have a current prescription for these drugs?
It’s going to depend on individual employers. Some of them will make a blanket decision not to hire anyone who fails a drug test, legitimate prescription or not. Others will consider it on a case by case basis, assuming your wife has sufficient documentation. Really all she can do is be upfront with the employer before she even takes the test, and see what they say.
The drug testing firm my company uses asks applicants to list any drugs they are currently taking or have taken within the last month. If an applicant tests positive for, say, Vicodin, we’ll want to see the prescription. But assuming such is available, that won’t be a bar for employment.
As a fellow chronic pain sufferer, I feel for your wife. I no longer work, due to the level of pain and problems assosiated with the large amount of narcotics, however when I did I was subject to random drug test. I was on pain meds then and I just informed the person drawing the blood what meds I was on. Never ended up being a problem for me, however I was already working.
The way it was explained to me was as follows:
Ideally, the employer contracts the drug testing to a lab; if you have a valid prescription for the medication, they’re supposed to return a negative result for the drug test. The employer shouldn’t need to know about the prescriptions the employee is taking. There are, however, some jobs that you aren’t allowed to do even if you’re taking prescription medications legally; generally these involve safety concerns like operating heavy equipment, driving buses, flying airplanes, etc.
I would suspect it would depend too on the type of work and the drug. If the work requires dexterity or complicated mental or physical activity, then being on opiates would make the work difficult or even dangerous.
Since, in most states, I believe, it’s illegal to drive while on opiates, I imagine employers might view it as a liability.
I think that you have hit the nail on the head. The problem your wife might have getting employed might be directly related to the type of job she is trying to get. Any job that requires driving, flying, and such might prove problematic. The company’s view I suspect would be that if an accident happened and it was proven that the person responsible was on narcotics and the company was aware of it, then that places them in jepordy of losing a suit.
Just a thought, but thinking more on it the best bet would be to be 100% upfront and honest with a potential employer if the mention of drug testing comes up. Better to be upfront than have to explain when bells go off.
Sounds like your wife reaaally doesn’t want to work. Or reaaally doesn’t understand the system at all. I just had pre-employment drug testing and it was made quite clear that prescription drugs were not going to bar me from employment, so long as I listed them and provided current prescriptions.
My drug test was in PA and I expect the laws to be similar across state lines.
I don’t know about that – it’s almost always illegal to drive while intoxicated, and an opioid-naive person would probably become intoxicated by taking opioids. But how many states have laws criminalizing driving with any detectable level of opioids in the blood?
I had to take a drug test for my current job. An actual “go to the lab and pee into a cup with a tech outside” test. I was told in advance to either bring copies of any prescriptions I was on or the actual bottles. I don’t know wether or not the employer would be informed what meds somebody was on. There jobs that involve driving or operating heavy machinery, but I don’t work one of those. The form I took to the lab just had boxes to check off indicating wither it was a blood, urine, or hair test and wether it had to be witnessed or not.
Not to mention that not all jobs require drug tests. My current employer, for instance, does not.
My previous one used to, but stopped about 8 years ago.
-D/a
The employer doesn’t get your medical information. They don’t get to go through your list of prescriptions. The drug test is done by a certified lab that would lose their license if they were handing over your medical information to the potential employer. The lab tests and reports only on illegal drug use.
If you have a prescription for a drug and the lab is aware of this they don’t count it as a illegal drug. The employer only gets informed of a pass or fail. I don’t even think the lab can inform the employer what caused the failure without your informed consent. You do not fail for having legally acquired drugs in your system.
If she’s looking for excuses as to why not to pursue employment I guess her complaints good enough. Seems like she’s reaching a bit rather then sticking with a more valid complaint of ‘I’m in chronic pain and don’t want to go to work in this condition’
If it is prescription, and she can document it, she will very likely be able to work. Unless her job would be a truck driver, forklift operator, pilot, doctor, etc, where being on such meds could endanger others.
But wait, if she can return to work, why not go back to the old employer? Even if she finished FMLA, if she re-applies they might take her back.
I’m on a prescription drug that makes me fail drug tests. It’s not a problem.
I go and take the test. Then I get a call the next day from a doctor associated with the lab telling me I failed and asking me if I have a prescription. Then he checks with the doc/pharmacy, and since it’s legit, tells the company I passed. Because I have passed. I’m not using anything I’m not supposed to.
In this state and in the two previous states I’ve lived, the law was Driving Under the Influence. Here it includes any drugs legal and illegal that impairs the ability to drive.
While in theory the only time you’d get kicked for taking a legitimate prescription is when it’s a safety issue (as mentioned - those operating heavy machinery or working in transportation) the fact is that there is prejudice out there, and things are not as always confidential as they should be.
I agree, but there are other positions in which a clear mind is of upmost importance. I would never dream of going to work in the ICU with any opiates on board.
That said, the general public, that includes bosses have been misled about opiates, addiction and the effects and side effects of pain managment medications, in general.
Wouldn’t that include the use of heavy machinery? But yes, that would certainly be a safety issue.