With the increasing legalisation and social acceptability of marijuana, have any major companies announced that they’re not going to care if someone tests positive for marijuana, just as most companies don’t care about alcohol. I’m referring to the pre employment drug screen rather than a drug test given as the result of an accident.
Maybe some, but only for job applicants who live in Colorado?
I think a pharmaceutical exemption would work any place medical marijuana is legal.
I’d be surprised if any have done so. If they do it now, it’s because they have a government contract which requires it. Those haven’t changed, since the federal government has not legalized it. So the only way they’d stop testing is if they lost all their government contracts and don’t plan on any in the future.
The company I work for still tests for it and will fire you if you test positive. They have, however, stopped doing random tests and most post-accident tests, presumably because of how many people they were having to fire.
Son-of-a-wrek said his company put out a big notice that Weed use was still against their policy. The first Medical marijuana went on sale in Arkansas this past weekend.
My company still tests for it in pre-employment screening & random drug screens after being hired. I believe it’s because we drive company cars & it effects insurance rates.
My company has never tested for pot. I don’t expect them to start now.
Not stopped drug testing, otherwise they would not be in compliance with the Drug Free Workplace act of 1988 which is required to do business with any part of the federal government. An employer must have a drug free workplace plan in place.
But I am aware of several large employers in my area that have switched from urine testing, which may show a positive for pot up to 30 days, and have moved to mouth swabs which can test clean in only a few days.
Mouth swabs will more accurately indicate whether you are currently under the influence or have very recently smoked.
My company doesn’t either and it’s a large publicly traded company. The background check is extensive enough that I assume they don’t want to lose any more potential employees, especially since we hire a lot of new grads.
Some companies have, some have not. In states with medical marijuana, some will honor your prescription/recommendation and not fire you for testing positive for pot; others will not. Some states (I believe) provide protection for employees against being fired for testing positive for pot, but most have not.
Not for nothing, I read an article a while back that one HR guy in Missouri said that he can’t hire for third shift if he tests for pot, even though his company “requires” pre-employment drug testing. He said no applicants would pass.
CDL holders (commercial drivers license) are still subject to periodic random drug tests by law, and that isn’t going to change. Small company and independent drivers are put into a larger pool so the odds of getting picked are slim. But possible.
But other than that, random drug tests in my legal state have quietly gone by the way side. Oh sure, they technically still could do randoms if they felt a need. It is in the employment agreement that I signed all those years ago. Like if they felt the need to fire a third or more of their work force, including high level managers. “For cause” testing means that you came to work obviously fucked up and should have just called in sick.
After a few more states allow medical, and recreational, there will be more pressure on a Federal level to amend Nancy Reagan’s Drug Free Workplace Act of 1988. Until then, in my experience working for a federal government contractor, companies are finding ways to follow the letter of the law without following the intent. To look the other way as much as possible while maintaining a “drug free workplace”. The requirements of the Act are very non-specific as to what you must do, other than have a program in place.
If you know that you have a job interview coming up in three days, and you can’t quit smoking pot for those three days or so in order to pass a mouth swab test, well, then you probably have other issues too.
My large company doesn’t test. I don’t smoke pot, but I’d be incredibly turned off by the culture of any company that had mandatory drug testing. Is that actually the majority of companies? I would be surprised.
The Drug Free Workplace Act does not require drug testing.
From the experience of an acquaintance, some companies here in Minnesota really don’t care and try to hire qualified people despite the law.
A friend applied at a large construction company, which really wanted to hire him, because of his past experience. But he smoked marijuana, dealing with TBI issues, and told them that this would show up in their drug tests. The hiring manager asked if he had a medical marijuana certificate (at the time, Minnesota didn’t have that) – he said that if the applicant had one, even if from another state and even if expired, then he could ignore the test results on marijuana and hire him (if the test was otherwise clean). The manager even suggested that he take a vacation to California – there are doctors out there who will write you a certificate easily – then bring that back here and we’ll hire you.
So that company really didn’t care, if marijuana was the only drug used.
I’m 65 and have never been drug tested for employment, either. Currently I work at a small university in Maryland and I didn’t see any requirements on any of our few job postings (none of which were drivers, which might make a difference). I’ll have to ask a friend in HR about this.
Previously I worked in retail floorcovering, where drug testing was a waste of company resources.
I think it’s regional. In the Midwest, drug testing is common. It’s much less common in the Northeast.
I had to get a drug test for a job once. I wasn’t worked about failing it, but I was pretty upset that it was required. If I’d known that before giving notice at my prior employer, I might not have accepted the job. (Yes, they sprung it on me at the last minute.)
Interesting. Yet every company I have ever been associated with, all of which do defense contracting, test new hires for drug use. I don’t know if they all cite a federal requirement, but all assume a federal requirement. Perhaps it is just considered a safe thing to do given the requirement for an ongoing good-faith effort. Certainly enough companies outside the defense realm require it that there are several free-standing labs in our town offering drug screening.
Fortune 100 here, oh alright…Honeywell. I was tested as part of the job application process only. We are tested annually for tobacco because of a health insurance surcharge for smokers, but no drug testing, random or otherwise ever takes place after the hire.
My second day on the job I found out that due to the company having a government contract, I’d have to be drug tested. I walked out and refused to answer my phone for 6 hours. I eventually spoke with the director and told him I would have never taken the job had I known. He apologized and offered a work-around. If I could take one test, on a date that I chose, he would see to it that I was never “randomly” chosen for another.
I picked a date 5 weeks away and passed with flying colors. I never got picked for a “random” test (so much for random, huh).
It is confusing.
While the Federal Govt, as a whole, does not require drug testing, they also do not prohibit it. And several departments DO require testing as part of their own practices
And the federal govt has a very explicit set of guidelines that define what an acceptable drug test entails (very long PDF). So I can imagine that any company that does business with the govt is gonna drug test just to be on the safe side.