I have recently changed jobs and taken a temp position working for a fairly large, recognizable IT company through a temp agency. Everyone involved is lovely and kind, and I like them very much.
As with many of these jobs and agencies, a drug test was required. While I am no fan of the War on Drugs, I have no problem with the requirement. There’s just one problem: I take a couple of prescription medications that are going to show up on this test and look very, very suspicious.
How is this usually handled? I have no problem scanning or copying the face labels on my prescription bottles and sending them in, but I don’t know if that will be enough. If my temp agency decides to press the issue, do I have any right to privacy concerning this matter? Employment in Texas is “at will,” meaning either of us walk off without warning. I’m not protected by a union or any other entity I can think of.
The way it worked the last time I had to do this was that they would just do the test, and if anything came up you would be contacted and asked to explain (so if you then produced your prescribed bottle you were fine).
If it’s legitimate, you should have no problems with a drug test. You probably want to take the bottles with you to the testing people in case they want to see them then, but they may not want any info from you at all beforehand.
Oh, I’ve already peed in a cup, and informed the local temp agency person that something would show up. However, my main contact is in another city, and that info might not have been shared with him.
Does this temp agency do their own drug tests? Not impossible, but not necessarily typical. Drug tests are usually done by a medical company (e.g. LabCorp) and all discussions of medical factors that might influence your results are with the medical company (not your employer). The employer (in this case the temp agency, but also the IT company) should only ever hear pass/no pass. Even if it’s the temp agency doing the drug testing, they should have a specific medical person who would get medical info from you.
A medical company did the test, and when I told my contact that I had a couple of prescription meds which would show up, she said if there was any doubt “the doctor” would contact me.
It’s not that I’m concerned with proving that I hold the prescriptions. It’s that I’m not interested in sharing my medical conditions with my employers, as it could conceivably harm my prospects for a permanent position.
My take on this is that you volunteered information you didn’t need to provide by mentioning it to the temp agency. Honestly, the temp agency person’s attitude toward your statement is probably “TMI.” Knowing that information is just a risk to her company, that the job will fall through and you will claim disability discrimination. Or even more likely, she has already forgotten.
There are some safety-sensitive jobs where you might need to tell a company medical officer about medications you are taking. That policy would be covered in safety training for those jobs.
Any company with its act together keeps the medical aspects of the drug testing process separate from the recruitment and selection process.
Phouka–Have you left teaching because it’s time to move on or because of the problems with that school you referenced in an earlier thread? If you are interested in teaching in the Dallas area still for next year, drop me a PM: I know you are burnt out about the district, but I am at one of the good schools and it’s a whole 'nuther world.