Just wondering what happed to you after you’ve failed a drug test. A buddy of mine at work failed one and they just let him go. Just like that. Gone. I’d figure they’d suspend him or something and give him time to clean up. Instead they just cut him off. I know companies are aloud to fire you but still.
A few things i’m also wondering about is:
“can they do this?”
obviously yes. Different companies have different policies, generally spelled out in their Personal Policies handbook.
Can they release the info to the Police? I don’t know if it’s legal, would suspect that the company wouldn’t want to, just because of the potential for complications - their aim (apparently) was to get rid of people who’d test out positive. They’ve achieved this. In addition, generally speaking, the police would have little interest in a case of “this person illegally used drugs”, in these circumstances. I’ve seen cases prosecuted for ‘use of a narcotic’, but those were generally either a person who was under the influence when they were taken into custody, or some one currently on parole/probation supervision.
Generally speaking (again very generally, don’t know the individual company policy/state you’re in etc.): Depending on those factors, the “results” resulting in his dismissal, it’s entirely possible that piece of data is also in his employee file.
At the company where I used to work, one of my staffers failed a drug test he was required to take after showing up to work one day reeking of alcohol. If he had refused the drug test, he would have been fired immediately.
The company’s policy allowed for a leave of absence under the Family an Medical Leave Act so the employee could seek appropriate treatment under the auspices of the company’s health benefits plan (which covered both in- and out-patient drug treatment plans).
This way we could guarantee his job for him for up to 12 weeks if he completed the treatment program.
If he had failed any of the random drug tests during his FMLA leave period, or if he had failed any drug test administered during the calendar year following his return to work full-time, he would have been fired immediately with no chance of rehire. As it happened, he successfully an in-patient treatment program and a follow-up out-patient program, and returned to work 8 weeks after his leave began. When I left that company in March, he had been sober for a year and a half, and had missed not a single day of work since his return from treatment.
Wellllllll…
I didn’t exactly fail, I got an imcomplete on a pre-employment drug screen. I had had a heatstroke the day before the test (in the casino’s employment office, no less) and had been pouring a lot of water into my system in an effort to not die. (I didn’t actually pass out, btw. I just had a security guard dump me into the first cab that pulled up and I went home).
I mentioned the heatstroke at the drug lab, too- had my big carry-cup of water with me.
Anyhoo, the sample came back as diluted, and the company refused to retest me, even though they were aware of what could be more than reasonably considered extenuating circumstances.
So, I went out and got a better job at a place that doesn’t do pre-employment drug tests.
I have since found out that the place that refused to re-test me has become one of Las Vegas’ notorious “89- day wonder” jobs, and I had already been through two of those.