Any body finds drug tests for employment, especially the hair follicle ones humiliating? I thought they are just using couple of strands and I can just plug them off my head, but they require about 50 strands, cut at as close to the root as possible. For some reasons I find that very humiliating. And just weird. I want to cry just thinking about it. Disclaimer: I don't do drugs/marijuana, so I don't have any problem with drug tests.
Well, just because I don't do drugs doesn't mean I don't have a problem with unreasonable search and seizure (and yes, I know we are talking about private companies and not the government).
Post by iheartbanjos on Aug 21, 2014 13:06:11 GMT -5
I have never had to take a hair test, but a girlfriend did and you could see the chunk of hair as it grew out, especially when she had it in a ponytail. I would guess that it was more than 50 hairs that she had cut.
I have never had to take a hair test, but a girlfriend did and you could see the chunk of hair as it grew out, especially when she had it in a ponytail. I would guess that it was more than 50 hairs that she had cut.
I'd be really pisseded at them taking such a big chunk of hair if it's noticeable.
Also, I find hair drug tests kind of discriminatory to women. A man can just shave off their hair to avoid it but a woman really can't (well I guess technically she could). What does a company do when someone is bald or has a shaved head? I've never had a hair drug test and I haven't had a urine test in 10 years.
I'd be really pisseded at them taking such a big chunk of hair if it's noticeable.
Also, I find hair drug tests kind of discriminatory to women. A man can just shave off their hair to avoid it but a woman really can't (well I guess technically she could). What does a company do when someone is bald or has a shaved head? I've never had a hair drug test and I haven't had a urine test in 10 years.
The only time I had to do a drug test was for a college internship (and it was just a urine test). The receptionist at the lab thought I was pregnant and asked me when I was due I threw away the clothes I'd worn as soon as I got back to my dorm and called my mom in tears.
I have only done the urine test and have no problem with it. I can pee like a champ.
DH's previous employer would only require you to do a hair follicle test if you failed the urine test. In this case I don't think it would bother me that much. I wouldn't want my hair cut but I don't do anything that would cause me to fail (my poppy seed intake is very limited) so this isn't really on my radar.
Post by badtzmaru22 on Aug 21, 2014 13:51:37 GMT -5
I had to do a hair test once, and yes, they did take a big chunk out, but it was pretty hidden. I have tons of hair though, so it was weird but not a big deal. I imagine it would suck if you had thinner hair.
They took armpit hair from a guy friend of mine, so it wouldn't be a noticeable chunk from his head.
I think in general drug testing is rather dumb. Taking out 50 hairs would piss me off but I would do it.
I wonder how effective they are at catching drug users vs just being an annoyance for everyone. It doesn't really seem to be a thing here, although I've never worked a govt job or anything.
I've only heard of them for heavy equipment operators in the oil patch, police recruits, and military. Super rare.
DH's company sends three random people to pee in a cup every month. He works for a machine manufacturer and I'm pretty sure it's tied to their insurance, especially for the techs. They're in several types of plants all over the place and errors with the machine could kill someone, they have to guarantee everyone's clean. And they have people test positive all the time.
DH is the engineering manager and had to let a new hire go earlier this year because he tested positive for coke. How's that for a MM tie in.
It was no big deal for me except that I had just painted our front porch and had a TON of paint in my hair and she was like "WTF". I had to explain it was paint and she had to hunt around for places to take it from.
I don't think I've ever had a drug test. And I had a high level clearance at one point.
And what if you're in a legalized state?
I don't think it matters. here in IL, medical marijuana is legal for very specific conditions but employers still have the right to maintain a drug free environment... which, as far as I understand, includes pain management/disease management off site during non-working hours. (someone please correct me if I'm wrong!)
My DH works in manufacturing. A plant worker informed him that a couple fellow workers were smoking pot in their cars during a morning break.
I don't know what they were thinking, I wouldn't want anything in my system to impair my reflexes and lead to cutting off my hand or something. But DH has stories to tell.
Plus he had alcohol test strips because drinking on the job had come up too. With heavy machinery.
It was no big deal for me except that I had just painted our front porch and had a TON of paint in my hair and she was like "WTF". I had to explain it was paint and she had to hunt around for places to take it from.
How on earth did you get that much paint in your hair? And how did you get it out?
My DH works in manufacturing. A plant worker informed him that a couple fellow workers were smoking pot in their cars during a morning break.
I don't know what they were thinking, I wouldn't want anything in my system to impair my reflexes and lead to cutting off my hand or something. But DH has stories to tell.
Plus he had alcohol test strips because drinking on the job had come up too. With heavy machinery.
My H ran into stuff like this a surprising amount of the time when he was a PM/Safety Manager in commercial construction. (Heavy machinery! Really tall buildings!)
He's had to do them for both of his professional jobs, one at a smaller (50 employee) company + all the time for specific clients, and one at a Fortune 500 company.
It was no big deal for me except that I had just painted our front porch and had a TON of paint in my hair and she was like "WTF". I had to explain it was paint and she had to hunt around for places to take it from.
How on earth did you get that much paint in your hair? And how did you get it out?
You should see me when I paint,there is usually more paint on me than the surface I am painting. My H says he's never seen anything like it.
I work in manufacturing. I had to get a full physical where they looked at every bit of my body except my chest. When we got to the drug test they made me take down the gown and show them there was no pee tied to my chest. It was terrible. I understand why they do it but felt it was a little overboard.
I have VERY thin hair...if someone told me I needed to give 50 pieces of hair, I'd tell them where to shove their job. Ask me to pee in a cup, give blood, swab my mouth--go right ahead. No one cuts my hair other than my hair stylist.
ETA--and my hair takes an incredibly long amount of time to grow--cutting that much at the scalp would literally take me YEARS to regrow.
Hair tests suck but they capture more drug use history than a urine test. I once asked a hair test technician what they do if they get a bald man, for example. She said "Oh, honey, we take it from wherever we can get it!" OMG - Can you imagine if they had to go to a certain region to get enough hair? I don't know if I would ever want a job that bad.
Also, if you are in a state where MJ is legalized, it doesn't matter. Employers can still choose to have a drug free workplace environment. It's mostly for safety reasons. If we have people operating heavy machinery or driving fork trucks around, they can kill someone if they are under the influence. Drug and alcohol testing is super important in the workplace, especially in manufacturing.
My DH works in manufacturing. A plant worker informed him that a couple fellow workers were smoking pot in their cars during a morning break.
I don't know what they were thinking, I wouldn't want anything in my system to impair my reflexes and lead to cutting off my hand or something. But DH has stories to tell.
Plus he had alcohol test strips because drinking on the job had come up too. With heavy machinery.
My H ran into stuff like this a surprising amount of the time when he was a PM/Safety Manager in commercial construction. (Heavy machinery! Really tall buildings!)
He's had to do them for both of his professional jobs, one at a smaller (50 employee) company + all the time for specific clients, and one at a Fortune 500 company.