Drug tests/Employment

[theSWPK]

If anybody in a management position threw something at me, I would have raised hell and made a huge deal about it to the upper echelon. If you can file a lawsuit against a manager/super screaming at you for verbal abuse, Im positive you could do the same for assault.

[Pullmyhair.]

IMO, considering you have prescriptions for everything you take, it was kind of a dumb move not mentioning it to the drug tester. If you end up not passing, it will be too late to say 'oh, well I actually have a prescription' when they specifically ask you if you're taking any medications. Then, you've been dishonest/falsified information, and will likely not get hired. If you'd been honest, they wouldn't have batted an eye (you're covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act), they'd already said you had the job of you're drug test and background check came back legit, so if they'd then rescinded their offer, you'd have legal recourse (or at least the ability to threaten it). Now, you're potentially fucked. If they don't test for what you take, you're okay for now (it could still come back down the road), but had you just been honest you'd be in a much better position.

It's also worth mentioning that they don't need to know what you're taking your scripts for, that's none of their business, you just have to verify that you have a legitimate prescription. Drug tests are by law (in terms of pre-employment testing) only presented to the employer (or the person making the decision) as pass or fail, they can't tell them what you failed for. So, if you test positive for something you have a prescription for, it's presented to the employer as a 'pass', it's not 'pass (but they're prescribed x, y, and z). AFASIK, the only professions where methadone can disqualify you from employment is truck driving and nursing.

[Griffin (OP)]

I would of told them had they asked. The drug testing people didn't ask me anything about if I took any prescriptions or any otc meds. They just made me empty my pockets, told me to piss pass the line on the cup, and asked why I had nicorette. I didn't know if I should of just told them hey i take this this and this whether or not you test for it. I just figured they would ask if it was important, and if anything does come up then I would be asked to prove I have a prescription not the other way around. I doubt they would decline me just for not telling them I take something when I wasn't asked about it at all. It isn't like I lied or was purposely being secretive or dishonest. It just didn't come up and when I was taking the test I was more worried about filling the cup because I had pissed 2 hours earlier and I was right on the line.

That definitely does suck nark. It doesn't sound as shitty as my job now but does not sound fun. I have a dumbass manager who sits around the whole entire day even when theres 40 orders on the screen, the delivery time is at 2 hours, and we've ran out of everything she doesn't get up. I have to do everything I didn't realize you could make making pizza a difficult job but they have done a wonderful job at that. I think its mentally hard on me because I like to do things right and if you are charging $15-20 bucks for a pizza it shouldn't take forever to get and look like shit. I am caught in between my work ethic and morals as far as giving people something worth what they paid for and being the only person doing anything. If I am going to have a shitty job I would rather take the higher paying one I figure walmart will suck just as bad.

[Pullmyhair.]

If they didn't say anything or ask about prescriptions, you should be fine. I've never taken a pre-employment drug test where they didn't ask or it wasn't mentioned in the paperwork (surely you had to sign something). It's sounds like you're probably okay, but IMO, there's just no good reason to not be honest, but there are reasons why not being honest can keep you from getting hired. But again, that's just my opinion/experience.

[Griffin (OP)]

I thought they would of said something too the only thing I signed was the top of the urine cup. Every test I have taken for probation and at the clinic has a little area where you write down all meds you have taken in the last 3 weeks and they always ask and make sure you fill it in. When I was thinking about it before hand I wasn't going to say anything about the methadone because they test every single person they interview whether or not they are offering them a job. I figured testing for methadone would be too expensive for them to add to every single test but I have no idea. I wasn't sure if I would still test positive for benzos but I was going to say I was on that and then write down methadone and benzos on the paper I was kind of surprised after I left that I wasn't asked about prescriptions or OTC meds. I think I will be fine though sense I wasn't being dishonest or anything. I figured they couldn't discriminate because of what meds I was taking sense I have a prescription for everything so there was no reason for me to lie.

[JonWrong]

You are going to be ok dude I promise. If anything comes back as a fail like the benzos you have a prescription. Same with the Methadone. You have an RX as well. Also as stated before the drug testing lab cannot period disclose legal prescription meds you are on to your employer that is hiring you. It's a HIPPA violation and goes against the americans with disabilities act. One thing I WOULD do though is call the drug testing lab like asap before the results are back and play dumb dumb and ask them "hey I took a UA the other day and forgot to mention I am on a RX anxiety med, is this a medication that could effect my test?" and most likely they will want you to fax a confirmation from the pharmacy or bring the bottles. Ive had to do this after the fact and it was a pain in the ass. It is far easier to have the drug testing lab know instead of explaining to wal-mart after you fail for benzos that "oh hey i got an RX for that"

And here is a good story that can show you your rights if you have legal RX's. YES this was partially my fault but I had a GOOD job working for a major internet company and one day at work I over did my klonopin on top of my dilaudid and methadone RX plus I was also prescribed Marinol (THC pills) for nausea. Well I nodded out on the phone with a customer BAD. Most embarrassing taped convo i have ever had played back to me when I was sober. Full blown snoring, falling asleep, missing words, lol you get the point.

Well one of the managers took me STRAIGHT from work escorted in his car to take a drug test. Failed but only for benzos and weed and opiates. 5 panel wouldn't methadone. My manager looked ecstatic! Then I laughed and said here are my prescriptions for marinol, klonopin, and dilaudid and gave them to the lab right infront of him. Nothing he could do. Convinced Im hiding more they send me back for a 10 panel and I failed for the Methadone as well on that one. He got happy ohh see we caught you! NOPE gave them my Methadone RX. Then these fucks sent me home no work no pay for 2 weeks while they decided what to do. Well they wanted a 12-panel in the lab plus urine sent out to a Dr. across the country. This was my only "oh fuck" moment because I had done heroin a lot around that time and the Dr. who gets my urine is gonna be able to differentiate between Dilaudid and Heroin on the expensive ass lab test across the country.

Then it crossed my mind... Heroin becomes Morphine right when it hits your blood stream and only recently have I seen tests that are good enough to catch the 6-MAM part to prove its heroin on the west coast (tar). But this test that wasn't possible. So I brainstormed and remembered 9 months prior I was put on 60mg Morphine ERs 4x a day and 30mg Morphine IRs 4x a day for a month but I switched back cause it sucked. Looked up the laws  and all RX's written to you are good legally for ONE year after they are written. When they called and said well you've failed for Morphine I faxed a paper from the pharmacy showing the Morphine RX from 9 months ago and said I took some I had left over when I couldn't afford to fill my regular RX on time.

Due to HIPPA and Americans with disabilities act I was PAID in one lump some the 2 weeks they forced me outta work fulll time 40 hours each week (i got over 2 grand) but they were forced to let me go back to work and said they would be sued for discriminating against me for having a disability if they fired me on those grounds as I was going through major health issues and surgeries at the time warranting the meds.

SO there is an amazing success story where i dodged every fucking bullet they through at me by KNOWING my rights. They cant not hire you for the done or the benzos even if that benzo RX was 6 months old.

[Griffin (OP)]

That is great news, and a crazy story. I am glad it all worked out for you there is nothing like a 2 week paid vacation. I guess I will look up the number for the drug testing place and see if they need my prescription info. It's good to know for the future that they can't relay that information to the employer so that I don't have to worry about explaining why I am on MMT.

 Do both valium and xanax show up as just a benzo? Would they be able to tell the difference between the 2 on a regular 5 or 8 panel test or would it require a little more testing to see which one it is? I have a prescription for both but was wondering about that. Does valium usually stay in your system longer than xanax? I had taken the valium about 2 weeks before the drug test so I have no idea if it will be in there or not. I doubt the xanax is still in my system sense it had been about 3 weeks since I had taken that before the UA.

[Chip]

I was drug tested once a while ago when I went from temp to perm at a certain unnamed biotech firm (named Celera Genomics) (huge pay cut, no OT) while on 80 mgs of methadone (legal/klinik) so I got a letter from the klinik saying it was legit, put it in my pocket and heard nothing about it either way for a week or two.  I was in HR at some point and saw someone who I knew, she'd been in the game or knew it and was really cool so I asked, "I'm on done, am I going to hear about this later or am I OK?" and she goes "oh, we don't even test for that stuff, we're looking for drugs like marijuana".  I must admit I was speechless, so I didn't say anything -this was of course good news but WTF?

This was the last post razor girl ever made ... and it was a happy one, a good one.

to anybody following this thread, i thought a small note here was appropriate. well will miss you, Count Zero / razor girl.

see you in heaven, our brother, ... 

(yes, this is very upsetting but i wanted this post to be something happy for us to reflect on)

[Griffin (OP)]

That is terrible news, RIP Razor Girl. You never know when your time is up such sad news.

[Narkotikon]

I don't mean to take the focus off of Count Zero's last post.

But what happened with the drug test and your potential Wal-Mart employment?  Have you heard about either yet? 

[Griffin (OP)]

I talked to walmart today and they said they are just waiting to get my background check back. I talked to the drug testing place after I got tested and asked if I needed to tell them about my prescriptions. They told me if it went in for further testing they would call me and ask for my prescriptions. I am guessing that sense it had been 2 weeks sense I took any benzos that my piss was clean. I have the prescriptions either way but the hiring manager made it sound like it came back fine and he was just waiting for the background check to come through. Thanks for asking I really hope I get the job and was a little disappointed that I hadn't gotten an answer yet. I just hope I am all good and can switch from tossing dough.

[Narkotikon]

I talked to walmart today and they said they are just waiting to get my background check back. I talked to the drug testing place after I got tested and asked if I needed to tell them about my prescriptions. They told me if it went in for further testing they would call me and ask for my prescriptions. I am guessing that sense it had been 2 weeks sense I took any benzos that my piss was clean. I have the prescriptions either way but the hiring manager made it sound like it came back fine and he was just waiting for the background check to come through. Thanks for asking I really hope I get the job and was a little disappointed that I hadn't gotten an answer yet. I just hope I am all good and can switch from tossing dough.

Thanks for updating us.  It sounds like everything is a go on the UA end.  Even if they had to retest, they said they'd ask you for your scripts.  So that's a good sign, especially since it's not happened yet. 

As far as the hiring manager, it sounds like he's just waiting on the background check.  Since he didn't mention anything about the UA, that tells me it's not going to be an issue.  Hopefully your prior charges won't prevent you from getting hired.  I don't think they will. 

Good luck, and I hope you hear soon.  I know you need this job.  Even though Wal-Mart sucks, I think it's good that you're prepared for that.  Best wishes. 

[Z]

Good luck with the results griffin.  It sounds like you have nothing to worry about, but waiting is still the longest part!

[LoneRanger7]

Hello Griffin, I just wanted to tell you don't lose hope. I was in a situation very similar to you except I have 3 felonies for burglary, forgery, and fraud. I couldn't be a manager at Burger King when I worked there. But now I have a profession. How I did it was to work for very small companies that don't drug or background check. They do exist! I work at a company with less than 10 employees. I'm paid well. So it can get better. I got my job off the Craigslist biotech section. Keep ya head up!

[Griffin (OP)]

That is good to know I have a lot of respect for people who have felonies and have gotten by because it is hard. I had the perfect job before I got arrested and lost it so I have faith that something good will come up if I keep trying. I just need something that pays more than minimum wage to do while I get back in school. Thanks for the kind words everyone I have my fingers crossed.

[DeadCat]

I talked to walmart today and they said they are just waiting to get my background check back. I talked to the drug testing place after I got tested and asked if I needed to tell them about my prescriptions. They told me if it went in for further testing they would call me and ask for my prescriptions. I am guessing that sense it had been 2 weeks sense I took any benzos that my piss was clean. I have the prescriptions either way but the hiring manager made it sound like it came back fine and he was just waiting for the background check to come through. Thanks for asking I really hope I get the job and was a little disappointed that I hadn't gotten an answer yet. I just hope I am all good and can switch from tossing dough.

I don't mean to sound negative but try ot to put all your egggs in this one basket and just wait for them.Continue applyine elsewhere while you wait.  When I first moved to Las Vegas and needed a job, any job I applied at the local Sam's Club store. They needed someone to run their photo lab and I had plenty of simiar experience and the manager all but said I would be a shoe-in for me. Then I waited, and waited and never heard another word from them.

I suspect something popped up in my background check, I wasn't even asked to take a drug test but would have passed at that time.

Good jobs are hard to find. The government is always talking about how many new jobs have been created since 2008 and how low the unemployment rate is but those stats are all horseshit. QUALITY, full time jobs with a living wage, health insurance, potential for advancement and job security are scarce. We work longer hours and make less real income than ever before. In fact real wages have been stagnant or dropping since 1972 while costs continue to rise.

What  you have to be careful of is not wasting your 20's and 30's doing bullshit "MacJobs" just to get by because one day you'll wake up and be 40 or 50 and have no hard skills and you will find it more difficult to do physic work, you'l have less tolerance for dipshit coworkers and pointless labor for lss than living wage but then it's too late in the game to make an easy change and employers don't want older people.

It is well known that many Wlamart employees are encouraged (and need) to aplly for food stamps and medicaid becasue their wages don't cover cost of living. That a crime. It is using tax money to subsidize one of the world's largest (and richest) corproations and a half-dozen heirs to Sam Walton. I suspect you will have bettter luck with a "shotgun" approach, just applying everywhere you can think of.

But, the BEST way of finding a good job is by "networking." That is, telling eveyone you know and every one you meet that you are looking for work and in what field.  Most people will say something dumb like " Have you applied at [XYZ Retail store], they are hiring? And because you can't apply at every place in the world they then think they have actually helped by suggesting something you hadn't thught ofwhen all they did was name some random potential employer they know nothing about  except they saw a "Help Wanted" sign there.

Contact old friends, post that you are looking on social media. The ONLY reply that will really help is something like; "You know, we need someone to do [ABC] and I think you could probably do it, do you have a resume?" (Keep a box of them in your car or as a PDF or other Word-type document in your smart phone and get it to them immediately, Follow that up with a thank you call or note for the lead. Make an impression.

If you can look for jobs that still have unions.

Good luck.

ANd don't worry about the drugs test if everything you take is by prescription. When you take it read the directions carefully and ask the test giver something like, "Should I list my prescriptions here?" withut mentioning any of them or what they are for. Methadone for example is prescribed for chronic pain as well as opiod dependency.