You’ve just walked into your workplace. The same as you’ve done for the previous days, weeks and years that you’ve had the job, except this day is different.
The workplace drug testing program your supervisor informed you and your colleagues about a few weeks ago has started. They’re testing everyone in your crew right now. And you had drugs before coming to work.
Will you lose your job?
Workplace drug testing consequences
If this was on the roadside and the drug testing was being carried out by police, we could be definitive about the consequences you would face.
For example, in Western Australia, as in other states, there are set penalties. In WA, it’s $1,250 and three demerit points for a first roadside drug testing offence, $1250 to $2000 and a minimum of six months licence disqualification.
However, this is in your workplace and the consequences are therefore less defined and can change from workplace to workplace.
If you work in a high risk industry or role for example, it’s not uncommon for workplaces to adopt a zero tolerance policy. That is, if you are caught with drugs or alcohol in your system, it’s likely you will lose your job.
Some may think this is harsh, but for some jobs, most would agree that it’s justified. For example, if you’re flying a plane, driving a truck or working with explosives in a mine.
For the majority of workplaces, however, where the safety risk isn’t as high, dismissal for a first offence is unlikely. What is more likely is that you’ll receive a caution. You may also receive extra education and support.
Most workplaces are fair and reasonable when it comes to their drug and alcohol policy. And they do need to be. Having a policy and consequences that are unfair can lead to an unfair dismissal claim and other legal issues. It can also cause poor morale amongst employees.
Will I fail workplace drug testing?
So, while you may not lose your job in the above scenario, you may fail your test.
The number of hours between taking drugs and being tested is critical when determining whether you will fail the test, but time is not definitive. That’s because there are a lot of factors to take into account. For example:
- What drug did you take?
- How much did you use?
- What was the purity and/or potency of the drug?
- Did you drink or combine drugs?
- What is your sex, age, metabolism and general health?
- What is your general tolerance to drugs?
If you’re after some guidelines, see below, but view them as very general. You should certainly not rely on them. Otherwise, you are putting your job and more importantly, your safety and the safety of others at risk.
- Cannabis can take several hours for the body to process.
- ICE, speed and other methamphetamines can take up to 24 hours and even longer.
- MDMA is similar to methamphetamines and can take 24 hours or more to process.
Another key in determining whether you will fail your workplace drug testing or not, is the method. Drugs are generally detectable in urine samples for longer than in saliva. This is one of the reasons why we prefer saliva drug testing over urine. Saliva testing is a more accurate way of determining if a person is unsafe to be at work.
FEATURE IMAGE CAPTION:
You’ve just walked into your workplace to be confronted by drug testing, a few hours after taking drugs. Will you lose your job? Credit Rayyu Maldives https://unsplash.com/photos/vZ5Tk3cc52o
