Transportation for Random Drug testing!

szemcumo · June 2003

We will starting once a month Random drug testing in July. I would appreciate any info on your procedures for this. Do you drive employees (we will send 4 per month) to test location or have them drive themselves? Clock out if they drive themselves but still pay them? How do you handle this? Thanks in advance for any and all input.

POPEYE · June 2003

Our Testing Service comes on-site to do our random testing. We do quarterly for all 3 shifts and will have approximately 30 tests performed. Part of our negotiation for service with this company was that they would perform on-site randoms as well as reasonable suspicion on-site testing 24-7.

I personally would NEVER send an EE for a drug test. If you cannot get someone to do them on-site, then I would make arrangements for them to be transported by a supervisor or manager and would definitely make sure they are paid for that time.

tbehan · June 2003

We send our employees for testing alone. We advise them that they must go to the collection site immediately and return promptly. The only time we transport is if there is reasonable suspicion testing or if we get a result back on a test that is dilute and we want to repeat the test to ensure this employee didn't take a substance or drink large volume of water enroute to the original test in an effort to skew the test result.

Hunter1 · June 2003

We also send our employees alone except for reasonable suspicion. They're told shortly before the appointment, and are expected to be on time for the appointment. We also pay for the time spent.

bamahr · June 2003

We also send them alone for testing with the exception of reasonable suspicion. The Manager tells them they have been selected for random and they stop working and go directly to the testing facility. So far we have not had problems with employee's not showing up or being late.

Don D · June 2003

Hundreds of thousands of truck drivers all across the country are randomed monthly and none of them are driven to the collection site, as most of them are on the road when they are selected and they are sent to a network clinic closest to where the Qualcom indicates their tractor is. I've always had randoms report on their own, according to our terms, driver or not. Also agree that reasonable suspicions are to be escorted if the situation allows. I don't think that dilution is caused by an abundance of water being drunk between the office and the clinic. Dilutions, in my experience, are caused by mixing liquid into the given specimen. I don't feel that an escort of a random would serve a real useful purpose as the process itself doesn't involve the escort. But, I suppose the escort, if anybody can afford to tie up one's time, could be sure they get immediately to the porcelain. Why does this conversation remind me of that 8th grade book: Yellow River by I.P.Rainwater. Gotta go..............

njjel · June 2003

In a former life we drove the ee's due to the fact that most of them came to work via public transportation and our facility was not on the bus route and even if it were, it would consume too much time to get them there! So I guess it depends on your situation. We did pay them for the time there and back.

POPEYE · June 2003

My adamant stance on being excorted comes from a former place of employment where we averaged 2-3 out of 18-20 randoms coming back as being tainted. There was a GNC store on the way. Once we started escorting we had a few positives for the first few times but then finally settled down. I'm just glad that we have on-site collection!!

Leslie · June 2003

We do on-site collection for randoms and generals. Being a 24/7, we inevitably miss some folks, so we send the rest off site. They drive, as do post accidents.

Only escort reasonable suspicion.

crawfod · June 2003

In both my present and previous employer, we have the employee's supervisor escort the employee to our local hospital, and they are paid for their time. Fortuneately, we are a town of 23,000 so it is only a couple of miles from our site. We don't do that many a month, and it pretty well eliminates the possibility of fraud, since the employee has no prior warning other than, "It's time for your drug test, get in the car". Unless your organization could not function well without the supervisor present, your random program will be more reliable. It might even give a potential user a second thought, knowing the opportunity to work out some fraudulent effort was practically nil.

tbehan · June 2003

How do other employers deal with test results that are dilute or tainted? Has anyone else had experience with employees intentionially taking substances to produce a negative test result? Our collection facility rep tells me that there are substances and devises out there to interfere with the test results and/or even the testing itself. What have others encountered in the course of their substance abuse testing?
Thanks

lorrie · June 2003

We send our employees on their own for randoms. We write down the time they leave here and the clinic reports the time they arrive. We only escort reasonable suspicions.

I have given a lot of consideration to the best way to handle dilutes, and have come to the conclusion that there is not much we can do about them unless we want to require a retake for every one. And then if the retake is dilute we pretty well have to accept it anyway. Our lab has told me that there are as many legitimate reasons for a dilute as there are devious reasons, and there is no way for us to tell why a sample is dilute, so I just quit worrying about it.

Now a sample marked tainted, or not human urine, or something else more obvious like that we count the same as a refusal to test.

ray a · June 2003

First, we have the sampling done at our facility, so no transportation. At our headquarters those selected are transported as a group then returned to the facility. They are paid.

The vendor who provides the testing has a threshhold for dilution. If the sample exceeds the dilution percentage, we can request a retest. When testing the first thing they check for is foreign substances. If any additives are found, it is an automatic failure. Happened once and the employee admitted he was trying to cover marijuana use so we termintated his employment.

LindaS · June 2003

While we do not do random testing, we do pre-employment, post accident and reasonable suspicion. Post accident and reasonable suspicion require a supervisor to take the ee to the testing facility (just a couple of miles away).

As far as what we do with "dilute" tests, the person is required to re-take the test immediately. Fortunately we are able to receive the test results within 30 minutes of the test so there is a much smaller "window of opportunity" for the ee or applicant.

As far as what other kinds of things have I seen in the course of testing, I have had a new employee show up for the test with either mountain dew or apple juice in their pocket. Because it was close to the body, the tempoature was right but obviously the test failed. The employee was immediately let go.

I have had several applicants who must have brought in someone else'e specimen as the temperature was not within tolerance. They were not hired either.

Another HR professional I know once had a gentleman who was on a "last chance" and was sent for a drug screen. Lo and behold she got a call from the testing facility informing her that this sample came back that the gentleman was pregnant!!! Obviously he was let go as well.

It's amazing some of the things people will try to "fool" these tests.

valentine · June 2003

I do random drug screens the first of the month. The ee is called to my office, given the paperwork and they go immediately to the drug screening center alone. If they do not have a car with them, then someone drives them over. They are paid for the time. We do not require them to punch out or in because it is at our request that they are having the screen done.

Transportation for Random Drug testing!

Comments