7 ms·
Not defending drug use at work, but if you're to be fired it should be for the performance related issues you mentioned caused by the drug, not because of the d
by fbelzile 6y ago
Not defending drug use at work, but if you're to be fired it should be for the performance related issues you mentioned caused by the drug, not because of the drug itself.
Edit for more context:
Depending on the drug, substances consumed outside of working hours would still show up in a drug test. Firing someone for something they do outside of work shouldn't be acceptable.
If you can prove they consumed drugs that would impair their ability to perform their job during working hours, that'd be a valid cause for dismissal. Drug tests don't measure that precisely enough though.
Not to mention, drug tests are not infallible. They can come back positive for morphine if you eat a poppy seed bagel in the morning [1].
[1] https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/poppy-seeds-alter-drug-test-results/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/poppy-seeds-alter-drug-tes...
- snovv_crash 6y agoProactive vs reactive? If you can tell someone will cause an accident, you don't wait until it happens.
- minitoar 6y agoHow can you tell they will definitely cause an accident?
- vorpalhex 6y agoThe same reason you're not supposed to drive or operate heavy machinery on a wide variety of medications, including legal and over the counter ones.
- minitoar 6y agoSure, but op is talking about someone who uses controlled substances outside of work. If they’re not under the influence of a substance at work, then it’s not the same situation you are talking about.
- edgyquant 6y agoThe effects of almost any narcotic last for 72 hours at least. Not as intense, for sure, but there are still symptoms.
- Kaze404 6y agoShould people who drink get fired because they might drink on a Sunday and come back hungover?
- throwawayboise 6y agoDepends on what they are responsible for. Airline pilots, I believe, have a no-drink-within-X-hours rule. I'm not sure whether X is 12, 24, or more. So even one drink the night before a morning flight would be prohibited, even though logically a single drink with dinner the night before should be a non-issue.
- mattnewton 6y agoIf they are putting other people's lives at risk, maybe!
- 6y ago
- Bootvis 6y agoWhat kind of person is willingly going to significantly increase the loss of life or limb?
- minitoar 6y agoNot sure what you’re talking about here. If someone is falling down drunk, k, get them out of the machine shop.
- mattnewton 6y agoBecause they showed up on depressants that are known to inhibit your ability to operate heavy machinery?
- minitoar 6y agoHow can you tell they are on depressants? Did you drug test them?
- mattnewton 6y agoI can see where you are going with this, and I am aware of the problems with drug tests and largely agree they are over-applied. But I don't know of an alternative to these imprecise tests in many cases.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- ryanmarsh 6y agoI'd like to know the word that describes the sort of cognitive dissonance in your comment.
- vntok 6y agoDenial?
- mfer 6y agoIn many places there are safety issues to deal with. You have to be proactive to avoid an incident. Here's a non-drug related one. In many places road construction companies will disallow workers from wearing headphones. This is because of the heavy machinery and you need to hear the beeps of a machine backing up. Drivers of those do not have good sight around the machinery and large trailers. Headphones on can mean not hearing a warning sound and being struck and possibly killed. Are wearing headphones a problem? Do you want to fire someone until an accident happens? Part of the proactive nature to this is insurance companies. If there aren't strict safety policies that are enforced than insurance companies won't cover companies. When accidents occur they have to pay out and want to avoid that. Drug use has been proven to cause certain issues depending on the drug that can have safety impacts at work sights. This can costs lives and money. This is why it becomes a big deal in certain fields.
- fbelzile 6y agoIn this case, the grounds for dismissal are for wearing headphones during working hours. Drug test results can be positive for things done outside of working hours.
- Natsu 6y agoDrugs still affect people during working hours even if used off-duty. I had to mummify a guy's hand because it was sliced open by glass, once. They were airlifted to the hospital because the bleeding couldn't be controlled. Another guy was doing something unsafe with his forklift, probably because he was in a hurry, right before Christmas, it rolled over on him and he died. That's why we couldn't keep people who were careless for any reason around. People could, and did, die for a moment of carelessness. You're asking for more of this kind of story.
- jackric 6y agoI have a solution to prevent this, which doesn't prejudice Mike for having a bit of weed 2 weeks ago camping. Also it will filter out those unfit to work from legal medication, or tiredness. Make workers do a 30 second ability test before going on shift. Design the test to measure reaction speed, short term memory, etc. [follow up thought] - Test must be immune to practice/muscle memory. Don't want a drunk passing the test through familiarity, then performing shit on the job.
- mdoms 6y agoDo you have the same attitude to other safety procedures? If an electrician routinely, consciously failed to check the mains had been turned off before working do you think he shouldn't be reprimanded until he electrocutes himself or someone else?
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- minitoar 6y agoI know how to tell if mains is off — use a multimeter. Please provide a citation for the safety procedure for determining if my electrician has used drugs that might impact his judgement.
- biolurker1 6y agoThis is really going overboard personal freedom. It reminds me of arguments like Clinton's "what is, is". No, having heroin addicts at work is not OK even if they perform well because it's very clear that they will not perform well very soon and you don't need to wait for that as an employer.