So my bookkeeper comes to work stinking of weed....

I don't see a positive at a pre-employment piss test ever becoming legal …

if you show alcohol in your test, odds are you won't be hired … THC stays in the system MUCH longer … the hiring co. wouldn't have anyway to know if you'd fired one up on the way to the test of if it was from the last weekend …

then there are the jobs (like I had that ANY positive test at any time is cause for suspension … we made parts for the aero-space industry)

ANYTHING in your system better have a prescription to back it up … so even if pot becomes legal as beer … you still wouldn't be able to smoke and work there

Trans_Maro wrote:

poopshovel wrote:

Trans_Maro wrote:

bearmtnmartin wrote: A Mountie just lost his job for smoking while in uniform.

Fixed that for you. Booze is legal. What happens if you show up to work stinking of rum? Same thing. /thread

Is heroin the same thing as booze?

I'd fire your ass for that too.

I just saw this and didn't read all five pages, but it looks like it doesn't matter. I will say this:

When I was 18 I worked in a woodworking shop and one day my boss, the owner, told me he could really smell the weed on me and that although he didn't care what I did on my own time, he didn't want me stoned at work. I hadn't been smoking anything and told him that. He wouldn't believe me because it was so obvious to him because of the smell. I really hadn't been smoking anything, and the more I insisted, the madder he got. Any respect I had for the guy was gone that day.

A coworker was telling me just this morning this same story (Her husbands company). A small shop, a long time employee. Embezzled by writing expense checks for an employee (well, all of them), posting them to the account, and then writing the check to herself. An external audit showed she's been doing it since almost day one of her responsibilities. Hard to catch and prove.

At my mom's last job she was doing HR for a logging mill. They did a random piss test of all the employees and HALF came back positive for various drugs. They couldn't very well can half the work force (really small town) so they issued a warning future screenings would be happening and anyone found positive then would lose their jobs.

What they didn't tell the men was the next test was me walking through the mill and offices with a narc dog on an unannounced visit.

wbjones wrote: I don't see a positive at a pre-employment piss test ever becoming legal … if you show alcohol in your test, odds are you won't be hired … THC stays in the system MUCH longer … the hiring co. wouldn't have anyway to know if you'd fired one up on the way to the test of if it was from the last weekend … then there are the jobs (like I had that ANY positive test at any time is cause for suspension … we made parts for the aero-space industry) ANYTHING in your system better have a prescription to back it up … so even if pot becomes legal as beer … you still wouldn't be able to smoke and work there

Never had to do one myself, a bud who works for Westinghouse Nuclear Fuels has to do them randomly. He told me that poppy seed rolls will make someone test positive for heroin.

Kenny_McCormic wrote: Personally I wouldn't tolerate people coming to work blatantly impaired like that. What you do at home is your own problem but keep it out of the office.

I don't remember OP saying that she was impaired.

First thought: Oh wow, me and Poopshovel agree on another thing, that's crazy.

DeadSkunk wrote: In reply to bearmtnmartin: If you own your own business then you'll know what your Workmens' Comp bill is annually. What would it be if she is coming to work high and hurts herself? All she has to do is twist or break an ankle and you'll have a significant cost, right? I'm basing this on my experience with Comp costs in Ontario and making the ASSumption that BC is similar. If it was me, anyone coming to work under the influence is done, you just have to be reasonably sure she's the toker.

In the US - correction - in Ohio, if the employee is high when they get hurt it saves the employer money because Worker's Comp will assume the drug use was the cause and refuse to pay the claim. It's up to the employee to prove that the drug use was not the cause of the injury.

Curmudgeon wrote:

wbjones wrote: I don't see a positive at a pre-employment piss test ever becoming legal … if you show alcohol in your test, odds are you won't be hired … THC stays in the system MUCH longer … the hiring co. wouldn't have anyway to know if you'd fired one up on the way to the test of if it was from the last weekend … then there are the jobs (like I had that ANY positive test at any time is cause for suspension … we made parts for the aero-space industry) ANYTHING in your system better have a prescription to back it up … so even if pot becomes legal as beer … you still wouldn't be able to smoke and work there

Never had to do one myself, a bud who works for Westinghouse Nuclear Fuels has to do them randomly. He told me that poppy seed rolls will make someone test positive for heroin.

You gotta eat a E36 M3load of bagels to come up positive for heroin.

wbjones wrote: I don't see a positive at a pre-employment piss test ever becoming legal …

They do them here. I think its a bonus, it shows how serious someone is about the job application. Its not addictive, so if you can't give up getting high for a month, your desire for said job is probably pretty low. I actually know this happened to someone recently and laughed my head off. The job was $25/h full time forklift operator in a heated warehouse, full time, with benefits.

For the guy (no education, passed high school) that is a ticket to a solid middle class life... and passed it up due to being a retard. Poor judgement skills imo, probably better people to hire then that. Your actions speak volumes about the type of person you are.

In bc a drug addiction is considered an illness and if I terminated an employee for drug abuse there is a pretty good chance they could grieve the dismissal and I would have to hire them back and pay for the recovery program. All they would have to do is claim the drug taking was related to work stress.

HiTempguy wrote:

wbjones wrote: I don't see a positive at a pre-employment piss test ever becoming legal …

They do them here. I think its a bonus, it shows how serious someone is about the job application. Its not addictive, so if you can't give up getting high for a month, your desire for said job is probably pretty low. I actually know this happened to someone recently and laughed my head off. The job was $25/h full time forklift operator in a heated warehouse, full time, with benefits. For the guy (no education, passed high school) that is a ticket to a solid middle class life... and passed it up due to being a retard. Poor judgement skills imo, probably better people to hire then that. Your actions speak volumes about the type of person you are.

one of my friends who is a damn good theatre tech won't come to the casinos because he won't pass the piss test and he won't give up the weed for a month.

He only does it on his days off, so it never impairs his working.. it just impairs him getting good work

I also didn't read all 5 pages....

is the OP in Colo, or Washington?? It is legal in these two states.

and for those who just dismiss it out of hand... as with most hot button issues... if you chose to know only what someone tells you... then you choose to be illiterate on the subject. Learn for yourselves about Harry J. Anslinger, the Brent Commission, and the First International Opium Conference.

oldeskewltoy wrote: I also didn't read all 5 pages.... is the OP in Colo, or Washington?? It is legal in these two states. and for those who just dismiss it out of hand... as with most hot button issues... if you chose to know only what someone tells you... then you choose to be illiterate on the subject. Learn for yourselves about Harry J. Anslinger, the Brent Commission, and the First International Opium Conference.

OP is in Canada.

oldeskewltoy wrote: if you chose to know only what someone tells you... then you choose to be illiterate on the subject.

I hate to be pedantic but illiterate means unable to read or write.

You could be ill-informed, ignorant, uneducated, unknowledgeable, untaught, unschooled, unlearned, uninformed, unenlightened or even benighted; but if one merely absorbs only what someone else tells them no determination of their literacy can be drawn.

mndsm wrote: You gotta eat a E36 M3load of bagels to come up positive for heroin.

We collect jars of piss like it's an Olympic sport and I've never heard of anyone coming up dirty for bagels. If you come clean before a test you get to try and clean up. You are out of work for about 6 months to complete the program and if you make it through you get retested often.

Wally wrote:

mndsm wrote: You gotta eat a E36 M3load of bagels to come up positive for heroin.

We collect jars of piss like it's an Olympic sport and I've never heard of anyone coming up dirty for bagels. If you come clean before a test you get to try and clean up. You are out of work for about 6 months to complete the program and if you make it through you get retested often.

Opium IS refined from poppy seeds, in the most rudimentary description. In theory, poppy seeds can make you piss positive, as it were. But the amount of poppy seeds you'd need to eat is something on an order of magnitude larger than your stomach- it's like getting a caffeine buzz from chocolate. It's possible, but you'd be a helluva fatass.

I heard that poppy seed residue on the hands getting into the urine is what can cause the false positive.

I thought if you can't pee without getting your hands into the stream, you shouldn't be trusted with a forklift or mail or driving a bus or whatever.

So I went and looked it up: apparently 4 bagels used to be able to do it, but they decreased the sensitivity of the test after some well known cases were brought through the court systems.

http://www.snopes.com/medical/drugs/poppyseed.asp

I know that I am old and out of touch but I would give her one chance to clean up her act(since she is good employee and the costs to train a new employee are high) but if she continued to use the weed, I would terminate her. I am looking at it from a small town liability, credibility and public relations view and maybe in a larger environment, you could get away with it but here the damage done by impaired employee is too great.

bearmtnmartin wrote: In bc a drug addiction is considered an illness and if I terminated an employee for drug abuse there is a pretty good chance they could grieve the dismissal and I would have to hire them back and pay for the recovery program. All they would have to do is claim the drug taking was related to work stress.

so in a situation like I described at our plant (whatever the Canadian version of FFA and military overview) would be ok with someone coming to work stoned ? regardless of the it's an illness ?

here, you flat out can't be employed by a company that falls under the control of the FAA if you're a habitual user ..

first time = suspension and drug counseling (usually about 6 wks)

second time may or may not be a longer repeat, or could be let go (with no recourse)

third … you're gone

""

http://nation.time.com/2013/12/18/washington-residents-smoke-way-more-weed-than-officials-thought/?hpt=hp_t2

yamaha wrote:

Wally wrote: Ask if she has a prescription. If she does she's golden. I'm hoping for medicinal coke myself.

Play GTA V recently?

That bit of satire has a big problem: Medicinal cocaine was never banned.

wbjones wrote:

bearmtnmartin wrote: In bc a drug addiction is considered an illness and if I terminated an employee for drug abuse there is a pretty good chance they could grieve the dismissal and I would have to hire them back and pay for the recovery program. All they would have to do is claim the drug taking was related to work stress.

so in a situation like I described at our plant (whatever the Canadian version of FFA and military overview) would be ok with someone coming to work stoned ? regardless of the "it's an illness" ? here, you flat out can't be employed by a company that falls under the control of the FAA if you're a habitual user .. first time = suspension and drug counseling (usually about 6 wks) second time may or may not be a longer repeat, or could be let go (with no recourse) third … you're gone

He's basically just making up excuses now. You don't "need" a reason to fire somebody anywhere in Canada. Say their position has been terminated and be done with it. If he wants the smoke show (har har) to keep working for him, he will. Thats a major liability he is taking on for a relatively easy job that plenty of people can fill.

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He's basically just making up excuses now. You don't "need" a reason to fire somebody anywhere in Canada. Say their position has been terminated and be done with it. If he wants the smoke show (har har) to keep working for him, he will. Thats a major liability he is taking on for a relatively easy job that plenty of people can fill.

Really! Did you read my posts? If I want to fire my berkeleying bookkeeper, I will do that. Lots of people come and go here for many reasons. Holy crap. The arrogance. She is a very nice lady who does a very good job. And I have gone through enough bookkeepers to know that it is not an easy position that anyone can fill. I don't run a berkeleying MacDonalds restaurant. I made my decision 4 pages ago. This discussion had moved way beyond just my bookkeeper and I am still adding my thoughts to the further discussion.

In reply to bearmtnmartin:

Remember, you're allowed to have your opinion as long as it doesn't differ from those of a few people on this forum.

How dare you run your business the way you want, you crazy Canadian you.