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suspended for failed drugs test due to medication!

Yesterday my husband was in work when he was asked to do a random drugs test- the whole site were asked to do it as it is a construction site and is something which is doneat random tiems throughout the year. He was happy to accept knowing he had never taken an illegal drug in his life.

He takes a variety of medications: anti depressants, allergy medication which is prescribed, and gastric reflux medication which is also prescribed. He also had dental surgery the day before where they used some sort of anesthetic (and possible pain relief but my hubby isnt sure he is going to ask the dentist today!), and on top of all of that he has taken anti biotics for a week for an absess in his mouth AND pain relief (Ibuporphen and Paracetamol) for the pain in his mouth!!!
The drugs test was a basic test which says "this person has taken some sort of drug in the recent past", nothing specific about it- a diabetic person failed due to their diabetic medication!!!

My husband has been suspended on the spot for two days without pay (as he is on a zero hour contract), while they await lab results where I guess they will test the urine for drugs such as cannibis, cocaine, heroin etc and then act on it. (he may well have been given morphine during his dental surgery which would show up!!!).

He is very angry about the fact he has been suspended without pay for taking medication which he has declared to his employers and he decalred to the nurse who was taking the test!!! Surely when he told them all the medicatioen he took they should have said he would have to have a blood test done and not the normal urine test whcih would obviously come back as a fail due to the medication he takes.

The most annoying thing is that the person he works with sits smoking weed in work...but he was conveniently late for work on the day of the drugs test (after one of his friends from the site was suspended for failing the test....) and wasnt tested so he is sitting in work right now getting paid when HE did something wrong but wasnt caught whilst my husband loses at LEAST 2 days wages (if the urinalysis comes back unclear he will have to have a blood test which will be another week without wages!!!).

Is there anything at all he can do about this?? Where does he stand? Should the test have been done when he declared the medication he was on? Should he have been suspended when he told them the medication he was on would make him fail the test? He has never touched an illegal drug in his life, but the boss said he has known this test to be failed whenj someone has taken a paracetamol and nothing else!!!

We are losing £140 for these two days of suspension, and there is no way he can make the money up with extra shifts as he already works 7am til 7pm 5 days a week. Does he have any sort of argument which he could go to with his boss to get at least holiday pay (which would be revoked obviously if the test came back positive for cocaine or anything like that), or does he not have a leg to stand on?

Thanks in advance
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Comments

  • FBaby
    FBaby Posts: 18,374 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    the thing is, even though the test results will show he hasn't taken illegal substances, they might still consider that it was dangerous for him to work under the drugs he had been prescribed if he didn't mention it. Prescribed allergy tablets can have a sedative affect, so does anaesthetics (they do say you shouldn't operate machinery for 24 hours ect...), and he could have been given codeine the day before, which again, especially with allergy tablets could be a dangerous combination.

    I hope they are only checking for illegal drugs and he will be fine, but maybe he should report any such combination of substances if it happen again.
  • biggaz26
    biggaz26 Posts: 308 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    If they had already rota'd him to work the 2 days they have suspended him for Im not sure it is legal to with hold his pay will they investigate.

    The zero hour contract clouds this somewhat....I hope it works out for him and that someone who can confirm what I think comes along soon.

    G
    One day some company will do what they say they will do and charge a fair charge.:T

    Not doing the opposite of that which they promise and charge you a fortune for the privileged. :(

    Or maybe not:mad:
  • he is only a security guard ion the site so he doesnt operate any kind of machinery so it should be ok on that part, they just tested everyone on the site.

    Also he told his boss all the medication he takes, and his boss knew he was going off for a day for dental surgery (obviously going to be having anesthetic!) and didnt say anything about him going back into work.

    If they DO fire him for taking medication he has told them he takes, SURELY he could take them to court for it? Especially considering the ones taking actual illegal drugs are goling to be allowed back to work afetr the two days suspension!!! Its very annoying.

    As for the two days unpaid suspension, if anybody knows about his rights to pay as he was rota's onto the shifts, can you please let me know the rules on that! :)
  • Personally I think if the test comes back clear then they should make up his money. I am curious to know... you say if the urine test comes back unclear he will have to have a blood test...but surely this would be an incorrect reading if taken so long after the spot check ??
    I have had brain surgery - sorry if I am a little confused sometimes ;)
  • Im not sure exactly what they do from now! I have just read they rarely send the urine for analysis, but he has been told to await the results so I have no idea whats going to happen from now, whether he is simply suspended two days and has to do another test when he goes bac (which will be positive again for his medication he has to take everyday- though he may have failed on the lidocain or whatever else they used for the anesthetic!).

    I think the urine is being tested today and he is let know tomorrow if he is able to go back to the site, if not, he will be fired! But then surely he can sue his company for firing him for failing a drugs test due to his medication which he has declared? We dont know where we stand on the drugs not declared front- he doesnt obviosuly phone his boss everytime he takes an Ibupophen or uses Gaviscon or anythign like that, and allergy meds are taken when he needs it, so again you dont phone up every time you feel you need an allergy pill!
  • Didn't your husband already use the excuse of "medication" for falling asleep during one of his night shifts?

    https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2880182

    In the armed forces we have drug tests all the time - if your husband has not taken any ILLEGAL substances, there won't be a problem.
  • first78
    first78 Posts: 1,050 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    The drug test your husband had would test for things like barbituates,opiates etc...these can also be found in prescribed medication and this should have been taken into account when he disclosed he was on prescribed medication, so in my opinion he should not have been suspended.

    I would wait and see what the results of the test say. I can't see how it is legal to suspend a person without pay in this situation, if they find that your husband's test was positive due to the prescribed medication he's on can't he claim the money back that he's lost?
  • I hate drug testing because it is exceedingly unreliable and can produce a lot of false postives, especially with the initial testing but even subsequent tests are unreliable. If a method is 98% accurate this would still result in 20,000 people being wrongly identified as have taken illegal substances for every million tested even something 99.9% accurate would result in 1,000 people being wrongly accused for every million tested.
    There's no sense crying over every mistake.
    You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.
  • paddedjohn
    paddedjohn Posts: 7,512 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture
    Didn't your husband already use the excuse of "medication" for falling asleep during one of his night shifts?

    https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2880182

    In the armed forces we have drug tests all the time - if your husband has not taken any ILLEGAL substances, there won't be a problem.

    and then he couldnt travel to work because his car was broke.

    I THINK THIS THREAD IS JUST A WIND UP, HAVE YOU GOT TOO MUCH TIME ON YOUR HAND STEPH? APPARANTLY YOUR HUSBANDS WAGES HAVE CHANGED FROM £100 PER SHIFT DOWN TO £70 A SHIFT AND HES NOW WORKING 5 NIGHTS INSTEAD OF 2 AND HE IS ALWAYS IN THE SH*T AT WORK
    Be Alert..........Britain needs lerts.
  • Just incase this post ISNT a wind up.......

    Steph - Has your Husband got a copy of the Employers drug and alcohol policy ? If not he should get a copy of it straight away.

    Has he read through the company handbook to see what it says about drug and alcohol testing ?

    Has he signed an agreement when he started the job to say that he gives consent to be randomly drug tested ?

    All of the above is important so look into it straight away.

    Also , you may find that when you read the drug and alcohol policy that employees have to declare all medication they are taking regardless of whether they feel it affects their ability to work or not.

    If for example your Husband was taking codeine based medication he would be expected to inform his employer as codeine can cause drowsiness. Your Husband may well just find that if they are looking for a way to get rid of him (as he has been in a lot of trouble recently) they may well just use this as the perfect excuse !

    Get hold of the above policies etc and read through them in the meantime.
    The loopy one has gone :j
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