Pre employment drug test

zee34

Hey all, 

I got a job offer but I was not told anything about drug test or their drug policy yet. 
Over the weekend i fell ill, i was in such a bad pain I had no choice but to take some cocodamol. I swapped that to non opiate now but it will show up on their drug test.  Which is on tuesday.

I am very scared now they will withdraw their offer just cause i was ill. I went to the pharmacy as well not to the gp cause it was friday evening/weekend. 

I will disclose it of course but will that mean my offer is withdrawn or they will retest me in the future? 

Thanks all

Tony5896

No, they can tell the difference between illegal stuff and over the counter stuff .. 
When I used to have my pee tests I was asked if I’d had anything. 

YBR

Co-codamol is a perfectly legal, over-the counter medicine. So long as you disclose this and anything else you have taken, and why, you should be fine. Where you can stick to pain killers without opioids, as you now realise.

When I worked in an industry that was safety-critical and therefore had random drug and alcohol testing, they always said they'd be sympathetic even about illegal drugs if the employee referred themselves and was taking steps to help themselves. 

Tabieth

Why would they withdraw the job offer? You’ve done nothing working, you have only taken a legal drug that can be bought from a pharmacy. You’re really worrying about nothing.  

TELLIT01

I didn't realise that the body metabolises codeine into morphine.  Presumably that's why the OP is so concerned.  It also explains why I felt so strange after taking co-codamol and had to stop.

EnPointe

OP needs to  answer the declaration fully and completely   prior to providing the sample  

zee34

TELLIT01 said:

I didn't realise that the body metabolises codeine into morphine.  Presumably that's why the OP is so concerned.  It also explains why I felt so strange after taking co-codamol and had to stop.

Yes it does but if i declare it , which i will, then they can send it off to a lab and check it is a legal drug compound not illegal one

MyRealNameToo

zee34 said:

I got a job offer but I was not told anything about drug test or their drug policy yet. 
Over the weekend i fell ill, i was in such a bad pain I had no choice but to take some cocodamol. I swapped that to non opiate now but it will show up on their drug test.  Which is on tuesday.

I am very scared now they will withdraw their offer just cause i was ill. I went to the pharmacy as well not to the gp cause it was friday evening/weekend. 

I will disclose it of course but will that mean my offer is withdrawn or they will retest me in the future? 

So was this over the counter co-codamol tablet or a prescription strength one? If the later was it explicitly prescribed for this problem or were they leftovers from a previous script for something unrelated? 

How is the test being conducted? Urine sample?

OTC co-codamol has a tiny amount of codine, only a proportion of the codine is converted to morphine, how much varies by person. In urine its lifespan is tiny. 

If its prescription strength then your GP would be able to confirm that they had legitimately prescribed this for you. 

Does the job involve heavy machinery, working at heights or anything else meaning it's a more risky environment? If not then it's likely they are only looking for recreational drug use. If it is then even legitimate medicines can be of concern but as this was temporary it may just be a case of restrictive duties until the test can be repeated and seen as clean or may require a second opinion that the employer arranges. 

Eldi_Dos

@zee34
I would imagine when you declare it before taking the test they will go ahead with test and reschedule another test.
If they have gone through the recruitment process and found you suitable they will want to keep you on board.

When I worked in a industry that did regular and random checks a online manager kept up to date records of any
prescription or regular medicine staff took, but the onus was on you to report and keep updated.

If a test was done and any unreported medicines caused a fail, that was the end of your employment, 

zee34

MyRealNameToo said:

zee34 said:

I got a job offer but I was not told anything about drug test or their drug policy yet. 
Over the weekend i fell ill, i was in such a bad pain I had no choice but to take some cocodamol. I swapped that to non opiate now but it will show up on their drug test.  Which is on tuesday.

I am very scared now they will withdraw their offer just cause i was ill. I went to the pharmacy as well not to the gp cause it was friday evening/weekend. 

I will disclose it of course but will that mean my offer is withdrawn or they will retest me in the future? 

So was this over the counter co-codamol tablet or a prescription strength one? If the later was it explicitly prescribed for this problem or were they leftovers from a previous script for something unrelated? 

How is the test being conducted? Urine sample?

OTC co-codamol has a tiny amount of codine, only a proportion of the codine is converted to morphine, how much varies by person. In urine its lifespan is tiny. 

If its prescription strength then your GP would be able to confirm that they had legitimately prescribed this for you. 

Does the job involve heavy machinery, working at heights or anything else meaning it's a more risky environment? If not then it's likely they are only looking for recreational drug use. If it is then even legitimate medicines can be of concern but as this was temporary it may just be a case of restrictive duties until the test can be repeated and seen as clean or may require a second opinion that the employer arranges. 

It was from pharmacy ,  solpedene max, 12mg codeine in it. I took over 2 days while i was not working and i was very sick. Its for a water company but again they have not sent me their contract or drug policy yet so i have no clue about their over the counter meds policy. I am not starting until the 12th january though. So if anything i tell them that I can re do the test on my start date. Considering lack of policy being advised to me beforehand

Tabieth

zee34 said:

MyRealNameToo said:

zee34 said:

I got a job offer but I was not told anything about drug test or their drug policy yet. 
Over the weekend i fell ill, i was in such a bad pain I had no choice but to take some cocodamol. I swapped that to non opiate now but it will show up on their drug test.  Which is on tuesday.

I am very scared now they will withdraw their offer just cause i was ill. I went to the pharmacy as well not to the gp cause it was friday evening/weekend. 

I will disclose it of course but will that mean my offer is withdrawn or they will retest me in the future? 

So was this over the counter co-codamol tablet or a prescription strength one? If the later was it explicitly prescribed for this problem or were they leftovers from a previous script for something unrelated? 

How is the test being conducted? Urine sample?

OTC co-codamol has a tiny amount of codine, only a proportion of the codine is converted to morphine, how much varies by person. In urine its lifespan is tiny. 

If its prescription strength then your GP would be able to confirm that they had legitimately prescribed this for you. 

Does the job involve heavy machinery, working at heights or anything else meaning it's a more risky environment? If not then it's likely they are only looking for recreational drug use. If it is then even legitimate medicines can be of concern but as this was temporary it may just be a case of restrictive duties until the test can be repeated and seen as clean or may require a second opinion that the employer arranges. 

It was from pharmacy ,  solpedene max, 12mg codeine in it. I took over 2 days while i was not working and i was very sick. It’s for a water company but again they have not sent me their contract or drug policy yet so i have no clue about their over the counter meds policy. I am not starting until the 12th january though. So if anything i tell them that I can re do the test on my start date. Considering lack of policy being advised to me beforehand

They won’t have a policy about over the counter drugs. There really is nothing to worry about here.