How hungry would you have to be to pee in a cup.

We actually just started drug testing for new employees - mainly due to one current employee taking drugs. It's much harder to get rid of them than you think, despite a positive outcome for drugs (at least here in California).

It's much easier to have a potential employee tested than dealing with a current
employee's drug problems. It's simple math and has nothing to do with principles.

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@maxdancona,

I did it. It is quite common now. Most companies do this - my husband is a recruiter in the IT field and many companies expect you to pee in a cup.

The first time I was asked I was shocked, but honestly could care less if they want my pee fine - I really don't need it myself.

I remember one company I worked for did not require drug testing. When they opened an office in AZ, they were informed they should drug test. The reason being is almost every company drug tests in AZ so if they didn't, they would end up hiring more drug user (or at least that was what the "experts" advised them).

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@maxdancona,

Well look at it this way - there aren't that many jobs. If you are willing to give up a little bit of privacy to get a paycheck they you may need to do this. You might want to also check and see how prevelent this is within your industry of work and area where you are looking for employment. There may not be much choice if you want a job.

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@engineer,

I also had to submit my fingerprints - another common request in my field of employment.

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@JPB,

Thank you JPB for a most understanding response.

Quote:

It does come down to how much you want this job. I've peed in a cup before and didn't think of it as an invasion of privacy, but I understand that you do. We each have our own limit of what we feel is invasive -- even when there's nothing to hide. In your case, it's peeing in a cup. In mine, it was providing fingerprints.

In my field, computer software in the Boston area, I have never been asked to sign such a thing before. So, I don't feel so bad about telling one employer to piss off (pun fully intended). I am getting interviews with other companies, so I may not be hungry enough.

The real question is what kind of employer I want to work for. Peeing in a cup is not such a big deal, I suppose, but working for a company that makes their employees pee in cups is. I want to work for someone who respects and values their employees. I have worked great employers in the past that didn't insist on such intrusions.

The title of this thread should say that once I get desperate enough I will do what ever they want. At some point I will bend over and cough. I am not to this stage of desperation yet.

On a tangent, I just had a great interview with a company I would love to work for. Even in this economy it is a two way street. They have to convince me that I want to work there the same way I have to convince them that they want me.

1 Reply

I was also thinking about this from the other side.

If I ever start a company, I want to hire employees that are confident, direct and no nonsense type of people. I was thinking I could demand candidates take a urine test. When a candidate tells me what I can do with my urine test, I will respond "great! you are hired".

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@maxdancona,

That's a fair response as well.

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For me, not very hungry at all.

I had to get a security clearance to work this job. That meant not only
drug testing but having curious folk snooping in my records and asking my
neighbors about me and wanting to know when and how often I'd been
out of the country.

But I'd been laid off and out of work for four months and I was the sole
support of five people. Pee in cup? Sure. (Actually, I never did pee in a
cup. They clipped off a little of my hair.)

Now in days of old, when recruiters used to call me, I would turn down
jobs for lesser cause than drug testing. That was then.

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@George,

They'll probably be testing to see if you smoke now, George. Rolling Eyes

1 Reply

@George,

Quote:

Now in days of old, when recruiters used to call me, I would turn down
jobs for lesser cause than drug testing. That was then.

Ahhh, the good old days.

1 Reply

@Letty,

Letty wrote:

They'll probably be testing to see if you smoke now, George.

Only when I'm angry.

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@maxdancona,

maxdancona wrote:

. . . Ahhh, the good old days.

Yeah, they were good.

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@maxdancona,

maxdancona wrote:

I was also thinking about this from the other side.

If I ever start a company, I want to hire employees that are confident, direct and no nonsense type of people. I was thinking I could demand candidates take a urine test. When a candidate tells me what I can do with my urine test, I will respond "great! you are hired".

Well, your mind set is definitely not employer material or you would think
otherwise, especially when you learn how expensive an employee can get -
even when they're terminated.

I tell you another thing, I would never consider hiring someone like you,
as people like you usually show no team player qualities and would question not only your superiors but also work assignments. This has nothing to do
with your qualification, sometimes it's better to employ someone who has
a bit less experience yet is far less troublesome than someone who is overly
confident.

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@CalamityJane,

Yes I have to second that - I have some one like that now that reports to me. He is very smart, but a royal pain in the a$$. A big problem for him is he thinks he can outsmart me - but I have alot more work experience than him so he tries like h*ll to throw me under the bus, but I know his kind and I have no problem putting him back in his place.

The one problem - it takes way too much time from my day dealing with his crap.

1 Reply

@CalamityJane,

Quote:

I tell you another thing, I would never consider hiring someone like you,

Well screw you then. I would never consider working for someone like you either.

Pardon my rather upset response. But, this is about the most asinine thing you could possibly say to someone who is out of work.

Quote:

as people like you usually show no team player qualities and would question not only your superiors but also work assignments. This has nothing to do
with your qualification, sometimes it's better to employ someone who has
a bit less experience yet is far less troublesome than someone who is overly
confident.

This is a ridiculous statement. I have had great success working on many assignments. I have received very good reviews from supervisors and peers that say being a team player is one of my strengths (being a team player means a lot more then peeing in a cup when you are told).

The obvious truth is that different people have different personalities and thrive in different environments. I am sure that there are plenty of people who have no problem with peeing in cups whenever you ask them, and I am sure that these are the kinds of people who would do best working for you.

But there are also plenty of employers who set up great working environments built on respect who don't make their employees pee in cups. I do great work for this type of employer, and I prefer to work for them.

Your personal attack, calling me "troublesome", with no evidence other then the fact I don't like the idea of an employer making me pee in a cup, is over the line.

At least we agree that I would never work for you.

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@Linkat,

Come on Linkat,

I like to have a respectful supportive relationship with my managers. I am there to do a job. My manager is there to do a job. We both have the same goals. A good working relationship is a very good thing for everyone involved.

Of course this has to work both ways. When a manager and an employee have an adversarial relationship, as you are describing, it is a bad thing all around. The implication that when this happens it is always the employee's fault bothers me a bit. It might be that even your employee would be very productive and valuable on a different team.

1 Reply

@maxdancona,

maxdancona wrote:

The real question is what kind of employer I want to work for. Peeing in a cup is not such a big deal, I suppose, but working for a company that makes their employees pee in cups is. I want to work for someone who respects and values their employees.

perhaps you could look at the request to pee in a cup as an indication of their degree of respect for their existing employees

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max, i would rebel at that, too, but then, i am rebellious by nature and would think "I don't want to work for such a suspicious and uptight bunch of twats and I'm not peeing in any damn cup"... so I'd have to be awfully hungry to submit to that ****. Too bureaucratic for me; too rigid for me.

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@ehBeth,

Quote:

perhaps you could look at the request to pee in a cup as an indication of their degree of respect for their existing employees

Bingo!! Include their customers in that circle too.

1 Reply

@Butrflynet,

I don't buy this at all. And, I have been both an "existing employee" and a customer. Come on, do you choose where you do business by which companies do drug testing?

1 Reply

How hungry would you have to be to pee in a cup.

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