Nicotine/Cotinine test for employment
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I'll dispute that. I'm 60, been smoking since I was 18, quit 3 years ago.
in my smoking days I only went to the dr for the yearly female tests. I was almost never sick. I might have taken 7 or so days off a year and about half of those were for the disease ihateworkitis, which smoking didn't cause, but work did
I am overweight, my blood pressure is low, my cholesterol is in normal limits. everything seems to be working well at the moment.
so *I* didn't cost the health insurance companies much money, in fact in my smoking days I usually paid in more than they paid out.
I have some in-laws that never smoked and their health is the pits.....
I want my freedom back!
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And if you do not take the 'voluntary' blood test your resume 'magically' disappears. How convenient. This has been coming for over 30 years.
I'll dispute that. I'm 60, been smoking since I was 18, quit 3 years ago.
in my smoking days I only went to the dr for the yearly female tests. I was almost never sick. I might have taken 7 or so days off a year and about half of those were for the disease ihateworkitis, which smoking didn't cause, but work did
I am overweight, my blood pressure is low, my cholesterol is in normal limits. everything seems to be working well at the moment.
so *I* didn't cost the health insurance companies much money, in fact in my smoking days I usually paid in more than they paid out.
I have some in-laws that never smoked and their health is the pits.....
I want my freedom back!
Well, yeah, myself. I was the one smoker in the family and I'm the healthiest of the bunch. High cholesterol seems genetic on my father's side (and caused a lot of heart attacks at young ages in the men, I lost one uncle when he was all of 45) but a dirt cheap, generic statin and mine went back to college age levels. I'm the only one not taking blood pressure meds. In fact, my blood pressure is a little creepy. It hasn't budged since freaking high school. My "highest" ever was 120/70. Textbook "normal". I've run about 110/65 for... always?
I have allergies but they're a nuisance, not a serious problem. A screwy left inner ear that when the allergies cause sinus trouble, mucks around with my balance but it's a more "be a klutz" than "vertigo" kind a thing. Pretty minor. Spent all of one night once in a hospital for "observation" after a guy ran a red light and tried driving his pickup through my car. And closest I've ever come to surgery is an impacted wisdom tooth. It's the only time I've had a general anesthesia (turns out, like my mother, they make me violently nauseous afterward... that was... fun).
I go years between so much as a flu or flu like bug. Long enough I can't recall if I've had one or two in the seven years since I moved back to Texas.
Still, smoking harms your health. If not, why did I quit? I liked smoking. I still like the smell of tobacco smoke. I just don't want to go back. It's a risky behavior. You might beat the odds (I may have, I hope so) or you might not. Most don't.
But, yeah, the policy bothers me a great deal. Where is the line? Where does it stop? How much control over employees does a company get? We kinda fought a war over the issue of people being "owned". I remember them talking about that in history class.
It's a ham fisted policy and you're right that the test tells you nothing about any one person's health. Smokers are less healthy and have higher medical bills on average. But that doesn't tell you anything about the individual. Just the group. It's a thing about odds not something you can "test" for. Not directly.
It's a kind of rote "management" that's more checking off boxes than thinking. It's unfortunately rampant in American business these days.
Most all the hospitals in my area have banned smoking on campus. But I work at the local VA hospital and they not only allow it, they have a covered smoking area that has a section with a heater. No way they could go no smoking...who is going to tell vets that that can't smoke..and that means ALL of us get to smoke (non-vet employees). They have a plaque in the smoking area saying "smoking can cause" and then lists like 10 ailments along with an extension to call for stop smoking help. I still go out there to Vape cuz they don't allow vaping indoors BUT I do stealth Vape in the bathrooms.
It always amused me that the private sector hospitals ban on campus smoking yet a federal hospital goes out of it's way to have a nice covered smoking area that shields smokers from the weather.
It always amused me that the private sector hospitals ban on campus smoking yet a federal hospital goes out of it's way to have a nice covered smoking area that shields smokers from the weather.
well, as everyone keeps attesting,,,,,private employers should be able to do what they want,,,,
For example, bar owners should be able to decide if smoking (or vaping) is allowed on their property or not,,,no need to protect the employees who work there,,,,and if an employee is not a smoker, too bad for them, they can quit if they're worried about their health,,,,
someone once told me no one is ENTITLED to a job,,,,,so either like it or lump it.
it goes both ways, as much as it sucks.
For example, bar owners should be able to decide if smoking (or vaping) is allowed on their property or not,,,no need to protect the employees who work there,,,,and if an employee is not a smoker, too bad for them, they can quit if they're worried about their health,,,,
someone once told me no one is ENTITLED to a job,,,,,so either like it or lump it.
it goes both ways, as much as it sucks.
Just get some urine from a guaranteed non-smoker (and non-vaper), and use that for the test. Easy as pie.
If you want the job. Principles are good and all, until you're facing eviction if you can't find a job. At least it's not like another frequently smoked herb, which stays in the system for months. I don't know why they even bother drug testing for pre-employment. The bad(fun) drugs all clear your system within 48 hours.
Absolutely not.
But if we want the job, we have to act as if we want the job.
If dignity is what you're after, as long as you're being treated like a criminal by default, there isn't much to begin with is there?
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I fail to see what job could possibly exist that they would rescind a job offer due to having nicotine/cotinine in your system. Somebody else said above, they may as well test for caffeine. What's the world coming to?
don't those tests have little cups that show the temperature of the urine now? I've never had one, but I believe my daughter mentioned it when she applied for a job and had a drug test,,,,,,,,
The job only requires it because the US medical system sucks. Healthcare for profit is the cause of the increased cost of hiring smokers, which in turn disincentivises hiring of smokers, which is looked for with such a broad brush it disincentivises hiring of vapers and NRT users.
Go for herbal and search the web. As I wrote before give a chance to herbal solutions:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/23196970/
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/23196970/
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
I gave a sample once as part of a preemployment physcal and the nurse told me it was a couple of degrees below 98.6. I went through the rest of the physical, but basically knew at that point I would'nt be getting called for the job. I'm not sure though exactly how they did the temp. measuring.
Put her elbow in it in the same way you test bathwater for babies ofc!
The whole premise is bizarre to me. If i have the misfortune to go into hospital i want the best surgeon for the operation and i don't give a stuff if he/she smokes or not!
T
The whole premise is bizarre to me. If i have the misfortune to go into hospital i want the best surgeon for the operation and i don't give a stuff if he/she smokes or not!
T
I doubt they're testing the surgeons. Bull.... testing requirements(and credit checks) usually only apply to the grunts.
I agree 100%...
I should have been more precise... meaning a choice to burn and inhale tobacco smoke to obtain nicotine was a bad decision.
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