TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:RE: In Reference to Drug Testing From:"Jason Willebeek-LeMair" <jlemair -at- cisco -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 20 Oct 2000 16:24:40 -0500
-----Original Message-----
From: Sandy Harris [mailto:sandy -at- storm -dot- ca]
Tracy Boyington wrote:
>
> IMHO, an employer who asks you to submit to a drug test as a condition
> of employment is not violating your rights,
Here are two scenarios that seem equivalent to me:
Do you smoke dope? ... Well, we'd like to be certain, so please pee in
this cup and hand it to the technician over there.
Do you engage in oral sex? ... Well, we'd like to be certain, so please
spit in this cup and hand it to the technician over there.
My concern is that it is none of their business. They're attempting to
violate my privacy.
I don't think there's any difference here.
<snippage/>
---end original msg---
Unless you are the President, oral sex usually does not affect job
performance (well, unless you are not getting any) while drug use often
does.
So, you think peeing in a cup and being screened violates your privacy.
Good for you. Don't do it.
If a company want to perform a body cavity search as a condition of
employment, and you don't want to submit to that, then don't.
If a company wants to sell your liver on eBay as a condition of employment,
and you feel a bit squeamish about that, then don't do it.
No one is violating your rights. You are not being forced to submit to
these things. The company, on the other hand, is saying that if you want to
work for them and receive their money and benefits then you have to follow
their rules. Simple. So you have to balance your desire to work for them
with your desire to veil your organic sewage system in secrecy.
Just because a company exists does not mean that you have the right to work
there under your own terms, unless of course you are the only person in the
entire universe with the once skill that they require. Then it is a whole
different ballgame.
Personally, I get perverse pleasure in drinking about 5 cups of coffee
before the drug screen (only had to take one or two) and filling that little
cup up to the top, then handing it to the tech lidless.
The tech writer tie-in: maybe I would have put a lid on it if there had been
adequate instructions.
Jason
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Learn how to develop HTML-based Help with Macromedia Dreamweaver!
Dec. 7-8, 2000, Orlando, FL -- $100 discount for STC members. http://www.weisner.com/training/dreamweaver_help.htm or 800-646-9989.
Your web site localized into 32 languages? Maybe not now, but sooner than
you think. Download ForeignExchange's FREE paper, "3 steps to successful
translation management" at http://www.fxtrans.com/3steps.html?tw.
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
