Cheating on Reasonable Suspicion Tests
Some Employees become Experts at Cheating on Drug or Alcohol Tests
What are the Most Popular Ways Employees Cheat on Reasonable Suspicion Tests?
There are many popular ways employees cheat on reasonable suspicion tests – most of them related to the urine based tests which were most common until recently.
People try to cheat drug tests for a variety of reasons, but they all boil down to the same thing – they do not wish to give the ‘full disclosure’ that is indicated by such tests. For some people it is a political fight, for some it is an invasion of privacy issue, but for most it is to cover up alcohol or drug use. Understanding how employees might fight against having the test in the first place, and then attempt to cheat the test if it comes to it can help you deal effectively with this issue.
One of the most popular ways employees cheat on reasonable suspicion tests – is actually to ‘cheat’ their way out of taking the test at all. They will seek to play on your emotions to engender sympathy or pity. They may use apologies, tears, graphic descriptions of their problems etc. All of this is designed to get you to see them as victims and to make you reluctant to ‘victimize’ them further. They will use excuses, claim innocence and even resort to anger and intimidating behaviour all to get you to agree to not test them ‘this time’. An employee who feels backed into a corner by the demand for a reasonable suspicion test will do their best to divert you from your purpose. Your job as a supervisor is to hold firm and keep the discussion focused on work.
Once the employee has capitulated to being tested you may think that the worst is over. Unfortunately, in some circumstances this is not the case. Many people try to rig the test results either to create an ‘un-testable’ sample or to get a false negative. The most popular ways employees cheat on reasonable suspicion tests include adding an adulterant such as water, bleach, apple juice or vinegar to a urine sample. They may try to ‘swap’ their sample with synthetic urine, animal urine or the urine of a friend or family member that they have kept warm.
On the internet you can easily find hundreds of websites that discuss popular ways employees cheat on reasonable suspicion tests that are based on urine samples. This is why many companies are changing to saliva, hair or blood tests to ensure accurate results.
