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0 pointsrefurb2y ago0 comments

> This tiny detail makes the difference why employer-mandated drug tests are not a thing in Germany like it is in the US.

I assume that Germany does drug testing for safety-related roles? Crane operators, pilots, nuclear plant operators?

It would be wild if they don't.

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4 comments · 2 top-level

geraldhh2y ago· 2 in thread

last nuclear plant got shutdown a few weeks ago, but, yes, drug testing is a thing (but not popular) even for some office jobs.

jijijijij2y ago

I never heard of anyone around me required to do a drug test for work. May be different for people carrying guns, like police and hunters, but that's because of gun license requirements.

A drug test may be legal, or suggested, when there is reasonable suspicion someone was high during work hours. Maybe air traffic controllers and similar professions need to be evidently clean. Otherwise I don't think drug tests are legal in Germany. Even asking about consumption is illegal in most cases.

geraldhh2y ago

> Maybe air traffic controllers and similar professions need to be evidently clean.

kinda obscure example. i expect most operators of heavy machinery, human transportation devices and some security professions to require some verification of abstinence. i was tested once in order to get the required permit to drive a van with elderly and disabled ppl for the red cross.

fwn2y ago

AFAIK this is allowed during the approval process for very specific roles, but not just randomly in day-to-day work after admission.

And for good reason. That would be an entirely unproportional encroachment on privacy and personal rights, irrespective of whether the test turns out positive or negative.

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