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The Wait

When Will I Know If I Passed?
Negative
If you were given an instant test, you should know right away if the results were negative. If you took a test that needed to be sent to a laboratory, it can take anywhere from 24 – 72 hours just to complete the laboratory process. For all DOT regulated tests and most non-regulated tests, a MRO must review each and every test, including negative tests. The MRO must ensure that the collection and laboratory processes were done correctly and that there was nothing unusual either in the urine or with the collection and laboratory procedures or results.

That doesn’t mean you will know in 24 – 72 hours. That means your employer, prospective employer or court appointed official will know that you are negative in 24 – 72 hours. You may never find out. You probably will never hear of this test again, let alone be advised of a negative result.

For pre-employment tests, if you get the job, you probably received a negative on the drug test. It may take several weeks for the employer to finally get around to calling you in for orientation. For random tests, if you keep your job and/or your employer is not offering you brochures of rehabilitation facilities, you probably received a negative on the drug test. For court ordered testing (parole/probation), for sure you won’t hear of any negative results. You will, however; stay out of jail.

There will be no party, ticker-tape parade, offers of congratulations, no one will even slap you on the back and say, “Way to go!” It is expected that you will pass a drug test. It is assumed that you know you will pass and are not the least bit concerned or curious about the results. Calling the employer and asking, “Hey man, do you know if I passed or not yet?” That will just tip the employer off that you have no clue whether you can pass a drug test or not.

Positive
First of all, the wait will seem like it goes on forever. The specimen will travel via overnight courier to the laboratory. The Lab will take most of the following day to give the initial screening. If the initial screening shows a non-negative, then the specimen needs to go through the GC/MS confirmation process. This can take up to another 72 hours. Then, the results are forwarded to an MRO for review.

The MRO will try to get in contact with you, the donor, for up to 3 – 10 days. The length of time the MRO tries to contact the donor is set by the employer. Most of the time it is no longer than 3 days. The MRO may contact the employer in an attempt (for any test other than pre-employment) to make contact with the donor. The MRO calls the employer, who then puts the MRO on hold. The supervisor then gets you off the job and has you talk with the MRO right then and there. Whatever the MRO asks you, you should answer honestly. Lying to a MRO a this point in the game does absolutely no good. The MRO is looking at your urine results. He/she knows if you have adulterated, attempted to substitute or taken a banned substance. He/she also knows what you have taken or used to adulterate the urine with, you see, the GC/MS will let him know. The MRO wants to know if you know what is in the urine and if it is supposed to be in there.

For example: A 65 year old bus driver takes a random drug test. The specimen takes 5 business days to complete the laboratory process. The MRO leaves a message on the Bus Driver’s answer machine to return his/her call. The MRO then calls me, the C/TPA to tell me to contact the employer to have the bus driver call him. I give the bus driver the MRO number (the Bus Driver was at work and hadn’t gotten the voice mail yet), the driver calls the MRO. The MRO then calls me to report that the driver is negative.

Of course I ask the MRO what the fuss was all about. Keep in mind that the MRO is not really supposed to say anything to me, the C/TPA or the Employer other than the employee tested negative for banned substances. However; he did share with me the reason. Apparently the Bus Driver has a prescription for adderal. He needed to verify that the prescription actually belonged to this bus driver. The Bus Driver had to give the prescription number found on the bottle. The MRO then called the pharmacy or prescribing physician to verify.

All this takes time, and if negative, your employer will simply put the result in your file and not think twice about it. If found to be adulterated (by adding a foreign substance to the specimen), substituted (by not having the correct temperature or allowing a collector to see substitution materials) or positive for a banned substance illegally in your system, you may never hear of the results from the employer if this is a pre-employment test. It is like when you apply, and they choose someone else, they don’t always call all the applicants and inform them that they were passed over for the job. Same for the drug test. The drug test is part of the application process. If you don’t pass, you don’t get the job. The employer is under no obligation to waste his time by calling you to tell you of a failed drug test.

Most results are transmitted to the employer from the TPA or MRO via fax or internet. The employer might take a couple of days to download the information. It just depends on the employer’s workload that week and his immediate need to hire new employees. Not just anyone at a company can receive the results. The results of any drug test, positive or negative, can be only transmitted to the company DER. If that person is on vacation, and the alternate DER is too busy to mess with hiring until the main DER gets back from his/her vacation, well that might just add another week or two to the wait.

Avoiding the call from the MRO is not a good idea. You are wasting everyone’s time. Everyone is paid per test, from the collector to the lab, to the MRO. By making everyone wait for their money and work harder to complete the test, you aren’t making any friends in the MRO or C/TPA’s offices, let alone the employer who may also be waiting for results.

For example: You applied at XYZ Corporation. The Human Resource Director conducted your interview and decided you would be the perfect person to fill the open position in the graphics design department. You indicated in the interview that you could start immediately. Well, if you could start work immediately, why now are you suddenly unavailable when the MRO tries to contact you? You see, the employer may need to get a position filled ASAP. Delaying the results only frustrates the employer and draws unwanted attention to your drug test.

On the other hand, if your test was a random, return-to-duty, follow-up, post accident/near miss or court ordered test, delaying results by avoiding the MRO could get you a few more days of employment or freedom, depending on your situation.

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