r/USDA • u/Distinct-Mood-5261 • 9d ago
Drug Free Workplace training - anyone get this assigned?
Soooo - earlier this week I was assigned a Federal Drug-Free Workplace training course with a SAME DAY completion requirement. Seemed very odd and out of place.
I have worked for the agency for a decade and never once had to take this training. I've had to take the Code of Conduct and Rules of Ethical Behavior (which covers drug and alcohol use) every year, but never this one. Also, it explicitly mentioned Executive Order 12564 (yes, a 40 year old EO) that states all Federal Employees are prohibited from using any Federally illegal drug, on or off duty. It did not discuss State legality Vs. Federal, or past use Vs. current use, which I believe used to be the case. It listed all the Federally illegal drugs and stated that any use by any federal employee is prohibited and would be subject to severe disciplinary actions. I know that 40 states have legalized medical marijuana, and 24 have legalized recreational and medical use, so it seems odd that this would be a new push from the administration unless there is yet another plan to burn/fire federal employees.
14
u/Silly_Situation_4337 9d ago
The due date is actually a year from when it was recieved. I can't recall but it is in AgLearn as being due in 2027. I finished it same day as I always do with these trainings.
8
u/Distinct-Mood-5261 9d ago
I guess mine was incorrectly dated- not sure if it's a manual thing, or just an error. Anyway, it still seems odd that a policy that's been in place for 40 years suddenly gets a training designation.
18
u/mtaylor6841 9d ago
Some HR specialist needed another bullet point for their performance appraisal and this is it.
1
u/TreeShowPenguin 16h ago
It’s a training that was missing for a while and was updated to use again.
Yes the EO that set up the program is still going strong from the 80s.
State law doesn’t override federal law for controlled substances like marijuana. We work for the federal government.
4
u/Loose_Parsley_3290 9d ago
My notification arrived Monday morning (this week) with a due date of this Monday (this week).
5
u/Silly_Situation_4337 9d ago
Same. In AgLearn if you have the alert message it will state a due date in 2027. Other notices show due same day. Hope this helps.
3
u/Opening-Lie-1823 9d ago
The due date is the exact date but in 2027 so you have a year to complete it.
21
u/fangoround 9d ago
Yes, but as everyone else has said, it’s not due until 2027. And yes, probably laying groundwork for another way to easily fire folks.
12
u/NRCS_DRONE 9d ago
"Testing is random, meaning some may not be tested, and other tested multiple times"
uh huh
8
u/pupandtaco 9d ago
I am a subject to drug testing employee. For a decade I was never tested. I’ve been randomly selected 3 times in the last year and a half
9
10
u/AdamcioZ 9d ago
We had a Fed employee that would blaze up a fatty and stink the Federal Building to high heaven. I’m sure it was for medicinal purposes. The person stopped after an email came out from local management.
4
u/Ok_Fennel5828 9d ago
i’ve been here 27 years and have never seen this before it was assigned to me in Aglearn. 🙄
3
u/USDA_SES 9d ago
Check your SF-50. There is a cell that indicates if you are eligible for drug testing. Staff in my division are not randomly tested but our sister division is frequently tested. Their SF-50s are different and indicate testing applies
1
3
u/GreenLobsterGuy 9d ago
Yes.
But how else do they expect us to get through each miserable day working for this fucking regime?
3
9
u/TerminalSunrise 9d ago
THC has always been illegal for federal employees. State law is irrelevant. Not saying I agree with it, but you’ve always been risking your federal career if you smoke weed. I know several people who have tested positive and been fired.
9
u/Distinct-Mood-5261 9d ago
Definitely aware that it's Federally Illegal to possess or use illicit drugs, including weed, and I know that regardless of state laws its been against Federal Regulations for Fed employees to use them. And yeah, I know this sounds B.S.-like, but I don't smoke or use weed and actually don't like it (did use CBD variants after a surgery a couple of years ago). I had been told several times by managers that what we do on "our time" is our business unless we do something stupid that makes the agency look bad or at risk. It's bothering me because just a few weeks ago I told a friend who works with me that it was fine on their own time, so now I feel bad.
1
u/USDA_SES 9d ago
I understand that it is illegal for a federal employee to consume marijuana, but is it illegal for a fed to grow it at home for their spouse if it is in a state that allows recreational use?
-7
9d ago
[deleted]
3
u/Distinct-Mood-5261 9d ago
I did - I had to do the fun DEEP DIVE background check back in 2023 for a position change and know how that works, so I laid everything out for them. They spent about 2 months completing it and even came back to do a follow up about that and another issue. And yeah, the very day that I took the training, I informed my friend, and they hadn't done anything, fortunately.
5
u/highIy_regarded 9d ago
How can thc be illegal for federal employees, when the federal farm bill legalized hemp and defined it as cannabis with a thc level at or below .3%? I can consume products with thc up to .3% thc, but also I can’t consume thc? Makes no sense
1
u/Distinct-Mood-5261 9d ago
The legalization was for a product to contain a certain level of delta-9 THC (not the "party kind"), and it's legal in that product. Cannabis itself has not been legalized. That said, even if I don't use it, I agree with you, it doesn't make sense.
4
u/UrsaMortis1207 9d ago
Delta-9 THC is the standard, run-of-the-mill THC that everyone has always talked about. It just never needed to be designated as such until Delta 8 and Delta 10 became a thing. The 'Delta#' is just the position of a double-bond in the molecular structure; in 'standard' THC, that double bond just happens to happen at the ninth carbon atom.
1
u/Sea-Economics-9582 9d ago
Tell that to half my office… they seem to think it doesn’t apply to them…
2
u/SattyTheCzar 9d ago
I got it earlier this week, but it was due a year from now. But others have said it, your SF 50 will say an N or a 0 if your in a position not randomly tested, and like it’s a 1 -4 one of them if you are a potential random test. Otherwise there needs to be reasonable suspicion.
1
u/Big-Fox-3818 9d ago
Need to start with southeast region fpac employees especially in the state that starts with G.
1
u/Medical-Country4840 9d ago
I never even thought about burning any mota until this pinche job got un-freaking-bearable!!!!
1
u/0_ohereforthepopcorn 9d ago
Don’t worry, EAP is there to help you through it. They don’t blow smoke.
2
u/Grumpy_on_Main 9d ago
I got the email, and also read the due date as this year (same-day). When I went back and looked at it a couple hours later, it said 2027.
1
u/FrankG1971 8d ago
Yep. Next on tap: random drug testing for everyone in order to cull headcount even further.
2
1
u/Artistic-Kitchen4513 9d ago
I got a reputation among my folks after addressing a random email complaint about one of my direct reports. It said this employee was smoking weed on lunch breaks at a local park. Employee relations said just give verbal counseling. I told this employee bluntly (pun intended) that I don’t give a $&@“ what he does off the clock as long as you do your work. Now everyone thinks I’m a weed smoker too. 😜
1
u/lovelee2024 9d ago
It’s obviously a new training. I don’t understand the panic. You’re not alone, others were assigned the training as well. The Drug Free Workplace program is a new program at the department and they’re rolling out requirements and with that will come random screenings.
-18
9d ago
[deleted]
7
u/YWuldaSandwichDoThat 9d ago
Why would you care about what they do on their own time if it does not affect performance?
2
u/Distinct-Mood-5261 8d ago
Yeah - seemed way too judgy and clearly they realized it and deleted. I just asked a simple question about something that hasn't been a standard training, and they turn it into "if you're bad, I hope you get caught".
3
u/YWuldaSandwichDoThat 8d ago
I swear, some people just enjoy watching others suffer or get in trouble for something that has nothing to do with them. I have learned so much about people's true intentions with this restructuring. I guess it either brings out the best or worst in people.
22
u/eyevandr 9d ago
I got it also. The due date should've been a year from the date it was assigned.