Most Walmart distribution centers (DCs) no longer do preemployment drug testing on their associates.
This may be because DCs have high turnover rates which makes spending money for tests on employees who may leave soon too expensive.
Additionally, with marijuana becoming legalized in many states across America, it’s getting harder to enforce a nationwide no drugs policy.
It is however advisable to stop doing cannabis when applying for jobs at Walmart DCs because things might change at any time.
Drug tests at Walmart warehouses
Walmart distribution centers require drug screening for management and asset protection (AP) positions.
If you ever need to take a drug test, you’ll be required to do so on site or at an external location.
Roles that require mandatory drug screening
Most entry level positions at Walmart DCs do not require drug testing as a condition for employment.
However, there are a few roles whose significance requires them to have preemployment drug tests.
All managerial roles
Salaried employees such as warehouse shift supervisor, warehouse operations supervisor and warehouse operations manager do need to be drug tested prior to being hired or promoted.
Asset Protection (AP) Specialists
AP Specialist is one of the few positions at Walmart distribution centers which require a pre-employment drug test.
Asset protection and loss prevention is a sensitive role and ensuring that employees in this department are not dependent on drugs is important to the company.
When to expect a drug test
There are certain situations where associates in the warehouse will get drug tested:
- If you have been involved in an accident and equipment is damaged, you might get drug tested.
- If you get into an accident and sustain injuries.
- If you get promoted to a management role.
- If there is reasonable suspicion of being under the influence of drugs, such as slurred speech.
Remember that accidents are serious in any warehouse setting. As a warehouse associate, I have seen forklift operators get drug tested and subsequently fired after hitting pallet racking, for example.
Urine analysis/test
Walmart warehouses do eCup 5 panel urine tests as the drug testing mode of choice. With a urine test, a strip with tiny colored pads is dipped into a urine sample after which it changes color according to the concentration of the drugs being tested for.
Rapid urine tests are cheap and easy to carry out and that’s why you might find them being done on site.
Tips and recommendations
It is generally advisable to stop consuming cannabis when applying for jobs including to Walmart warehouses.
If you think (or know) that you are going to get tested and have used marijuana recently, you can buy a home drug test and find out if you’ll test positive for it.
If you have a medical prescription for any drug you use, it may get you off the hook if you ever test positive for it.
Cranberry juice is a natural detox and can help you pass a marijuana drug test.
Due to the pandemic, most Walmart warehouses are not drug screening at all for any position.
Do not bring up the subject of marijuana use during your interview if the interviewers don’t bring it up themselves. Doing so might make you look suspicious.
How some employees pass the drug test by finessing the testing process
Some Walmart DC employees finesse their way into passing the urine test even when they have recently taken drugs such as cannabis.
They do this using synthetic urine which is a lab made chemical that is indistinguishable from real pee to the naked eye.
A popular product for passing urine tests is the PassUSA.com synthetic urine kit which goes a step further from regular fake urine kits by:
- having an attached temperature strip and heat pad that warms up the fake urine sample to body temperature so that it doesn’t rouse suspicions of the drug testers
- including all ingredients normally found in real pee such as creatine and properly balanced pH levels.
If you take this route, make sure to:
- read the instructions that come with your kit very carefully and follow them to the letter
- give yourself enough time to get ready on the day of the test so as not to make any mistake that might get you caught while in a rush.
