What are the drug testing requirements for DOT-regulated employees who were furloughed or laid- off during the pandemic?

Without a “negative” pre-employment drug test result, an employer may not permit a prospective or current employee to perform any DOT safety-sensitive functions. In many ways, you treat it the same way seasonal employers do.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Guidance (link)

  • If the company considers the driver an employee during the extended layoff and keeps them in the random testing program, no pre-employment test is required.
  • If the company does not consider the driver an employee at any time during the layoff, then a test is required.
  • This also applies if the driver was not in a testing program or was out of it for over 30 days.

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Guidance (link)

  • An employer does not need to conduct a pre-employment drug test or receive a negative result before an employee returns after furlough.
  • An employer may still conduct a pre-employment test if certain conditions apply.
  • The individual previously held a safety-sensitive position but is not being rehired or transferred into that role.
  • The employer removed the employee from the random testing pool for reasons other than a verified positive drug test result.
  • It also applies if the employee did not refuse to take an FAA-mandated drug test.
  • The individual must be returning to a safety-sensitive role.
  • If the employer’s policy removes employees from the random testing pool during long absences, testing is a best practice.
  • The employer should conduct a pre-employment test with a negative result if the furlough lasted more than 60 days.

Now a new wrinkle

The FMCSA issued a waiver on June 6, 2020, titled “Three-Month Waiver in Response to the Economic Consequences of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency – To Relieve Employers of Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers Subject to 49 CFR Part 382 from Certain Pre-Employment Testing Requirements.” Read it here.

The waiver states that furloughed drivers do not need a pre-employment drug test when rehired, but only under certain conditions.
These conditions are complex. If you want to use this rare FMCSA exception, make sure you understand the details clearly.

We advised our clients to keep drivers in the testing pool if they were expected to return before the end of the quarter.
Because of that, the waiver did not apply to most of them.

If you removed drivers from the random testing program, we recommend giving them a pre-employment drug test anyway.
Many people who were recently unemployed developed some bad habits.

You also need to complete a pre-employment Clearinghouse query. Need help navigating the Clearinghouse?