How Do DOT Employers Check Previous Employer Drug Test Records?

Before an employee performs safety-sensitive duties for the first time, a DOT-regulated employer checks the employee's drug and alcohol testing history with previous DOT-regulated employers. This applies to new hires and to employees transferring into a safety-sensitive position (49 CFR 40.25(a)(1)).

Consent first. The employer obtains the employee's written consent. If the employee refuses consent, the employee cannot perform safety-sensitive functions (49 CFR 40.25(a)(1)).

What to request. For any DOT-regulated employer that employed the employee in the two years before the application or transfer, the employer requests:

• Alcohol tests of 0.04 or higher
• Verified positive drug tests
• Refusals to test, including adulterated or substituted results
• Other DOT drug and alcohol violations
• Documentation of completed return-to-duty requirements, including follow-up tests, for any violation (49 CFR 40.25(b))

The employer also asks the employee whether he or she tested positive or refused a DOT pre-employment test in the past two years for a job the employee did not get (49 CFR 40.25(j)).

Timing. The employer obtains and reviews the information before the employee first performs safety-sensitive functions if feasible. Otherwise, the employee cannot keep performing those functions after 30 days unless the employer has obtained the information or made and documented a good faith effort to get it (49 CFR 40.25(d)).

Violations found. An employee with a prior violation cannot perform safety-sensitive work until the employer also has proof of completed return-to-duty requirements (49 CFR 40.25(e)).

FMCSA employers. For previous employers regulated by FMCSA, a motor carrier meets this requirement through a Clearinghouse query (49 CFR 382.413(b), 49 CFR 382.701(a)). When an applicant has not finished follow-up testing, the employer requests the follow-up testing plan directly from the previous employer (49 CFR 382.413(b)). For history with employers regulated by other DOT agencies, the motor carrier still asks those employers directly (49 CFR 382.413(c), 49 CFR 40.25(a)(3)).

Records. The employer keeps a confidential written record of what it received or of its good faith efforts for three years from the employee's first safety-sensitive work (49 CFR 40.25(i)).