Do DOT Follow-Up Tests Continue with a New Employer?

Yes. Under 49 CFR 40.307(e), the requirements of the SAP's follow-up testing plan "follow the employee" to subsequent employers or through breaks in service. In the rule's first example, an employee who completes two of six required follow-up tests and then moves to a similar position with a new employer remains obligated to complete the four remaining tests during the next 10 months of safety-sensitive duty, and the new employer is responsible for seeing that the employee does so.

The rule's second example covers a layoff. An employee laid off for economic or seasonal reasons after two of six tests, and recalled four months later, completes the remaining four tests during the next nine months.

Under 40.307(e), the new employer learns of the obligation through the inquiry it makes under 49 CFR 40.25. Section 40.25(b) has the new employer request, from DOT-regulated employers that employed the employee during the prior two years, documentation of the employee's successful completion of DOT return-to-duty requirements, including follow-up tests. Under 49 CFR 40.311(f), the SAP provides the written reports directly to the gaining DOT-regulated employer. Under 40.25(a)(2), FMCSA-regulated employers meet this requirement through the Clearinghouse, as covered in What Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse Queries Must Employers Run?, and still make the 40.25 request to previous employers regulated by another DOT agency.

Under 49 CFR 40.309, the employer must carry out the SAP's follow-up testing requirements and schedule unannounced tests with no discernable pattern. Random tests cannot be substituted for follow-up tests, and a cancelled follow-up test does not count and must be recollected. Under 40.307(d)(4), the employer must not impose testing requirements that go beyond the SAP's plan, and under 40.307(g), the employee is not given a copy of the follow-up testing schedule. C/TPA follow-up testing services are covered in What Services Can a C/TPA Perform for a DOT-Regulated Employer?.

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