After a DOT violation, an employee cannot simply retest and return. The rule prescribes a sequence: evaluation by a Substance Abuse Professional, completion of the education or treatment the SAP prescribes, a directly observed return-to-duty drug test with a verified negative result (49 CFR 40.305(a), 40.67(b)), and then follow-up testing: at least six unannounced tests in the first twelve months of safety-sensitive duty, extendable through the following four years (49 CFR 40.307(d)). The SAP sets the number and frequency; the employer chooses the dates and must keep them unannounced with no discernible pattern (40.307(d)(3), 40.309(b)); and nobody may tell the employee what their own schedule looks like (40.307(g)). Completing the process makes the employee eligible to return, but the employer is not required to return them (40.305(b)). This guide explains each step in plain language, for the employer bringing someone back and for the employee working the process.
The short version
- The SAP's plan sets the number and frequency of follow-up tests; the employer may not add tests of its own (49 CFR 40.307(c) and (d)(4))
- The return-to-duty and follow-up drug tests are directly observed; alcohol tests are breath tests (49 CFR 40.67(b))
- Follow-up tests are unannounced, on dates the employer chooses, and the employee is never given the schedule (49 CFR 40.309(b), 40.307(g))
- Failing to appear for a follow-up test after the employer directs you to it is a refusal, a new violation that starts a new SAP process; the employer makes that determination, and a service agent may not (49 CFR 40.191(a)(1), 40.355(i))
- The follow-up plan follows the employee to the next employer, who learns of it through the previous-employer inquiry (49 CFR 40.307(e), 40.25)