Implementation Guidelines - Federal Transit Administration - U.S. ...

Before making the return-to-duty
recommendation, the SAP must obtain
documentation from the recommended
treatment program and confer with treatment
professionals regarding the employee’s
progress. The SAP must also conduct a
face-to-face clinical interview with the
employee to determine if the employee has
complied with the recommendations.
Based on input from the SAP, the returnto-duty
decision must ultimately be made by
the employer. If the SAP does not believe
the individual has successfully complied
with the recommended treatment program,
the employer must not allow the employee
to return to his/her safety-sensitive duties.
See Chapter 9 for a more detailed discussion
on the role of the SAP.
Once the SAP has determined that the
employee has successfully complied with
the treatment recommendations and the
employer has decided the individual can
return to work, a return-to-duty test must be
performed. The employee must have a
verified negative drug test result and/or an
alcohol test result of less than 0.02 to return
to a safety-sensitive function. If a drug test
result is cancelled, the employer shall
require the employee to submit to and pass
another drug test.
If an employee is unable to provide a
sufficient amount of urine to permit a returnto-duty
drug test (i.e., 45 mL), the collector
must follow the “insufficient volume”
procedures defined in §40.193 and later
described in Chapter 7. If when following
these procedures, the employee is still
unable to provide a sufficient specimen, the
employer must direct the employee to obtain
an evaluation from a licensed physician
within 5 days. The physician must be
acceptable to the MRO and have expertise in
the field. The physician must ascertain
whether there is a medical condition that
with a high degree of probability precluded
the employee from providing a sufficient
amount of urine. Additionally, the physician
must determine if the employee’s medical
condition is the result of a serious and
permanent or long-term disability. If so, the
MRO or evaluating physician must
determine if there is clinical evidence of
illicit drug use. The MRO/physician may
conduct an alternative test (e.g., blood test)
as part of the medical evaluation. If there is
no evidence of illegal drug use, the MRO
must report the test result as negative,
thereby allowing the employee to be
assigned safety-sensitive duties.
Figures 6-4 and 6-6 at the end of this
chapter, illustrate the return-to-duty testing
processes for alcohol and drugs.
Section 6. FOLLOW-UP
TESTING
Required Testing
Once allowed to return-to-duty, an
employee shall be subject to unannounced
follow-up testing for at least 12 but not more
than 60 months. The frequency and duration
Chapter 6. Types of Testing 6-19 August 2002