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

90-day absence is not a consideration. Thus,
employees that are off duty for sickness,
vacation, jury duty, leaves of absence,
worker’s compensation, Family Medical
Leave, or any other purpose that extends 90
days or more will be subject to the preemployment
test if the employee has been
removed from the testing pool. Employers
should remove covered employees from the
random testing pool for any testing period
(i.e., quarter, month, week) for which the
employer knows the employee will not
perform any safety-sensitive duties.
For example:
If an employee is on extended worker’s
compensation leave for an anticipated
period of 6 months, the employee may be
removed from the employer’s random
pool for the duration of the six months
(i.e., six monthly testing periods) to avoid
dilution of the pool. Since the 6-month
period is longer than 90 days, the
employee would be required to take a
pre-employment drug test prior to
reassignment of safety-sensitive duties at
the end of the 6-month period.
On the other hand, if an individual has
called in sick and the duration of the
illness is unknown, but it is likely that the
individual will return to work within the
quarterly testing period, the individual
should not be removed from the testing
pool. If the illness extends past 90 days,
the employee would not receive a preemployment
test because they remained
in the employer’s testing pool.
Similarly, any applicant who undergoes
a pre-employment test, but is not actually
assigned safety-sensitive duties within 90
days from the date of the test, will have to
be retested with negative test results prior to
the applicant’s first performance of safetysensitive
duties.
Prior to conducting a pre-employment
test, the employer must inform the applicant
or employee in writing of the testing
requirement (§655.17). If a pre-employment
drug test is cancelled, the employer shall
require the employee or applicant to submit
to and pass another test. Figure 6-2
illustrates the drug testing program for a preemployment
test.
Pre-employment Alcohol Testing
Pre-employment alcohol testing is not
required, but an employer may choose under
FTA authority to conduct pre-employment
alcohol testing following the procedures set
forth in Part 655.42 and Part 40 (Subparts J
through N). If the employer chooses to
conduct pre-employment alcohol testing, the
applicant must have a negative alcohol test
(