If an applicant admits to testing positive within the past two years, must the applicant be held out of safety-sensitive duties if he or she did not complete the return-to-duty process?

• If the applicant admits that he or she had a positive or a refusal to test result on a pre-employment test, the employer is not permitted to use the applicant to perform safety-sensitive duties until and unless the applicant documents successful completion of the return-to-duty process.

•  This Part 40 requirement applies whether or not the pre-employment positive or refusal occurred before, on, or after August 1, 2001.

•  Should no proof exist that the return-to-duty process was successfully complied with by the applicant, a current return-to-duty process must occur before the individual can again perform safety-sensitive functions.

 DOT Part 40 Question and Answer dated 1/2002