What Happens After a SAP Evaluation?

Failing or refusing a DOT-required drug and/or alcohol test can be difficult not only for the employee, but also their employer. The employee is suspended from their safety-sensitive duties and the employer is short staffed. Following a failed test there is a process set up by the Department of Transportation that employees must complete before they can return to safety-sensitive duties. All DOT mandated employers are required by federal law to comply. Getting started with the return-to-duty process begins with a SAP evaluation. This first step gets an employee on the road to returning to work. SAP Referral Services can help expedite this process.

The SAP Evaluation Process

A SAP evaluation is fairly straight forward. First, the SAP (Substance Abuse Professional) conducts an assessment and creates a plan that may include education and/or treatment. Next, they send your employer a report outlining their recommendation and monitor your progress as you complete the plan. Finally, at the end of your treatment, you meet face-to-face for a follow-up SAP evaluation at which point the SAP will determine whether you can be given clearance to submit to a return-to-duty test.

At this point, the employer must administer an observed drug test as part of the return-to-duty process. If the employee tests negative on the test the employer is then allowed to return the employee to their safety-sensitive duties. Any worker who returns to work following a return-to-duty drug and/or alcohol test must take follow-up tests throughout the next 12 months of their employment. Regulations require a SAP to set up at least six random tests over 12 months. However, a SAP may choose to require any number of unannounced tests over 60 months based on their suspicion of a potential violation reoccurring.

An employee who fails the return-to-duty test will be considered a repeat violator and must complete the entire return-to-duty SAP process over again. In addition, if a SAP does not believe that an employee has cooperated with their treatment plan, they can send an employer a report of non-compliance.

Benefits of Using SAP Referral Services

To be DOT qualified, a SAP must undergo continuing education and licensing maintenance. This means that some SAPs that you come across, or whom another employee may have recommended, may no longer meet the DOT requirements. For this reason, up-to-date lists of SAPs are critical so employees are treated quickly and return to work. At SAP Referral Services we have a current list of DOT qualified SAPs in over 3,000 locations nationwide. Completing a SAP evaluation and return-to-duty process with one of our clinical specialists gets DOT mandated safety-sensitive employees back to work as soon as possible.

How Can We Help an Employee Who Needs a SAP?

If you want to get back to work as soon as possible, it is time to contact SAP Referral Services. We work with you to speed the process and find a DOT qualified Substance Abuse Professional who is ready to see you now. Our FastTrack Enrollment offers quick, easy access to a qualified SAP in your area. We have helped thousands of employees get back to work, let us help you. Click here for FastTrack Enrollment.

SAP Referral Services (SRS) is the leading facilitator for mandated substance abuse evaluations. SRS maintains an extensive network of qualified providers in more than 3,000 locations nationwide for testing violations that originate from any of the DOT’s modes including FMCSA, FAA, FRA, FTA, USCG and PHMSA, or a company’s internal drug and alcohol testing policy.