Before a department or unit may extend a final offer of employment for a CDL-required position with safety-sensitive functions, a pre-employment drug test must be conducted. Employment offers will be conditional until the following requirements are met:
- the applicant must sign consent forms for testing as required by policy,
- all required pre-hire forms must be completed, and
- test results must be negative. In addition, Iowa State is required to obtain the selected applicant's alcohol and drug test results for the preceding two years.
Procedures
University departments or units must complete the following steps BEFORE a final job offer is made:
- Upon selecting the applicant for hire, the department will provide the applicant an offer of employment letter which clearly states the offer is contingent upon successfully completing a previous employer record check and pre-employment drug test.
- The hiring department must download the required pre-hire forms for the applicant to complete.
Note that for the Supplemental Application, the hiring department should review to make sure the applicant has accounted for each month of the required ten-year CDL employment history. If there are any gaps, have the applicant provide an explanation.The form is not required if the applicant has not previously held a CDL position. - The hiring department will send the Authorization and Request for Information form to all previous employers listed on the Commercial Driver’s License - Supplemental Application.
- The department should scan and email completed forms to cdl@iastate.edu, and then mail originals to Risk Management.
- Upon receipt of the completed Authorization and Request for Information form(s), the ISU Designated Employer Representative (DER), will review and send a Pre-employment Drug Test Notification Form and letter to the department.
- The hiring department will call McFarland Clinic Occupational Medicine at (515) 239-4496 to schedule a drug test. They will need to provide McFarland Clinic with the employee’s birthdate, verify the employee is an Iowa State CDL employee, and indicate Iowa State is an FMCSA agency. The department should then email the DER with the test appointment date and time.
- The department will contact the candidate, provide them with the testing notification letter, and direct them to take the Pre-employment Drug Test Notification form and their driver’s license to the test site.
- McFarland Clinic Occupational Medicine will collect and mail the specimens to a certified laboratory for testing. Results are normally returned within 3-5 business days. The DER will notify the department of test results, and if results are negative, the department may allow the employee to perform safety sensitive functions.
Providing an adulterated or substituted specimen or failing to pass the drug test will automatically disqualify an employee or prospective employee from being placed in a safety-sensitive position and any conditional offer of employment will be considered null and void. If the employee is already employed in a temporary or non-CDL position, contact University Human Resources, Office of Employee Relations for assistance.
New hires for a job that requires a CDL must not be allowed to engage in any safety-sensitive functions until they have passed the drug test and have completed training with Risk Management.
Training requirements
New, transferring, and returning CDL employees and their supervisors must complete a mandatory two-hour training on drug and alcohol awareness and Iowa State CDL policies every five years. After completion, employees will receive documentation for their department personnel file. Supervisors must complete an additional one-hour session on reasonable suspicion testing.