Drug test for postal workers required too much info

Sign a medical release to divulge personal information or risk getting a positive drug test recorded on the federal Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse.

That is the threat a contractor for the U.S. Postal Service imposed on postal workers with CDLs.

The American Postal Workers Union brought the problem to light.

Random mandatory drug and alcohol testing for USPS employees with CDLs is mandated by the U.S. DOT. The testing was contracted out to a Concentra, a healthcare corporation based in Addison, Texas.

Concentra was requiring CDL employees to sign a medical record release form for random U.S. DOT drug testing. Employees were encouraged to register online to speed up the process.

From the medical record release form, reported by the union:

“I give Concentra authorization to release to my employer, insurance company, and their representatives … including any medical information, including any psychotherapy notes, psychiatric information, sexually transmitted diseases, alcohol and drug abuse and /or HIV/AIDS status, which is obtained as part of the evaluation and /or treatment for this work-related injury/illness or employment-related examination.”

Employees who refused to sign a release of medical information form were denied the opportunity to take the drug and alcohol test. Failure to take a scheduled random drug and alcohol test is considered a positive test. That results in a positive test reported to the Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse database and suspended driving privileges.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the U.S. DOT agency that oversees the Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse, does not require a medical examiner to provide a copy of the medical examination report to the employer. This also was spelled out in the union collective bargaining agreement with USPS.

The union observed in its statement that when the USPS contracts out services, the contractor may initiate policies that violate the collective bargaining agreement.

OOIDA’s testing consortium

OOIDA has a drug and alcohol testing consortium, CMCI, that offers small-business truckers help with the hassle and confusion of mandatory testing.

Here is a summary of drug and alcohol testing requirements.

If you have questions regarding drug and alcohol testing, check out the information here or call CMCI at 800-288-3784. LL

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