Substance abuse professional evaluation services are offered by a professional who is trained in evaluating employees who have gone against DOT drugs and alcohol regulations. SAP also recommends the treatment to be followed where need be. It is the SAP who is going to evaluate whether you are fit for the job which is strict on DOT drugs and alcohol regulations. Sensitive jobs such as a school bus driver, pilots and any other position where the well being of the public is in your hands are strict in finding SAP services. In this article, you will learn some of the important points to note about SAP evaluation services.
When you have failed a drug or alcohol test at your workplace, chances are high that you are going to be suspended. At this position, you need to get professional substance abuse treatment services to keep you free from the abused substance and get a report from a substance abuse professional after being evaluated. However, there are those people who prefer going for their treatment programs. This will not qualify them to be readmitted at their previous positions they were in before failing the drug or alcohol test. According to DOT regulations, someone who failed drug or alcohol test must seek the services of SAP, follow their recommendations and again a follow up by SAP before being accepted back to their position.
Once you are suspended for failing a drug or alcohol test, finding another job before attending the SAP program will not help you. An employer who adheres to DOT regulations will not accept to hire a new employee without getting their previous drug and alcohol testing records from the former employer. Your former employer has to submit any violations of the DOT regulations to your new employer. In the absence of the SAP compliance report, no DOT regulations adhering company is supposed to hire your services. You can only get employment opportunities without SAP compliance report when seeking employment from a non-DOT compliant employer.
When it comes to the costs of undergoing SAP services, this can be shared between the employer and the employee subject to their discussion. If the employer has an employee assistance program, then the payments are catered for from this program by the employer. In the absence of an employee assistance program, most of the employers want this burden to be shifted to the employees to pay on their own. Since this is not a medical necessity case, medical insurance covers don’t cater to these bills. A positive drug or alcohol test shows that the patient took the drugs or alcohol voluntary and so he or she will be required to cover up for their costs.
In case a dispute arises between you as a person and the results from the SAP evaluation, DOT regulations state that the results from the evaluation by their recommended SAP are final. They don’t give room for a second opinion. The above points are some of the facts that you need to know about SAP evaluation services.