Can you make drivers pay for their background check, drug test, or CPR class?

Whether a NEMT company can make a driver pay for a background check, a drug test or a class depends mostly on the state. Minnesota bans it for background checks and orientation, Louisiana bans it for fingerprints, drug tests and physicals, California bans it for medical exams and photographs, and three states in this guide put drug test costs on the employer. Where no state ban applies, federal wage law still limits how much of a required cost you can take back out of pay. The background check guide covers which searches to run. This page covers who pays for them, along with the drug test, the physical and the training that come with hiring a driver.

Can an employer make a driver pay for a background check?

In Minnesota, no. In Louisiana, not for fingerprints or the records you require. In most other states, the question is whether the way you collect the money breaks a wage rule. Hiring costs fall into four groups, and each has a different answer:

• Searches and prints. Criminal checks, fingerprints, driving records. See the state bans below.
• Medical items. The physical and the drug test. Several states put these on the employer.
• Training. CPR, first aid, PASS and defensive driving courses. The driver training guide lists the courses brokers expect.
• Gear. Uniform and the photo for the ID badge. California puts both on the employer.

Broker contracts usually say what a driver must have, not who pays for it. MTM’s agreement, for example, has the provider supply each driver and attendant with a picture ID badge showing the driver’s name and the company’s name. In California the photo for that badge is the employer’s cost by statute.

Where the federal wage rule draws the line

Federal law protects the pay, not the hiring process. Wages must be paid “free and clear,” and the wage requirements are not met where the employee “kicks back” part of the wage to the employer, directly or indirectly (29 CFR 531.35). The Labor Department’s Fact Sheet 16 states the limit as no deduction that would reduce earnings below the required minimum wage or cut into overtime pay. It lists the cost of an employer-required physical examination among its typical problems when that cost cuts into minimum wage or overtime, and it says an employer cannot avoid the limit by having the employee reimburse in cash.

The limit is narrow. As an example with made-up numbers, a driver paid $15 an hour works 30 hours in the first week and earns $450. A $60 charge taken from that check leaves $390, or $13 an hour. That is above the $7.25 federal minimum wage (Labor Department), so the federal rule alone would not stop the deduction. A state ban or a state deduction law might. The driver damage deduction guide covers state limits on taking money from pay.

Which states bar charging drivers for hiring costs?

Minnesota, Louisiana and California each bar part of it, and the three statutes read differently.

• Minnesota. Section 181.645 says that, except as provided by section 123B.03 or as otherwise specifically provided by law, an employer or prospective employer may not require an employee or prospective employee to pay for expenses incurred in criminal or background checks, credit checks, or orientation. A second sentence bars charging for training or testing that federal or state law requires, or that the employer requires for the employee to keep the current position, unless the training or testing is required to obtain or maintain a license, registration or certification for the employee. Special transportation providers also start their own state background studies, and the state recovers the cost through a fee of no more than $44 per study under section 245C.10, subdivision 13.
• Louisiana. R.S. 23:897 makes it unlawful for any public or private employer to require an employee or applicant to pay, to pass on to the applicant, or to withhold from pay the cost of fingerprinting, a medical examination or a drug test, or the cost of furnishing records the employer requires as a condition of employment. The penalty is a fine of up to $100 or up to 90 days in jail, plus a civil penalty of up to $500, and each incident counts as a separate offense. The state labor secretary can also collect the money from the employer and return it to the worker. Louisiana carves out one exception, covered in the next section.
• California. The Labor Commissioner’s deductions page lists several rules. An employer may not require an applicant to pay for a pre-employment medical or physical examination taken as a condition of employment, or for an exam that federal, state or local law requires (Labor Code 222.5). An employer that requires a photograph or a bond must pay for it (Labor Code 401). And an employee is entitled to reimbursement for all expenses incurred in the direct consequence of the work duties (Labor Code 2802). The pre-employment physicals guide covers the physical in full.

If your state is not on this list, check with the state labor department before you charge. A state that sits quiet on hiring costs may still bar the deduction under its general wage law.

Who pays for a drug test?

The company that requires the test usually pays, and the clearest rules sit in state law.

• Federal rule on split specimens. For the retest of a split specimen in DOT testing, 49 CFR 40.173 says the employer must make sure the test happens on time and must not condition it on the employee paying first. The same section says the rule “takes no position on who ultimately pays the cost of the test.”
• Florida. The drug-free workplace statute, which an employer follows to qualify for workers’ compensation premium discounts, says the employer pays the cost of all drug tests, initial and confirmation, that it requires of employees. An employee or job applicant pays for any additional test the employer did not require (section 440.102).
• Iowa. Iowa Code 730.5 says an employer shall pay all actual costs for drug or alcohol testing of employees and prospective employees that it requires. It also says the employer must provide or pay transportation if the sample is collected away from the normal work site, and that testing time counts as work time for employees.
• Louisiana. The ban in R.S. 23:897 covers a drug test. Its exception lets an employer recover the cost of a pre-employment medical exam or drug test if the employee leaves within 90 working days of the first day, or never reports to work. That right holds only for an employee paid at least $1 above the federal minimum wage who is not part-time or seasonal, and taking it out of wages takes a signed contract that explains the terms.
• Brokers. MTM’s Pennsylvania agreement requires the provider to pull a driver from service and test at the provider’s own expense when reasonable suspicion exists. Read the drug testing guide for who has to test and when.

Who pays for CPR, PASS and other required classes?

A class that a broker or state requires before the first trip is a cost of doing the work, and the safe rule is that the company pays. Oregon’s minimum training, as CareOregon’s manual lists it, includes Red Cross-approved first aid, CPR and blood spill certification, or equivalent courses, “prior to driving any members.” Minnesota’s second sentence in section 181.645 bars charging for training or testing the employer requires to keep the job, with an exception for a license, registration or certification the worker needs to obtain or maintain. Whether a certification course such as PASS falls under that exception is a question for the state labor department. California’s reimbursement rule reaches necessary work expenses too.

Repaying a class after leaving is a different question. A written agreement may be enforceable in some states and void in others, and collecting it can never cut final pay below minimum wage. The training repayment guide covers that, and the CPR and first aid guide covers which courses brokers accept.

A hiring cost policy that holds up

Put the rule in writing before you post the job, and apply it the same way to every applicant.

1. List every cost the hire triggers. Background report, fingerprints, driving record, drug screen, physical, each class and the ID photo.
2. Mark each one required or optional. If a law or a broker requires it, or you require it, treat it as the company’s cost.
3. Pay the vendor directly. Open an account with the lab, clinic or screening company so the driver never fronts money.
4. Do not deduct from the first paycheck. A deduction is the riskiest way to recover a cost, because wage laws in some states restrict it even when the driver signs.
5. Let drivers pay only for extras they request. A second test or a duplicate certificate the driver wants is different from a required one.
6. Keep receipts with the driver file. If a state agency asks what you charged, the file answers it.

Tracking what the company pays for

When the company pays for a course, the expiration date still needs tracking. HealthRide’s fleet management holds driver credentials such as licenses, CPR certifications and training records with their expiration dates. It sends a reminder before one lapses and flags an expired credential when a dispatcher tries to assign that driver.