Rehiring a former NEMT driver: which checks to run again and what brokers need

A returning driver needs less work than a stranger, but not none. The old Form I-9 can often be reused, while the background report, driving record, exclusion searches, broker approval and any lapsed training start over. For the full list of hiring steps a returning driver repeats, see the guide to hiring NEMT drivers and the background check guide. For how the driver left in the first place, see how to fire a NEMT driver and the discipline guide.

Which checks must you run again for a rehired driver?

Run again everything that expires or can change while the driver is away, and reuse only what the rules let you keep. Eight items cover most of a returning driver’s file:

The sections below give the rule behind each row. Keep the new results in the driver’s existing file, behind the old ones, and date every page. The driver file checklist shows the order.

Can you reuse the old Form I-9 for a rehired driver?

Yes, when the rehire is within three years of the date the first Form I-9 was completed. You then either complete a new Form I-9 or complete Supplement B of the old one. For a driver rehired more than three years after the original form, a new Form I-9 is required (USCIS Handbook for Employers M-274, section 6.2).

To use Supplement B for a rehire, USCIS tells you to:

1. Confirm the old form relates to this driver.
2. Look at the work authorization on it. Check whether the List A or List C document in Section 2, or any earlier reverification, has expired or been automatically extended.
3. If the driver is still authorized and the document has not expired, enter the rehire date in Supplement B. The date can be a future date when you are setting the driver up early.
4. If the authorization has ended, ask for an unexpired List A or List C document and record it in Supplement B. Do not reverify the List B identity document, which is usually the driver’s license.
5. Sign and date the block. If the old form is an edition that is no longer valid, complete Supplement B on the current edition.

A driver whose work permit ran out while away is the harder case, and the guide to I-9 reverification covers it. How long to keep the old forms is in the employee record retention guide.

Do you need a new background check authorization?

Yes. Get a new stand-alone disclosure and a new signed authorization before you order any report, even for a driver you know well. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a person may not procure a consumer report for employment purposes unless a clear and conspicuous written disclosure was made before the report is procured, in a document that consists solely of the disclosure, and the person authorized the procurement in writing (15 U.S.C. 1681b(b)(2)(A)).

The FTC adds that an authorization meant to cover reports throughout a person’s employment must say so clearly and conspicuously. An authorization signed for the first stint may not reach a report ordered after the driver left, so the safe course is to treat the return as a new application and collect fresh paper.

Search again for what can change while a driver is away:

• Criminal records. A charge or conviction may have happened since the last check.
• Driving record. A suspension, lapse or new violation may have appeared.
• Exclusion lists. A name that was clear when the driver left may be listed now. The OIG exclusion list is updated monthly, and brokers also ask for a SAM exclusions search.
• Registries. Where your program requires a sex offender or abuse registry search, run it again.

If a new report turns up a problem, the notice steps in the pre-adverse action notice entry apply to a returning driver the same way they apply to anyone else.

What do brokers and insurers need when a driver returns?

A driver carries a broker’s riders only while the broker’s driver file is current, so the return needs a clean file before the first trip. MTM’s portal guidance asks a provider to have a driver who leaves removed from the company, which means a driver who comes back may have to be added again. Four examples from public agreements and manuals:

• MTM. Its standard provider agreement (the January 2023 form) keeps every driver and attendant off trips until fully credentialed and bars MTM from paying for trips an uncredentialed driver ran (sections 5.D and 2.N). The file it expects for each driver includes a criminal background check before employment and every year after, a three-year driving record each year, pre-employment drug and alcohol results, and training certificates (section 5.C).
• Modivcare. For out-of-network providers, the exclusion check is due when a driver is hired or assigned and monthly after, and a license copy is due on hire or assignment.
• Texas health plans. The NEMT handbook (UMCM 16.4, section 2520) lists the database and registry checks as due before the hire date and then yearly, with the federal exclusion lists monthly, and it bars drivers whose required checks are past due.
• MTM Health in Virginia. The 2026 handbook has a roster field for suspensions and bans, and lists permanent removal of a driver from MTM’s network among the actions for the most serious violations. A driver you let go may have been banned, so ask before you schedule the return.

One state example runs the other way. Mississippi’s Division of Medicaid rule lets its broker reuse a fingerprint record from a driver’s earlier Medicaid NET employer to meet the one-time fingerprint check when the driver changes employment, so a returning driver’s prints may already be on file.

For the insurer, tell your agent the driver is back and ask whether the policy needs the driver approved again. The insurance approval guide lists what underwriters look at.

What changes for a driver with a commercial license?

For a driver who holds a CDL and drives a vehicle that requires one, federal rules add three steps. A full Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse query must be run before the driver performs any safety-sensitive function (49 CFR 382.701(a)), and a verified negative controlled substances result is required before the driver performs safety-sensitive functions for you, with a narrow exception for a driver who has been in a compliant testing program within the previous 30 days (382.301). The motor vehicle record and safety performance history inquiries are due within 30 days of the date employment begins (391.23). Whether your returning driver counts as a new pre-employment test is a question for your testing provider. Most NEMT vans do not need a CDL, and the driver requirements guide explains when these rules apply.

Which training lapses while a driver is away?

Anything with an expiry date: PASS, first aid and CPR, defensive driving, and the yearly broker compliance courses. Pull the old training log, set each date against today’s, and schedule whatever has lapsed before the first shift.

• PASS. CTAA’s handbook (updated January 30, 2024) gives recognition for a PASS driver two years of validity. A holder has 90 days after expiry to recertify, and a certificate more than 90 days past expiry cannot be renewed.
• First aid and CPR. Read the date on the card. Brokers such as Modivcare ask that a driver keep a valid certificate.
• Broker compliance training. Modivcare’s attestation says new employees finish its listed courses within 30 days of hire and that records show completion for the calendar year, so a certificate from an earlier year will not show the current year’s completion for a driver who returns.

If the driver once signed a repayment agreement for training, read what it says about a return before you restart. The training repayment guide explains how those agreements work. The driver training guide lists the courses by source.

How do you write a rehire-eligibility rule?

Write one rule that sorts every departure into eligible, eligible with conditions, or not eligible, and record the answer on the day the driver leaves. Deciding it later, when a former driver walks in, is how two similar drivers get different answers. An example set of categories, which you would adjust to your own policy:

• Eligible. The driver gave notice and left in good standing. Rehire follows the checks above.
• Eligible with conditions. The driver left without notice or with an open attendance problem. The condition might be a fresh probation period or a meeting first.
• Not eligible. A broker removed the driver, the driver failed or refused a test, falsified a record, left a rider unattended, or took company property.

Keep the written reason with the separation record. It is the same reason you give a broker or a reference caller, and the discipline guide explains how to keep that record straight.

The legal risk sits in one decision, refusing a driver because of something they did that the law protects. The EEOC says the equal employment laws prohibit punishing applicants or employees for asserting their rights, including filing or being a witness in a charge or lawsuit, complaining to a manager about discrimination, answering questions in an investigation, and asking for a disability or religious accommodation. Its retaliation guidance lists refusal to hire among the materially adverse actions. The same EEOC page says employers remain free to act for non-retaliatory, non-discriminatory reasons. A rule applied the same way to every former driver, with the reason written down, is what shows the difference. Safety and billing reports have their own protections, covered in the guide to retaliation laws for drivers who report problems.

Getting a returning driver back on the schedule

HealthRide keeps each driver’s credentials, such as license and training dates, in fleet management, with a reminder before each expiration date and a warning when a dispatcher tries to assign a driver whose credential has expired. Enter the refreshed PASS, CPR and license dates before the first shift, and a lapsed one shows up before a trip is assigned, not at the next broker audit. A returning driver’s hours go back onto timecards through the driver app from the first clock-in.