Is a written job description required for NEMT drivers?

No federal law makes you write one, but it is worth the hour. Under the ADA regulations, a written job description prepared before you advertise or interview is one of the listed pieces of evidence for which duties are essential. If a driver later asks for an accommodation or disputes a decision, the dated description shows what the job required from the start.

What minimum age should the post list?

The age your contracts and insurer set, and no preference beyond that. Virginia Medicaid sets the floor at 18, plus two years of licensed driving. Georgia Medicaid and MTM's Pennsylvania provider agreement each put it at 21. If you run trips for several payers, list the highest minimum so every hire can drive every trip.

Can the post say drivers must lift a certain weight?

Yes, if the job really requires it. EEOC guidance lets an employer state a job's physical requirements, such as lifting a certain weight, and ask each applicant if they can do it. What you cannot do before a conditional offer is ask about medical conditions or medications or require a medical exam. Base the numbers on your heaviest regular task, not a guess.

Is time spent waiting between trips paid time?

Usually. Federal wage rules treat time spent waiting on duty as hours worked, so a driver parked outside a clinic until the rider comes out is on the clock. Downtime can go unpaid only if all three hold: the driver has been fully released from work, dispatch has said exactly when the next trip starts, and there is enough time to handle personal matters. State the waiting rule in the post so it is settled before the first paycheck.

Should the job post mention background checks?

Yes. Say that you run a criminal background check, a driving record review, a drug screen, and federal exclusion list checks, because Medicaid requires every driver to be off the exclusion list and to hold a valid license. Leave out lines such as "no felons." California bars employers with at least five workers from asking about conviction history before a conditional offer, unless a law requires the background check.

NEMT Driver Job Description (Free Template)

Before you post it

A driver job description has two readers. Applicants use it to decide whether the work fits them, and you use it later as the record of what the job required. The ADA regulations name a written job description prepared before advertising or interviewing as one kind of evidence for which duties are essential, so finish this one before the first ad goes up and save a dated copy.

Start from your contracts. Federal Medicaid law bars anyone on the federal exclusion list and requires every driver to be validly licensed, and states and brokers add more. Virginia sets the minimum age at 18 with two years on a license. Georgia and MTM’s Pennsylvania agreement set it at 21. Use the strictest rule among the payers you serve. The common state and broker rules are side by side in NEMT driver requirements.
Describe the service you actually run. A sedan company that only does curb-to-curb rides writes a different post than a fleet running wheelchair vans and stretcher crews. Delete every duty your drivers will not do.
Measure the physical demands. Weigh the heaviest folded wheelchair and stair chair you carry and time a typical shift. Put real numbers in the brackets.
Fill in the pay range. Several states now require it in the post. The table further down shows which ones.
Keep the brackets honest. If a line does not apply, remove it rather than leaving a blank.

The job description

Copy everything below this line into your job board or careers page and replace each bracket.

Field	Fill in
Job title	[NEMT Driver / Wheelchair Van Driver / Stretcher Van Driver]
Company	[Company name]
Service area	[City, county, or region]
Employment type	[Full-time / part-time] employee
Reports to	[Dispatch manager or operations manager]
Vehicles	[Sedan / minivan / wheelchair van with lift or ramp / stretcher van]
Pay	$[] to $[] per hour
Start date	[Date or “as soon as training is complete”]

About us

[Company name] drives [dialysis patients, seniors, Medicaid members, and hospital discharges] to medical appointments across [service area]. We run [number] vehicles, [weekday and weekend] schedules, and trips for [the types of payers you serve].

What you will do

Check your vehicle at the start of every shift, including the [lift or ramp,] seat belts, and wheelchair tiedowns, and report anything that fails before you drive.
Drive each day’s trips safely and on schedule, following the trip list and directions in our driver app.
Keep your phone down and headphones off whenever the vehicle is moving.
Give each rider the level of help the trip calls for, whether that is curb-to-curb, door-to-door, or hand-to-hand.
Open and close the doors for riders yourself, and check that every passenger’s belt is fastened before you pull away.
Operate the [lift or ramp] and secure each wheelchair and its rider before the van moves.
Load, secure, and store walkers, wheelchairs, and oxygen tanks.
On pickups that are not at the curb, go to the entrance, introduce yourself, and show your company ID.
Make sure each rider is safely inside at the drop-off before you leave.
Record arrival and drop-off times, odometer readings, and rider signatures on every trip.
Keep rider names, addresses, and health details private and hidden from other passengers.
Keep the vehicle clean and free of smoke, vapor, and tobacco.
Tell dispatch right away about delays, no-shows, incidents, and accidents, and complete the incident report.
In an emergency, call 911 and give first aid within your training.
[Stretcher crews: work as a two-person team to load, secure, and unload stretchers.]

What this job does not include

Personal care, such as dressing or feeding a rider.
Transferring a rider out of a wheelchair into a bed or seat (or back), or holding up a rider’s full weight as they walk, unless we have trained and authorized you for it.
Carrying riders on stairs [unless you work on a stair-chair crew trained for it].
Entering a rider’s home or their room at a care facility, unless we have trained and authorized you for it, or entering the exam room.
Accepting money, gifts, or side business from riders.

What you need

At least [21] years old.
A valid [state] driver’s license that you have had for [2] years or more.
A driving record that meets our standard: [no more than __ at-fault crashes or moving violations within __ years, and no license suspension or revocation within __ years].
Willingness to complete a criminal background check, a driving record review, a drug screen, and federal exclusion list checks.
Completion of our paid training before your first trip: [CPR and first aid, wheelchair securement, passenger assistance, defensive driving, privacy, and broker courses].
Ability to read trip instructions and talk clearly with riders and dispatch in [English] [and name any other language your riders need].
Comfort using a smartphone app for trips, directions, and messages.
Patience and courtesy with older riders and people with disabilities, and a neat appearance.

Nice to have: [experience as a caregiver, home health aide, paratransit or school bus driver; a current CPR card].

Physical demands and working conditions

Climb into and out of the driver’s seat about [__] times a shift.
Push a rider in a manual wheelchair, up to [__] pounds for rider and chair together, including up ramps.
Lift and carry up to [__] pounds, such as folded wheelchairs, walkers, and bags.
Bend, kneel, and reach to fasten floor tiedowns and belts.
Sit and drive for up to [__] hours at a time, with breaks.
Work outdoors during pickups in heat, cold, and rain.
Clean up after occasional spills of blood or other body fluids, with gloves and a cleanup kit we provide and train you to use.

We provide reasonable accommodations to qualified applicants and employees with disabilities.

Schedule

Shifts: [start and end times, for example early starts for dialysis runs].
Days: [weekdays / weekends / rotating holidays].
Hours: about [__] a week. [Split shifts: yes or no.]

Pay and benefits

$[] to $[] per hour, based on [experience / vehicle type].
Time and a half for any hours past 40 in one workweek.
Waiting time between trips: [paid at your regular rate / explain your rule].
Paid training and [uniform shirts].
[Health insurance, paid time off, retirement plan, referral bonus.]
Paid [weekly / every two weeks].

How to apply

[Apply at link or address.] Include [a copy of your driver’s license]. Next steps: [phone screen, interview, road test, offer, background checks, training].

Equal opportunity statement

[Company name] is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and transgender status), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or any other status protected by law. To request an accommodation during hiring, contact [name, phone, email].

States that require a pay range in the post

In these states, the pay line in the template is not optional. Each law applies when the employer meets the size threshold shown.

State	Employer size covered	What the post must show
California	15 or more employees	A pay scale, meaning a good-faith estimate of the salary or hourly range you expect to pay at hire
Hawaii	50 or more employees	An hourly rate or salary range that reasonably reflects the pay you expect to offer
Illinois	15 or more employees	The pay scale and benefits, or a link to a public page that lists them
Massachusetts	25 or more employees in the state	The annual salary or hourly wage range you reasonably and in good faith expect to pay
Minnesota	30 or more employees in Minnesota	The starting pay range and a general description of benefits. The range cannot be open-ended, and a fixed rate is listed when there is no range
New Jersey	10 or more employees over 20 calendar weeks	The hourly wage or salary, or a range, plus a general description of benefits and other compensation programs
New York	4 or more employees	The compensation range and a job description
Vermont	5 or more employees	The pay or pay range. A tipped job lists its base wage, and a commission job says it pays commission
Washington	15 or more employees	The wage scale or salary range, or the fixed wage, plus a general description of benefits and other pay

Colorado, Maryland, and the District of Columbia also require pay information in job postings. More states and cities keep adding similar rules, so confirm your state’s current rule with its labor agency before posting. Using a job board or staffing firm does not move the duty off you: California and Illinois both require the employer to hand the pay scale to the third party that posts the ad.

Lines to keep out of the post

Federal discrimination law covers help-wanted ads, not just hiring decisions. An ad that shows a preference for, or discourages applicants because of, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age 40 or older, disability, or genetic information can break federal law. Those laws apply once an employer has 15 employees, and the age law once it has 20.

Age hints. Words such as “young” or “recent graduates” discourage older applicants. State the minimum age your contracts require and stop there.
Health questions. Before a conditional offer, you may not ask about medical conditions or medications or require a medical exam. You may list the physical demands and ask if the applicant can perform them.
Blanket criminal history bans. Describe the checks you run and the contract rules that disqualify a driver. The criminal record hiring guide covers state lookback periods.
Duties nobody does. A lifting requirement your drivers never meet weakens the whole description if it is ever challenged.

After the post is live, move to the interview questions and the driver onboarding checklist. For the whole process from sourcing to first ride, read how to hire NEMT drivers.

From job post to first shift

New drivers join the HealthRide driver app for iPhone and Android with an invite. The app lists every trip for the day, opens turn-by-turn navigation to the next stop in one tap, and collects rider signatures on screen, so the duties in this post match what a driver sees on day one. Each driver’s license, CPR card, and training dates are tracked with reminders before they expire. See the driver app.

NEMT driver job description you can post today