Mandatory Department Of Transportation Drug Testing For Drivers

Safety Tips and Traffic Rules That Every Truck Driver Should Know -  Communal News

Before a company hires you as a driver, you need to make sure that you have fully understood their policies because you are going to sign a contract and that is proof that you agree to the rules as was discussed during the interview. I supposed it is clearly stated there that you are going to comply with the requirements where one of these is to perform a drug as well as alcohol testing since this is a rule that the Department of Transportation implements. As a driver, it is a must for you to have a clean record and no traces of substances like THC.

It is also important to have a valid driver’s license without DUI charges recorded because your employer will perform a background check and this may be one of the reasons that will take away the opportunity of having a job. Keep in mind that there are employers who are very meticulous when it comes to criminal offenses and since you are applying as a driver, then it is very important to have a clean history. With the DUI or DWI, alcohol and drugs are involved while you are driving so it may lead to unemployment as well. 

So before applying for a job that is related to your driving skills, you have to make sure that you can commit to the DOT drug test policy because this is a big factor that can greatly affect your employment. You should also know that the employer has a reputation to protect so they also need to follow the rules that the Department of Transportation is strictly mandating for them to continue operating their business. If you think that you cannot conform to this, then you may have to think of other vacant positions, though most applicants today are already required to perform this type of screening.

Why are you tested?

As a driver or a passenger, you may have been already in a car accident or have witnessed one. This could be a traumatic experience for some people, while it may lead to someone’s impairment or inability to live normally. I supposed you would not like any member of your family to be in this situation when on the road.

This is one of the reasons why there is a law in the US that instructs companies with employed drivers or any motor vehicle-related positions to undergo the DOT drug and alcohol testing. This is for the safety of the working environment and employers in the field of trucking, railroads, aviation, and pipelines.

Keep in mind that the employer should not allow you to start working without the result because once reported that you have not yet conducted this pre-employment requirement, then your employer will be fined. However, when already employed and has undergone a post-accident as well as a random testing, you may still drive while waiting for the result. And then, when you are verified to be positive, you will be fired from work. Get more info from https://www.ehstoday.com/health/article/21127681/dot-modifies-transport-employee-drug-testing to know the modified rules due to the pandemic.

Drug & Alcohol Regulation Updates for 2018 – Alia Drug Testing

Screening Rules

According to the Department of Transportation, before the employer hires a certain employee, he must comply first to this screening. Aside from that, the DOT-related agencies must also require the employees to take perform this type of laboratory examination randomly every year.

You also need to undergo this clinical testing once you are involved in a motor vehicle accident, especially when someone is injured or depending on the fatality of the situation. He has to perform the 5-panel test of a urine sample to check for the presence of THC, cocaine, amphetamines, PCP, and opiates.

If you are required to undergo this several times, then you cannot refuse because larger companies would like this to be performed multiple times in a year. Anyway, this will depend on the contract that you are going to sign, so you should know the company policy as well. This is to enhance public safety, anyway.

Random

Expect for unannounced follow-up as well as random screenings. Once you received the request to perform this testing, you should proceed to the accredited clinical laboratory right away for specimen collection. 

You will be scheduled for the procedure and do not consider delaying this because it will be considered as a refusal when you did not make it on time. The technician who is in-charged in the laboratory will contact your office and report your non-appearance.

Prescription

Under certain conditions, a driver is allowed to take prescription drugs as long as it is not included in the list of controlled substances provided by the FMCSR – find here the list of substances. There are substances that may affect your driving capability, but since you have a medical condition, then you have to be prescribed with the qualified treatments only.

By the way, a licensed medical practitioner must provide a prescription and he should know your work environment as well. He also needs to make sure that the effects of the substance will not affect his mental and physical qualifications to drive a motor vehicle. You will not be excused from the drug testing rules when the doctor has no insights about the industry or your field of work. 

Refusal

Company owners or the person in charge of the hiring process may disregard your application when you refused to do the screening or when you did not appear during the scheduled screening day, did not cooperate, contaminated the specimen, and when you left the clinical laboratory without completing the procedure. Remember that this is a part of the pre-employment requirements, so it is important for you to obey to show that you are interested in filling up the vacant position.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulation prohibits the refusal of the said screening. Refusal means that you will be evaluated for alcoholism and drug abuse issues. This means that the authority will take away your chance to function in a safety-sensitive working environment. In my opinion, it would be great if you can discuss with your employer your reasons for refusal but during the screening period, you have should not interfere with the procedure.

Posted in Law

Defenses on Approval Voting

The choice of approval voting is still not the solution for voting the best candidates. As a voter, you have other ways to identify the best candidates since you come across an endless aspirant list selling out their manifestos. Approval voting gives voters the chance to exercise their rights in a transparent and effective voting system. So, the system still plays a crucial role in ensuring the voting goes on well, and everyone is happy at the end of the day. So, as others criticize this system, many defenses are vouching for it as the best. Let’s have a look at some of those. 

Approval Voting is Flexible

Finding a voting system where you are given a chance to select multiple candidates is not easy. Approval voting has all the reasons for being the best election system that every state should try thanks to its flexibility. Unlike another system where the voter is given only a single option to vote their best candidate depending on the merits of the candidates, approval voting allows voters to approve one or more candidates. The candidate with the most approvals wins the seat.

Guarantees Improved Voter Turnout

Ensuring that many voters turn out to vote is the biggest job any country has to take. As far as it’s an opportunity for everyone to exercise their democratic rights, many people are still reluctant to go out there and cast their votes. This is mainly because they’re confused about who to vote for making the decision tough. With approval voting, you don’t have to choose to vote for all your favorite candidates. Therefore, voters are motivated to go out and vote because they don’t want their favorite candidate to lose. After all, others disapprove of them.

The Easiest Way to Select the Best Candidates

You may worry about how you will vote for the best candidates as you can meet multiple candidates aspiring for the position. However, not all that shines promises to be Gold, and many of these candidates may promise almost the whole earth in favor of winning voters.

Since the election has many aspirants and finding the best can be a stressor. With approval voting, you are likely to get the best candidates that satisfy their will. Therefore, this is the most trusted voting system where you are subject to the best candidates.

Reduces Negative Campaigning

Reducing negative campaigning is another importance of approval voting. Since this voting system is highly reputable and capable, negative campaigners have no chance. The process provides the easiest route to cutting down the negative campaigning from other voters and the aspiring candidates. 

Therefore, this makes it very convenient for many voters who still need to have the best performing leaders. They are never swayed by negative campaigns but rather have the liberty to decide by them based on how they judge the candidates. 

Conclusion There are more than enough defenses in favor of the use of approval voting. Approval voting ensures you get the best candidates by reducing the negative campaigning and giving the voters a humble time to choose their leaders without manipulation.

Posted in Law

Advantages of Having A Personal Injury Attorney

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Have you recently sustained injuries from an avoidable accident? Is the insurance company of the party at default contacting you for a quick settlement of your claim? If this is the case, then Don’t Do It!

In fact, never talk to his/her insurance company until you consult your NJ personal injury attorney. You may completely be unfamiliar with the rates of compensations, but your seasoned lawyers are. 

If you get harmed in an accident, don’t talk to anyone except to answer quick questions from the police at the accident scene. To fully understand the value of having a personal injury attorney, here top five benefits of contracting an injury law firm.

Helps you in building a solid case

For you to get compensated for injuries sustained during an accident, it’s a legal requirement to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accident occurred as a result of negligence from the other party.

Providing proof for your case is not an easy task, and that’s where your injury lawyer comes in. An injury lawyer will help you in collecting evidence such as:

  1. Collecting information from eyewitnesses,
  2. Analyzing your medical report, 
  3. Gathering information such as driving the history of at default party, 
  4. Examining the medical report of a default party, 
  5. Obtaining and analyzing police report and accident reports that details the events of the accident
  6. Hiring reconstruction accident expert to determine the sequence of events before, during, and after the crash.

A Personal injury attorney Understand the Legal Process.

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You might be unfamiliar with the legal requirements and procedures surrounding personal injury claim, but your attorney is not because he handles these types of claims daily.

Personal injury attorney knows how and when to file all the legal documents necessary for your claim, and they understand what the applicable statutes of limitation are. Furthermore, the attorney knows all the legal tricks that insurance companies use to defeat or under compensate claimants.

Attempting to follow a lawsuit on your own increases your chances of not getting the compensation you rightfully deserve on the grounds of legal technicalities or negligence due to a lack of legal knowledge. That exactly why you need a personal injury lawyer to stand by your side and make sure you are not taken advantage of.  

A personal injury lawyer has the motivation to help you

Personal injury attorneys mostly work on a contingency basis. Meaning they only get paid for every injury case they win. This is incredibly awesome since you have a well experienced and motivated lawyer working tirelessly to help you get the highest possible compensation from the at-default insurance company.

Furthermore, since the payment plan only allows for payment when a settlement is reached, the lawyers work around the clock to quickly settle your claim for them to get a pay check. After all, don’t we all work to get paid?

To learn more about the contingency payment plan, see this link: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/contingent-payment-work-12285.html 

An attorney has the experience of dealing with insurance companies

Taking a lawsuit against an insurance company is like going for a war. Undertaking such war by on your own is equivalent to showing up for a battle empty-handed without any weapons. No matter how well you prepare yourself, you won’t stand a chance of putting an intense fight.

Representing yourself in an injury lawsuit only gives the insurance company more confidence and power to dodge the compensation or at least under compensating since they have far more knowledge and bargaining power than you do.

Having a skilled and experienced personal injury attorney during such battle is the best weapon you can have for yourself to have a fair fight. An attorney is familiar with the claim process and will only ensure that your interests are well protected and dually served.

Attorney Knows the Value of Your Claim

Other than you and your immediate family members, it is only your injury attorney that has your best interest at heart when it comes to the correct valuing of your injury claims. The lawyers and insurance companies for the at-default party will take any small chance they get to devalue your claims.

An attorney will collect all the essential evidence to correctly equate the valuation of all of the compensation you rightfully deserve, for the past, present, and future. To accurately value your benefit, your lawyer will not only determine your economic damages such as medical bills but also the non-economic damages such as pain, suffering, etc. that you suffered during and after the incident.To learn more about the economic and non-economic damages, click here.

Posted in Law

How to reduce legal risk when firign an employee

You probably had really high hopes for the candidate you’re about to fire when you first hired them, but for whatever reason there may be a time when they have to be let go. For employers, they have the power to fire anyone so long as it’s not an illegal reason. However, even when there are legal reasons for firing someone, they can appear illegal depending on the circumstances.

Thankfully, attempts of lawsuits and legal risks can be avoided by taking some simple steps. Here are some questions that you should be asking yourself before going ahead with the firing of an employee.

Have your policies been correctly followed?

Before you consider firing an employee, one thing that you should definitely question is whether you’ve followed the policies that you’ve put in place. You need to make sure that every other employee has been treated the same way as the employee that you’re considering firing. This tends to be noted down in the employee handbook which both employees and employers should follow. The employee handbook helps to outline what disciplinaries take place if procedures are not followed which means if they are, the employee can make a case for being dismissed wrongfully.

Have issues been documented?

What’s critical in proving that you’ve rightfully dismissed your employee is documentation. Take advantage of employee reviews and meetings where the employee has been called in to discuss the matters and make notes of issues that have been going on. This also means reaching out to people that may have witnessed or been involved in the incidents that have occurred. If you feel the need to document photography and CCTV images then this can also be kept.

Has there been a recent complaint made by the employee?

Another thing that employers should be wary of is whether the employee who you’re considering firing has recently made a complaint about you or someone else in the organisation. This can appear extremely suspicious as firing them may seem as though you’re trying to cover something up and you’ve made the decision to fire them in retaliation to the reason they provided. This is why you should ensure that the reasons for firing are within reason.

Have correct payments been made to the employee?

Wages are documented to make sure that employees are entitled to their pay and they’ve been correctly paid for the hours they worked. If they haven’t and you fire the employee, they can use this reason to file a lawsuit against you. This will be a completely separate one to the case you may have filed, but they’ll still be entitled to every penny.

Consult with a lawyer

If you’ve reviewed these questions and feel as though you’re unsure about whether these are applicable to the situation or not, it may be worth consulting with Manchester solicitors about the issue. It can be risky if you were to fire an employee when some of the questions may apply. Losing a lawsuit can lead to settlement agreement solicitors being involved to make sure that your employee gets every penny that they’re owed.

Posted in Law