PRIMAtalk Digest

Drivers License Check For Employees

Hi fellow PRIMA-TALKERS. I am interested in finding out what your policiesare related to performing Drivers License checks on your employees.Do you do this? How often do you do this? To what extent is your program reviewing--only to see if they have a valid(not suspended) drivers license or to get a full MVR report to see majorviolations and points accumulated?If the full report, what are your criteria for removing them from drivingprivileges, which possibly eliminates them from their job (# points; whatabout DUI's--how long do you count them? Reckless Driving violations,etc.)?
If the full report, have the labor unions successfully contested yourremoving someone from their driving job duties by arguing the violationswere while they were on personal/private use, and shouldn't count againsttheir work record?
We're thinking about changing our current approach and wanted to find outwhat seems to be the "norm" followed by other public entities---and wherebetter to check than PRIMA-TALK???
Appreciate your replies.....

Kevin O'Donnell,CPCU,CIC,ARM
Risk Manager, Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government
Executive Director, LAGIT Liability Pool & LAGGIT Property Pool

Response 1

WOW! You opened the hornet's nest!
A plaintiff's lawyer will always argue that you were negligent to letsomeone drive with a bad driving history or without a valid driverlicense. That being said, it is next to impossible to have a subjectiveprogram. The trucking companies with strict insurers have it easy . . .three strikes and you're out. It doesn't matter what you were driving,where, when, or anything else. For the rest of us, we have to justifywhat we are doing.
The major question is how you are going to make what you find workrelated. If someone has two DUIs, but they only drink after work andnot so much that they are under the influence in the morning (and theyaren't on call in the evening), how do you make that work related? Ifthe person drives a hot little sports car like a bat outa hell duringthe weekend, but drives just fine in your old AMC Pacer of agovernmental vehicle, how do you show that what they choose to do ontheir own time, as stupid and immature as it is, will carry over to theworkplace?
When I used to check every driver license at the State DOT that showedup with a question each quarter, it took days to confirm just why eachone wasn't valid, which ones really had questionable driving records,and they try to figure out what to do with them. Most invalid licenseswere due to forgetting about a traffic ticket. The DUIs were almostnever in government plated vehicles and they were generally restrictedto permit driving to and from, and during work.

We check our large vehicle and public safety drivers routinely. (Obviously, the deputies have a harder time trying to explain a DUI,etc.) For all others, the supervisors have a responsibility to makesure their employees can drive safely. That can include asking to see adriver license, checking a driving history, following or riding alongwith the employee, etc. The thing I don't want is a policy or procedurethat requires a driver license check that isn't done and then is shownto a jury as something we believed was so important as to require butthen wasn't done before this employee was in an accident that injuredtheir client, who really was at fault but . . . (you get the idea).

Response 2

The City of Lewisville runs employees MVR's twice a year. We check to makesure all drivers meet our standards defined in our policy. The policyreads as follows:
Any employee with a driving record as described below shall not be allowedto operate City vehicles and motorized equipment:
1.More thanthree (3) vehicle accidents on his Department ofPublic Safetydriving record

during the preceding thirty-six(36) months.
2.More than three (3) traffic convictions resulting from separateincidentsonhis

DepartmentofPublic Safety driving recordduringthepreceding thirty-six

(36)months.Parking, registration, and equipment convictions are excluded.

3.Final conviction (including exhaustion of the appeal process)or apleaofguiltyor no

contestresulting in a probatedsentence or deferred adjudication within the preceding

fiveyears for the following or similar offenses:
1.DrivingWhile Intoxicated (D.W.I.)/Driving Under theInfluence of Drugs

(D.U.I.D.)
2.Driving with License Suspended (D.W.L.S.)
3.Failure to comply with duties following an accident inaccordancewiththe

TransportationCode Section 550.021(involving injury to a person).
4.Conviction of any one (1) of the following offenses:

1. Criminally negligent homicide;
2. Aggravated assault (involving a motor vehicle);
3. Intoxication Manslaughter;
4. Intoxication Assault;
5. Failure to give information and render aid; or
6. Using a motor vehicle for commission of a felony.

2.19.1.9An employee chargedwith,butnotconvicted of a D.W.I.,D.U.I.D.,oroneof the

violations stated above in 2.19.1.8,may be removed from driving at the discretion of the DepartmentDirector and Human Resources Director pending resolution of the allegedviolation. These violationswillbe reviewed on aindividual,case-by-casebasis and a finaldetermination willbe made as to whether the situation warrants removal fromdriving.

Response 3

We run a MVR pre-employment on all of our employees. We do not have written criteria for what offenses will prevent an employee from working. Written rules must be followed or they are no good. We review each caseindividually. The ladies that do these checks know to bring any applicantwith numerous violations, or even one DUI to my attention. It is thenreviewed by myself and one or two of ouradministrators.
Every year, on an employee's hire anniversary I send them a form,"CERTIFICATION OF VIOLATIONS/ANNUAL REVIEW OF DRIVING RECORD", whichrequires them to list all moving violations that they have had in the last12 months. Of these, we take about half and run MVR's on them.

This message has been prepared on resources owned by the City of Franklin,TN. It is subject to the Internet and Online Use Procedures and Standards ofthe City.
Response 4

As I have stated in previous responses on this topic, the first place tolook for guidance is in your state's motor vehicle law and to review yourstate's Supreme Court decisions on duty of an employer in regards to a DMVrecord of an employee. Back when the earth was cooling and I was a riskmanager, we had it easy. We had both a state law and a Supreme Court decision that held employers responsible for the entire driving history ofan employee and any foreseeable consequences that an average person couldreasonably expect from employing a person with such a driving record.
We even had guidance on when an employee reports to work impaired by drugsor alcohol. An employer sent a drunk employee home, who had an accident onthe way home and killed someone. The employer of the drunk employee wasadjudicated as negligent.
So, given an entity has both a statutory duty and well documented patternof court decisions, you end up with a driver safety policy like thatcontributed by the City of Lewisville. It is tight, well defined and nononsense. For an entity the size of Lewisville, twice a year MVR checksmake sense. For a city the size of Dallas or San Antonio, checking MVR'sonce a month is necessary and prudent.
As for labor union involvement, it depends on your contract and again, yourstate law. Following state law is usually not subject to bargaining. Thereal question is going to be how you handle suspended drivers. Do youterminate them or do you send them to the rubber gun squad? Our practicewhen I was risk manager was to terminate driver depend positions if anondriver position was not available. Just to be clear on this point,employees caught in your MVR sweep have to have job positions that aredriving depended or a core function of the job. My limited experience withcollective bargaining units has left me with the impression that what theywant is consistency of application of the work rule and equity indiscipline. If you can achieve that, unions usually become big supportersof safety work rules.
I've copied below an excellent, previous response from Joe Peckham, riskmanager of Broome County, NY and a PRIMA Board Member. Being a lawyershould not be viewed as a disability in this response.
The case that I found is Chandler v. City of Dallas 2 F3d 1385(5th Circuit)cert denied Chandler v. City of Dallas, 511 U.S. 1011, 114 S.Ct. 1386, 128L.Ed.2d 61. That case was later cited in the 6th circuit dealing with theissue of a University of Tennessee Coach who had an off duty DUI. Bothcases dealt with weather certain medical conditions could exclude andemployee from certain job duties consistent with the ADA or theRehabilitation Act.
The holding is yes. Where driving is a core function of a job, a conditionthat makes the driver unsafe can be a basis from barring that employee fromholding or keeping that title.
Mark is correct that the DUI can be a basis for excluding a driver fromdriving on municipal business. However, the rule(s) regarding DUI anddriving obligations must be delineated prior to enforcement or be pursuantto statute.
Thus: there must be a policy that a DUI conviction causes a loss of yourdriving privileges with the employer. When an employee is convicted thenthe procedure must be followed. And follow it uniformly. No exceptionsbecause you feel sorry for the employee or your policy will be subject tolegal challenge for selective enforcement.
If you do not already have a policy on the books specific to DUI do notdespair: there must be a policy regarding a driver's license, i.e. theemployee has to have and keep it. DUI means no license. No license canmean no job. Does not matter why the employee lost his/her license, so
longas there is not the selective enforcement I referenced.
Finally, as I stated in my first response, there has to be some minimallevel of due process consistent with Cleveland Board of Education v.Loudermill ("Loudermill").

Response 5

The City of Rapid City checks employee driver history once per year duringthe month of the employees' date of hire. For instance, if Kevin was hiredin June, 2000, we run an MVR every June. So I run MVRs once per month forthose whose hire dates are in that month. I check to make sure theirlicense is current and valid. Sometimes I find one that's expired and theholder didn't know it and, when I see one that will expire within 90 days, Isend them a courtesy reminder. The job description is the driver for theMVR check. If the job requires a valid driver license, then the employee isin the lookup function of the database.
If an employee has a recent significant incident -- DUI, reckless, excessivespeed, suspension for no insurance, those types of things -- the employee'smanager is notified to remind the employee that loss of license can meanloss of job and what the employee's responsibilities are when operating acity vehicle. If an employee has lost his/her license and hasn't informedthe manager, which is required by the work rules and depending on the factsof each case, adverse employment action may ensue -- probation, time offwithout pay, even loss of job. It is extremely rare that this ever happens.
In the 11 years I've been running these DL checks, we haven't had anyproblems that I recall.
Response 6

The City of Saratoga Springs is enrolled in the NYS LENS Program throughDMV. Any employee having access to a City vehicle is keyed into the City'sdriver database at the DMV. This program provides an opportunity toreceive daily notifications of suspensions, expirations and driverviolations. The City has a three strike rule which means that if anemployee driving for the City has had three violations with three years,Defensive Driving Education is mandated. At this count of three, the Riskand Safety Manager must sign off with the department head to allow drivingprivileges.
Response 7

We run a check on all drivers about every 18 months. We look not just forvalid but for violations and suspensions, and we are mot concerned with thefact it was while driving our vehicle or another non-owned vehicle. We usethis MVR to determine if they can continue to operate a county vehicle, ordo they nee retraining through our DDC course or a day on the drivingsimulator.
We have a direct line over the Internet, to the NJ Motor Vehicle Abstractunit, so that we can do it on line.
If they live out of state, they are required to obtain and provide anabstract when requested by this office. Risk Management has the authorityto control who is permitted to drive county vehicles, to that end we havedeveloped a strict policy on vehicle operation.

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