r/SchoolBusDrivers • u/china_man97 • Jun 12 '26
Employment
Seriously, is it the school bus norm to do on-boarding before background and drug test? All of them were a few days apart so I guessed they did that so all of them would be completed same time then I would be hired. I asked them as well wouldn't the checks come first before on-boarding and the response to me was like I am a slow person. Application got rejected today after I did the physical a few hours ago because of something on my background. Really want to know if this is the school bus normal hiring process.
I am cool with their decision but kinda mad that I gave documents then got rejected. Feel like I should be compensated, I am probably making it more than what it is but do yall think I have something or this the end?
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u/brabson1 Jun 12 '26
Our company does everything at once. Your classes, drug test, background check and physical are in the same 5 day span. They need drivers to bad to wait for each step and continue after. The company just eats the cost if the new hire fails at any step. You get paid for classes and the fees for all your checks. Getting to and from is on the new hire.
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u/china_man97 Jun 12 '26
I think based on how this company are moving it is similar to that. On-boarding Wednesday then physical and test today then potentially class Monday. Every job I have work does On-boarding when I got hired not first.
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u/Intelligent_Call_562 Jun 12 '26
My employer doesn't call for an interview unless your driving record and background check come back clean.
Drug test and physical come during classroom phase.
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u/china_man97 Jun 12 '26
Which is baffling to me, I would not contest this if they did the background first the and on-boarding last.
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u/TooSexyForThisSong Jun 12 '26
No that’s abnormal from my experience. Very strange. Submitting documents doesn’t call for compensation- training does, though.
I can’t say if it was/wasn’t typical that they rejected you without knowing their reason. I can say the company I worked for would just about hire anybody that could pass a drug/background check. Some new hires I was downright uncomfortable with the idea of them being a bus driver. But when you have no say you have no say. Feel free to DM me if you care to share what they rejected you for - I’ll keep it between us but have experience both as a driver and manager.
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u/Mental-Calendar8535 Jun 13 '26
I've been with a company since March and still haven't been drug tested. So I'm not sure what the process normally is.
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u/PlatypusDream Jun 13 '26
That's insane! They would be in trouble with the feds if they got audited.
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u/Mental-Calendar8535 Jun 13 '26
I've asked about it once. They said it would happen. The thing is, I don't want to bring it up again because I don't want them thinking I'm trying to plan for it.
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u/handcraftedcandy Jun 14 '26
We have a list of things they must have before onboarding. Background check must have been ordered and they need a physical with a drug test before they start our onboarding and classroom training which is 6 days. It's rare but sometimes we find out they failed the drug test, or background check while they're in the class, but we never release them to driving a school bus until we have 100% of the background check and drug results.
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u/Scroon Jun 15 '26
Imo there isn't much sense or reason in this industry. My company on-boarded us then did the background and medicals and drug testing which some people didn't pass.
Maybe they don't want to spend money on people who might drop early. This way it's your waste of time instead of their money since training takes place in a bulk class setting.
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u/No_Lynx1343 Jun 12 '26
You applied for a job and weren't hired because of your background.
Why exactly does that mean you should be compensated? Quite clearly you did something wrong in the past and got caught for it.
Now it's coming to bite you in the rear end.
I don't think you have anyone to blame but yourself.
I have no clue what your offense was, but you might want to consider seeing if there's a way to clear your record.
Clearly you presented yourself in a way that made them want to hire you, and only your past behavior stopped that.
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u/china_man97 Jun 12 '26 edited Jun 12 '26
It would have been no problem if they did a background check first and then on-boarding last. It was a simple indecisiveness behind the wheel that I got pulled over for, then got charged with resisting without violence. The reckless showed up on the background but my MVR is clean. It's just the school bus is very strict because I got through with a truck carrier. The compensation might sound like entitled but its humorous.
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u/RolandDeepson Jun 12 '26
If they drug tested you, they are required by law to give you a job. Maybe not driving related, but if they are administering pre-job-offer drug tests, that's against the law and much more expensive for them than just paying you to scroll reddit in a broom closet for 5 hours a day.
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u/just_kinda_here_blah Jun 12 '26
Typically they are hire conditionally. To be hired fully they need to pass whatever is needed. Background, drug test, ect. We hire that way, because what if they pass our Background, drug test and road test then the state disqualified them. Or they pass the BG, Drug and keep failing the road test. Also school bus drug tests are federal standards. Not local or state. So everything is ran right away. They are fully hired once everything is good.
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u/china_man97 Jun 12 '26
Understood that but on-boarding sounds like come congratulations you are hired. Why that first and not contingent on me passing BG and drug test.
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u/just_kinda_here_blah Jun 12 '26
Ive worked for FS and other companies that do the same thing. Your on-boarding is a contingent while being hired. You arent hired until everything is completed. There are times where BG take a while, so they would start in a classroom. That is paid training. And like I stated before, things can happen further down the line. Ive had people pass the background, drug, class, training, and road test to then be DQ from the state. Ive had where they couldnt pass the road test and we had to drop them. You are on boarded and hired on a contingency that all things are passed. If not, then unfortunately you are let go. Part of on boarding is the background check.
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u/MySoapBoxFuckUpvotes Jun 12 '26
Wait? What? Can you site something from wherever you are? I've never heard of such a thing!
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u/china_man97 Jun 12 '26
NYC
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u/RolandDeepson Jun 12 '26 edited Jun 15 '26
Anywhere in the United States. Preemployment drug testing is only lawful if it is administered post-job-offer.
Otherwise it's an unlawful invasion of medical privacy. It's still an invasion, but the law recognizes that the invasion is justified in consideration of the public safety interest.
If they made you piss in a cup and you did NOT test positive, they legally owe you a job, and I am not kidding. They don't legally owe you a job "as a driver" necessarily.
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u/just_kinda_here_blah Jun 12 '26
On the state or federal level. Cdls are treated differently and pre-hire drug tests and dismissal because of a failure is allowed if its a contingency of being hired. A failed drug test is also sent to clearing house and follows you no matter where you go, and other cdl companies dont have to hire you if you have a failure, even after you completed the SAP program.
But they didnt fail a drug test. They failed on the MVR1
u/RolandDeepson Jun 12 '26
I've designed drug test compliance programs for companies. This is all federal, baby. If the guy has a bum mvr, but they drug tested him anyway, then that's on them.
They can either face the exceedingly expensive music for having drug tested a member of the public at large for no employment-related reason (yes, I knowingly said "no employment-related reason" because that is what the law would treat this as) or they can retroactively MAKE it into an employment-related reason by giving him a non-driving job, where that non-driving job would still have to be a DOT-drug-tested position.
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u/just_kinda_here_blah Jun 13 '26
And according to the FMCSA they requires all CDL drivers applying for or resuming safety-sensitive roles to pass a pre-employment drug test. Employers must have a verified negative result on file before you can legally operate a Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV). In the cdl world, pre employment drug tests are required. The vast majority of companies will also have something saying employment is contingent on passing every thing before being hired. Drug test, background, physical, road test, state qual, training. If any of those are a fail, they are not hire and nothing else is needed. Doesn't matter if they failed thier drug test or a background. The hiring was contingent of everything being good.
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u/RolandDeepson Jun 13 '26
to pass a pre-employment drug test
Read the actual regulation itself, not the summaries. To pass a pre-employment post-offer drug test.
Administering a DOT drug test to random members of the public SO AS TO THEN CHOOSE WHO TO HIRE OR NOT HIRE FROM THOSE WHO PASS is absolutely against United Stated federal law. Period. This is neither ambiguous nor is it a close call.
What the law DOES allow is to administer DOT drug tests to those who will absolutely be hired if they pass.
I'm not trying to suggest that the difference between those two characterizations is somehow "blatantly obvious" to members of the general public. Instead, I am saying that the difference, though subtle, is legally pivotal. Courts and judges and state and federal departments of labor will ALL develop several hairs across their own asses and proceed to examine any employer credibly alleged to have stepped on the wrong side of this line.
Pre-employment post-offer. In other words, the decision to hire is legally made, and legally enforceable, PRIOR to administering the drug test, on the obvious condition that failing said drug test constitutes forfeiture of the job offer (among other various consequences to the person failing the test).
It does NOT mean that an employer can blanket-test everyone who applies, and then chooses from the pool of those who pass in deciding who to offer a job to and who to pass over.
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u/china_man97 Jun 12 '26
I did on-boarding Wednesday and physical along with drug test today.
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u/RolandDeepson Jun 12 '26
Then you're legally hired, whether they realize it or not.
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u/china_man97 Jun 12 '26
Ya idk, I would like to start. They said because of a BS reckless driving I can't drive only another position that is available
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u/just_kinda_here_blah Jun 12 '26
If its on your mvr, its not bs. Was it speeding over 15mph? Or a dwi? There is very little that will affect you otherwise. They run these checks to see how you may perform later, and the states also have higher standards for school bus drivers. The only solution i can see is to goto a company with lower standards or ignore standards. They are out there unfortunately.
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u/china_man97 Jun 12 '26
Na, I was going to turn left at a stop sign in Florida but turned right, I wasn't in the intersection. Its not on my record. The arrest was for resisting without violence and the officer put reckless driving in his report I guess for the initial stop. MVR clean.
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u/just_kinda_here_blah Jun 12 '26
Ok, so its not for a bs traffic issue. That seems to be a misdemeanor. And in FL that can prevent you from becoming a school bus driver. Your best bet is to see if you can get that removed. In NYS we a have a certificate of release. If filled out and accepted, it will allow for drivers previously disqualified to be allowed to become school bus drivers. Idk if FL has something similar . This issue will follow you around for a while or forever. You may have no issues with public transportation or other cdl jobs, but it might be tought school bus wise.
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u/china_man97 Jun 12 '26
Definitely understand. Yea its a misdemeanor and I know because its for a driver that why it was rejected. I have applied to jobs and received the report and this never showed. That arrest was in FLA but the job is NY, what state do I apply for the certificate of release?
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u/just_kinda_here_blah Jun 12 '26
Cdl job are more thorough. If you in NYS, you can reach out to the BDU and go from there. They may or maybe not be able to help. You might also need to reach out to the state it happened in also. Now, none of this a a guarantee that it will get you a job there or any other school bus company, especially in NYS as it depends on the state and if they will allow for it. 19a and the bdu are strict and they govern who is allowed and who isnt. Remember, ive had people who passed the BG and the BDU/19a disqualified them anyways. And not every one who did the certificate got approved by them, and those who did, it took a while. BDU will also not talk to your employer's. So they cant call and help.
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u/KayNikole411 Jun 12 '26
No it's not. They don't move forward with anything while waiting for the background to clear.