What It Takes to Be an FAA Designated Employer Representative (DER)
- glradiohour
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
By G.L. Henderson | Federal Drug Testing Services (FDTS)
Former FAA Drug and Alcohol Compliance Enforcement Inspector
If you’ve been assigned as your company’s Designated Employer Representative, or you’re thinking about taking on that role, there’s something you should know right away: this isn’t just an administrative job. It’s a regulatory responsibility with real consequences.
The FAA doesn’t require a license to serve as a DER. There’s no federal exam you need to pass before you start. What the regulations require is that your company have someone accountable for every part of its Drug and Alcohol Testing Program, and that person is you. The space between having no license requirement and being fully responsible is where most compliance failures happen. This article will help you close that gap.
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What Is a DER Under FAA Regulations?
A Designated Employer Representative is the individual authorized by an FAA-regulated employer to take immediate action to remove employees from safety-sensitive duties and to make required decisions in the drug and alcohol testing process.
The authority comes from 49 CFR Part 40 and 14 CFR Part 120. These two regulations work together. Part 40 covers how DOT drug and alcohol testing is done across all transportation modes. Part 120 is specific to the FAA and explains who must have a program, what it must include, and how it is monitored and enforced.
Every FAA-certificated employer operating under Part 121, Part 135, Part 145, or Part 91.147 (Letter of Authorization), as well as contractors performing safety-sensitive functions, is required to have a Drug and Alcohol Testing Program, and every one of those programs must have a DER.
The DER’s Core Responsibilities
The regulations are intentionally broad on this point. The DER is responsible for:
1. Serving as the employer’s point of contact for all drug and alcohol testing matters
This means you need to be reachable, informed, and ready to act at any hour and in any situation. A post-accident test can happen outside business hours. A reasonable suspicion determination can come up at any time.
2. Communicating with and overseeing service agents
Your program will include a collection site, a SAMHSA-certified laboratory, a Medical Review Officer (MRO), a Breath Alcohol Technician (BAT), and likely a Third-Party Administrator (TPA). You can’t just give them tasks and wait. You need to understand what each one does, make sure they do it right, and fix things if they don’t.
3. Making real-time decisions when results come in
When an MRO reports a verified positive, adulterated, substituted, or invalid result, or when a BAT reports an alcohol confirmation at 0.04 or above, the DER must act right away. This means removing the employee from safety-sensitive duties, notifying the appropriate parties, and initiating the regulatory process without delay.
4. Managing refusals to test
A refusal is treated the same as a positive result under federal rules. Spotting a refusal, such as a shy bladder, an adulterated specimen, or an employee who just leaves, and handling it correctly is one of the most important decisions a DER makes.
5. Coordinating the return-to-duty and follow-up process.
After a violation, the way back to safety-sensitive duty goes through a Substance Abuse Professional (SAP). The DER doesn’t choose the SAP but is responsible for working with the SAP, ensuring return-to-duty testing is conducted under direct observation, and keeping up with the follow-up testing schedule, which can last up to five years.
6. Maintaining records in compliance with Part 40 and Part 120
Record retention is one of the first things an FAA inspector will check. The rules say what records must be kept, for how long, and how they must be kept confidential. If a DER can’t produce records during an inspection, it’s a problem, even if the testing was done correctly.
7. Ensuring the random testing program functions properly
Random testing isn’t just picking names at random. The selection process must be scientifically valid, done by a qualified consortium or employer pool, and meet the required annual testing rates, which are currently 50% for drugs and 10% for alcohol under FAA rules. The DER makes sure employees are notified, report for testing right away, and that all documentation is complete.
What FAA Inspectors Actually Evaluate
I spent years as an FAA Drug and Alcohol Compliance Enforcement Inspector. When my team visited an operator’s facility, our goal wasn’t to catch people on technicalities. We wanted to see if the program actually worked the way the rules required. liant programs from those that received findings:
Documentation discipline. The best programs had records that told a clear, complete story: every test type, every result, every action taken, with dates and times that matched. Programs that received findings often meant well, but couldn’t prove it with their paperwork.
DER knowledge. We asked DERs to explain their program to us, not just read from a binder. Those who understood the rules and could explain why they took certain actions showed competence. DERs who couldn’t answer basic questions about their own program were a red flag, no matter what their records showed.
Vendor oversight. Many DERs assumed their TPA or collection site was handling everything correctly, but inspectors don’t make that assumption. If your collector uses the wrong CCF, your TPA’s random selection method doesn’t meet the rules, or your MRO’s turnaround times show reporting problems, those are findings against your company, not your vendors.
Pre-employment record checks. The previous employer check under Part 40 Section 25 is one of the most common problem areas in FAA inspections. DERs must request two years of drug and alcohol testing history from every prior DOT-regulated employer before a new hire does safety-sensitive work. Missing requests, incomplete responses, or no documentation are all findings.
Program currency. Regulations change over time. The June 2025 DOT rule update to 49 CFR Part 40 made the requirements for directly observed collection much broader. DERs who didn’t keep up with these changes, update their programs, and train their collectors were already out of compliance before the inspection began.
What No One Tells You About Being a DER
The regulations explain what you have to do, but they don’t tell you how hard it can be to do it well when you’re under pressure.
A DER gets a call that an employee has just been escorted out after a post-accident test. Another employee is demanding to know why they were selected for random testing. The MRO is on hold with a question about a split specimen request. The collection site just reported that an employee refused to provide a specimen and walked out.
None of these situations is just an example. They really happen, and sometimes all on the same day.
Being a DER requires regulatory knowledge, but it also demands judgment, composure, and the ability to make sound decisions quickly. That mix is what separates a DER who keeps a program compliant from one whose program ends up in an enforcement case.
Who Should Serve as DER?
There is no regulatory requirement specifying a job title for the DER role. In practice, DERs come from human resources, safety, operations, and compliance backgrounds. In smaller organizations, it may be an owner or general manager. What matters isn’t the job title. What’s important is the training, having the authority to make decisions, and staying involved with the program.m.
The regulations also strongly recommend having a designated alternate DER. Programs need to run without interruption. If your main DER is unavailable due to travel, leave, or resignation, your program can’t stop. Inspectors have found programs out of compliance just because no one qualified to step in was present when the main DER was away. FAA Part 120 is one of the most consequential compliance roles in aviation. The penalties for program failures are real financial civil penalties, certificate actions, and enforcement cases that become part of a company’s regulatory record.
The way to protect yourself and your company isn’t to hope the program runs itself. You need to understand it, take ownership, and stay up to date with the applicable rules.
That’s what FDTS DER training is designed for. Whether you’re new to the role or an experienced professional getting ready for your next inspection, our Level I and Level II courses teach you not just what the regulations say, but how they are applied, enforced, and evaluated in real situations.
Ready to invest in your DER certification?
G.L. Henderson is the founder of Federal Drug Testing Services (FDTS) and a former FAA Drug and Alcohol Compliance Enforcement Inspector. He is the author of Trust but Verify: FAA Drug & Alcohol Compliance: What Every DER, Manager, and Executive Needs to Know, available on Amazon. FDTS provides FAA DER certification training, DOT compliance consulting, and support for international aviation drug and alcohol programs.
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