Order a Drug Test in Nevada

Pre-Employment Drug Testing in Nevada

Employers generally may require a pre-employment drug test, but a marijuana-positive result cannot be used to reject most applicants. NRS 613.132 allows exceptions for firefighters, emergency medical technicians, positions for which federal or state law requires motor-vehicle screening, and positions the employer determines could adversely affect the safety of others.

• Disclose the testing requirement before the applicant tests.
• Use consistent criteria for applicants seeking the same type of position.
• Document why any marijuana exception applies to the position.
• Choose a THC-inclusive or no-THC panel intentionally.
• Address the employer’s policy for positive, negative, and refusal outcomes.
• Review medical-cannabis, disability, federal, and contractual requirements.

Employer Testing Programs

Nevada does not impose one comprehensive private-sector testing code for every substance and testing reason. A clear policy should define covered workers, substances, specimen types, testing reasons, selection methods, refusal rules, confirmation and Medical Review Officer procedures, consequences, confidentiality, and cannabis handling. Public employers and federally regulated programs can face additional limits and procedures.

• Apply random and event-based testing rules consistently.
• Use documented collection, chain-of-custody, confirmation, and review procedures.
• Provide the statutory rebuttal-test opportunity when testing within the first 30 days.
• Evaluate medical-cannabis accommodation requests through an appropriate process.
• Keep DOT and non-DOT policies, forms, and orders separate.

Select the panel and enter the donor information first. After the case is created, checkout searches available collection sites using the Nevada city, ZIP code, or area entered for the donor.

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Private-Employer Testing Framework

Outside specific subjects such as marijuana, Nevada generally does not dictate one universal private-employer procedure for pre-employment, random, reasonable-suspicion, or post-accident drug testing. Employers should use a written, job-related policy and administer similarly situated workers consistently.

The policy should address notice, testing reasons, selection methods, specimen collection, laboratory confirmation, medical review, confidentiality, refusals, retesting, consequences, and interaction with disability, contract, and federal requirements.

Nevada-specific limitations are collected in NRS 613.132, NRS 678C.850, and related statutes.

Applicant Marijuana Restriction and Exceptions

NRS 613.132 generally makes it unlawful for a Nevada employer to refuse to hire a prospective employee because a screening test indicates marijuana. The rule does not apply to applicants for firefighter or emergency medical technician positions, certain motor-vehicle positions for which federal or state law requires screening, or positions the employer determines could adversely affect the safety of others.

The section also yields where compliance would conflict with federal law, a federally funded position, an employment contract, or a collective-bargaining agreement.

Official state source: Nevada Revised Statute § 613.132

First-30-Day Rebuttal Test

If an employer requires an employee to submit to a screening test within the first 30 days of employment, the employee may obtain an additional screening test at the employee’s own expense to rebut the initial result. The employer must accept and appropriately consider the additional result.

Policies should explain how the employee submits the result and who evaluates it before a final decision is made.

Official state source: Nevada Revised Statute § 613.132(2)

Workplace Policies and Lawful Off-Duty Products

NRS 678D.510 preserves an employer’s authority to maintain, enact, and enforce a workplace policy that prohibits or restricts conduct otherwise permitted by Nevada’s adult-use cannabis chapter. NRS 613.333 separately restricts discrimination based on lawful off-premises, nonworking-hours product use when that use does not adversely affect the employee’s ability to perform the job or the safety of other employees.

Because marijuana is addressed by more specific provisions, employers should read these statutes together rather than treating either as a stand-alone answer.

Official state sources: NRS 678D.510 and NRS 613.333

State-Employee Testing Has Separate Rules

Nevada’s state personnel statutes contain a separate alcohol-and-drug framework for state employees. Among other provisions, NRS 284.4066 requires screening of applicants for designated positions affecting public safety, and related sections govern test administration, results, confidentiality, and employee discipline.

Other public employers may also face constitutional, civil-service, and collective-bargaining limits. A private-sector policy should not simply be copied into a government workplace.

Official state source: Nevada Revised Statutes §§ 284.406 through 284.407

Workers’ Compensation and Substance Influence

NRS 616C.230 can bar compensation for an injury occurring while an employee was intoxicated or under the influence of a controlled or prohibited substance, unless the employee proves by clear and convincing evidence that the condition was not the proximate cause of the injury. The statute sets specific blood or urine thresholds and requires a licensed laboratory when an examination includes alcohol or drug testing.

Post-accident testing should be tied to the employer’s policy and handled promptly without assuming that every positive result proves impairment or causation.

Official state source: Nevada Revised Statute § 616C.230

Most Applicants Cannot Be Rejected for Marijuana Alone

NRS 613.132 generally prohibits refusing to hire a prospective employee because a screening test indicates marijuana. The statute’s exceptions cover firefighters, emergency medical technicians, certain legally mandated motor-vehicle screenings, and positions the employer determines could adversely affect the safety of others.

Employers relying on an exception should document the position-specific basis before testing or making a hiring decision.

Official state source: Nevada Revised Statute § 613.132

First-30-Day Employee Rebuttal Right

When an employer requires a screening test within an employee’s first 30 days, the employee may pay for an additional screening test to rebut the initial result. The employer must accept and appropriately consider the additional result.

This right is separate from ordinary laboratory confirmation or Medical Review Officer review, so the employer’s policy should account for both processes.

Official state source: Nevada Revised Statute § 613.132(2)

Medical-Cannabis Accommodation

NRS 678C.850 does not require an employer to allow medical cannabis use in the workplace. It does require an employer to attempt reasonable accommodations for the medical needs of an employee with a valid registry identification card when the accommodation would not pose a threat of harm or danger, impose undue hardship, or prevent the employee from fulfilling job responsibilities.

Law-enforcement agencies may adopt policies that preclude employee medical use of cannabis.

Official state source: Nevada Revised Statute § 678C.850

Employers May Enforce Workplace Policies

NRS 678D.510 allows public and private employers to maintain, enact, and enforce workplace policies that prohibit or restrict conduct otherwise permitted by the adult-use cannabis chapter. A urine THC result may reflect prior use and does not by itself establish current impairment, so decisions should still follow the written policy and applicable review process.

Federal DOT marijuana testing remains mandatory for covered safety-sensitive work. A no-THC non-DOT panel cannot be used for a DOT test.

Official sources: Nevada Revised Statute § 678D.510 and U.S. Department of Transportation — 49 CFR Part 40

DOT Rules Are Separate from Non-DOT Testing

A personal or employer non-DOT drug test should not be substituted for a test that is required under DOT regulations. DOT programs have specific requirements for test reasons, forms, collection procedures, laboratories, Medical Review Officers, refusals, records, and return-to-duty processes.

Federal source: U.S. Department of Transportation — 49 CFR Part 40

Examples of DOT-Regulated Industries

• Commercial motor carriers regulated by FMCSA.
• Aviation employers regulated by FAA.
• Railroad employers regulated by FRA.
• Public transit employers regulated by FTA.
• Pipeline operators regulated by PHMSA.
• Other covered transportation operations under federal rules.