Nebraska drug testing laws for employers: pre-employment testing rules (2026)

Nebraska lets employers drug test applicants and employees, and its testing statute, Neb. Rev. Stat. 48-1901 to 48-1910, neither requires testing nor says when a test may be given. What it regulates is method: for employers with six or more employees, a positive screen cannot be used against an employee unless it is confirmed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry or another approved technique, and positive specimens must be kept for at least 180 days. As of October 2026, Nebraska's voter-approved medical cannabis law lets qualified patients possess cannabis but says nothing about employment, and the 2025-2026 bills that would have addressed employers were indefinitely postponed.

Does Nebraska have a drug testing law for private employers?

Yes, but it governs how a test is handled, not whether you test. Section 48-1901 says nothing in the act "shall be construed to require employers to conduct drug and alcohol testing of their employees" or "be determinative of the cases or circumstances under which such tests may be given." The definitions in 48-1902 decide who is covered:

• Employer: the State of Nebraska, its political subdivisions and other governmental entities, and any individual, association, corporation or other organization doing business in Nebraska, unless it employs "a total of less than six full-time and part-time employees at any one time."
• Employee: any person who receives remuneration, commission, bonus or other wages for work that benefits an employer.
• Drug: any substance described in Nebraska's controlled substance schedules (sections 28-405 and 28-419) or any metabolite of one.

Section 48-1907 adds that the act creates no "rule, right, or duty not expressly provided for," so there is no Nebraska requirement for advance notice, a written policy or employer-paid testing in the statute itself. Those belong in your policy.

What must a Nebraska drug test include before you act on it?

1. Confirm drug positives. Under 48-1903(1), a positive preliminary screen must be "subsequently confirmed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry or other scientific testing technique" approved by the Department of Health and Human Services before it is used "to deny any continued employment or in any disciplinary or administrative action."
2. Confirm alcohol positives. Confirmation is by gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector, another approved technique, or a breath-testing device run by an operator holding a permit under the department's rules. After a breath test, the employee may immediately ask for confirmation by a blood sample taken by qualified medical personnel; if the blood test does not confirm a violation of the employer's work rules, "any disciplinary or administrative action shall be rescinded" (48-1903(2)).
3. Use a CLIA-certified laboratory. Apart from confirmatory breath tests, every confirmatory test must be done by a clinic, hospital or laboratory certified under the federal Clinical Laboratories Improvement Act.
4. Keep positive specimens 180 days. 48-1904 requires every specimen that results in a finding of drugs or alcohol to be refrigerated and preserved "in a sufficient quantity for retesting for a period of at least one hundred eighty days."
5. Keep a chain-of-custody record. 48-1905 requires a written record from collection until the specimen is no longer required.
6. Limit disclosure. Under 48-1906, results may not be released to the public. They go to the employee on request, as required by law, and to the employer's officers, agents or employees "who need to know the information for reasons connected with their employment."

Does Nebraska's testing act cover job applicants?

Not in so many words. Section 48-1903 speaks of a test "performed on the body fluid or breath specimen of an employee" and of using it to deny "continued employment" or in disciplinary action, and the act defines an employee as someone already receiving pay. A candidate who has not started work does not fit that language neatly, so the act does not clearly regulate a pre-employment test. The safer practice, and the one our guide to hiring employees in Nebraska recommends, is to run applicant tests the same way: confirmation by GC-MS at a CLIA-certified laboratory, 180-day storage of positive specimens and a chain-of-custody record. Many applicants become employees within days, and one process is easier to defend than two.

What happens if a Nebraska employee refuses or tampers with a test?

• Refusal. 48-1910 says an employee who refuses "the lawful directive of an employer to provide a body fluid or breath sample" may be disciplined, "including denial of continued employment."
• Substituted samples. 48-1908 makes it unlawful to provide, acquire or use body fluids to alter a test result.
• Tampering. 48-1909 bars tampering with body fluids during or after collection or analysis.

Both substitution and tampering are Class I misdemeanors for anyone involved, and an employee who does either may be disciplined as if they had refused the test.

What does Nebraska's medical cannabis law mean for hiring?

Nebraska voters approved two medical cannabis initiatives in 2024, now codified in chapter 71:

• The Nebraska Medical Cannabis Patient Protection Act (71-24,103 to 71-24,105, Initiative Law 2024, No. 437) says it "shall not be an offense under state or local law" for a qualified patient to use, possess and acquire up to five ounces of cannabis for a medical condition. A qualified patient is an adult with a written recommendation from a physician, osteopathic physician, physician assistant or nurse practitioner (71-24,104).
• The Nebraska Medical Cannabis Regulation Act (71-24,106 to 71-24,114) created the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission. Its current permanent regulations were approved by the Attorney General on June 30, 2026 and the Governor on July 1, 2026, and the Commission is scheduled to consider amendments at its November 16, 2026 meeting.

Neither act has an employment section. It neither protects patients from an adverse hiring decision nor expressly preserves an employer's right to act on a positive test. The Legislature considered both kinds of language and passed neither: LB 677 and LB 651, each of which said the medical cannabis laws would not require an employer to accommodate cannabis or stop it from enforcing a drug-testing, drug-free workplace or zero-tolerance policy, were indefinitely postponed on April 17, 2026. The bill that did pass, LB 1235 (approved April 7, 2026), dealt with the Commission's salaries, funding, fees and criminal history checks, not employment.

Nothing in Nebraska's statutes stops an employer from including THC on its panel. Because the law is unsettled, confirm every THC positive under 48-1903, ask the candidate whether there is a medical explanation, and get advice before rejecting a qualified patient for a role that is not safety-sensitive. Adult-use cannabis is not legal in Nebraska: outside the patient act, marijuana is in Schedule I (28-405) and possessing it is an offense under 28-416. Across the border, Colorado and Missouri allow adult use, and their rules apply to jobs performed there.

How do Nebraska workers' compensation and unemployment treat drug use?

• Workers' compensation. 48-127 says that if an employee is injured "by reason of being in a state of intoxication," neither the employee nor beneficiaries receive compensation.
• Unemployment. Under 48-628.10(2), if a discharge for misconduct involved being under the influence of alcohol or of a scheduled controlled substance not prescribed by a physician while on the worksite or working, the Commissioner of Labor cancels all wage credits earned with the discharging employer.

Which federal rules still apply in Nebraska?

• DOT-regulated roles. Drivers and other covered transportation workers follow 49 CFR Part 40, with a verified negative pre-employment result before the first safety-sensitive function (49 CFR 382.301).
• Rescheduling. The April 28, 2026 final order moved FDA-approved and state-medical-license marijuana to Schedule III. DOT's Part 40 Q&A, updated May 15, 2026, says a marijuana positive still cannot be verified negative because of a state card, a recommendation or a dispensary receipt, which settles the question for Nebraska drivers who are qualified patients.
• Federal contractors need the policy statement and awareness program in the FAR Drug-Free Workplace clause.
• The ADA does not treat a test for illegal drugs as a medical exam, but follow-up questions about prescriptions are; see pre-employment medical exams under the ADA.

What should staffing agencies placing workers in Nebraska do?

• Assume you are covered. The six-employee count includes full-time and part-time employees "at any one time," so an agency with a handful of temporary workers on assignment usually meets it.
• Write the lab's duties into the contract. Your laboratory should confirm by GC-MS, hold CLIA certification and keep positive specimens for at least 180 days; get that in writing.
• Get consent before telling a client. 48-1906 allows disclosure to the employer's own people who need to know. Before you share a result with a client, get the worker's written authorization, or report only whether the worker is cleared for the assignment.
• Use permitted breath-test operators if a client requires on-site alcohol testing.

For registration rules, see Nebraska staffing agency licensing; for criminal history questions, Nebraska ban-the-box rules and Nebraska background check laws; and for work authorization, Nebraska E-Verify requirements.

Nebraska drug testing laws at a glance

A checklist before you test a candidate in Nebraska

1. Write a policy that covers applicants and says when you test; the statute leaves timing to you.
2. Use a CLIA-certified laboratory that confirms by GC-MS and keeps positive specimens for 180 days.
3. Keep a written chain-of-custody record and share results only with people who need them.
4. For a THC positive, ask about a medical explanation and get advice before rejecting a qualified patient.
5. Draft from the drug testing policy template, compare states in drug testing laws in hiring, and check neighbors such as Iowa, Kansas and South Dakota for jobs across the line.