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

Nevada has no general statute regulating how private employers drug test, so pre-employment testing is allowed. The key limit is marijuana: since January 1, 2020, NRS 613.132 has made it unlawful to fail or refuse to hire a prospective employee because a screening test shows marijuana, except for firefighters, emergency medical technicians, driving jobs that federal or state law requires to be tested, and positions the employer determines could adversely affect others' safety. Employees tested in their first 30 days may pay for a second test to rebut the first, as of October 2026.

Nevada drug testing rules at a glance

Does Nevada have a drug testing law for employers?

Not a general one. Nevada's statutes do not tell private employers which lab to use, what notice to give or when in the process to test, as Minnesota and Vermont do. The hiring rule that does exist targets one result: marijuana. It was added by Assembly Bill 132, approved June 5, 2019 as chapter 421, Statutes of Nevada 2019, which "becomes effective on January 1, 2020." Testing for other drugs, and acting on a confirmed positive for them, is governed by your policy, federal rules where they apply, and disability law when a candidate explains a prescription.

Can Nevada employers refuse to hire over a marijuana test?

Generally not. NRS 613.132(1) says it is unlawful "for any employer in this State to fail or refuse to hire a prospective employee because the prospective employee submitted to a screening test and the results of the screening test indicate the presence of marijuana." The statute does not ban the test itself, and it does not distinguish between THC and its metabolites. It addresses the hiring decision.

Which jobs are exempt?

Subsection 2 says the rule does not apply to someone applying for a position:

1. as a firefighter, as defined in NRS 450B.071;
2. as an emergency medical technician, as defined in NRS 450B.065;
3. "that requires an employee to operate a motor vehicle and for which federal or state law requires the employee to submit to screening tests"; or
4. "that, in the determination of the employer, could adversely affect the safety of others."

Subsection 4 adds three more limits: the rule gives way where it conflicts with an employment contract or collective bargaining agreement, or with federal law, and it does not apply to a position funded by a federal grant.

The fourth exemption rests on the employer's own determination, and the statute gives no list. The defensible way to use it is to decide before you post the job, from its duties, that impairment in that role could endanger other people, write that down, and apply it to everyone hired into the role. A label added after a positive result is much harder to explain.

The 30-day retest right

Under NRS 613.132(3), "if an employer requires an employee to submit to a screening test within the first 30 days of employment, the employee shall have the right to submit to an additional screening test, at his or her own expense, to rebut the results of the initial screening test." The employer "shall accept and give appropriate consideration" to that result. Put the right in the written notice you give with any early-employment test, so a new hire knows it exists.

What does NRS 613.132 not say?

The statute is short, and several common questions are left to the employer's policy. Read it for what it covers and plan for the gaps:

• No THC versus metabolite line. Unlike California's and Washington's laws, it protects against a refusal to hire when a screen shows "the presence of marijuana" in any form, so switching test methods does not take a non-exempt job outside it.
• No notice or consent form. Nothing in the section requires advance notice of testing. Giving it anyway, in the posting and the conditional offer, avoids surprises.
• No definition of "could adversely affect the safety of others." The employer decides, which is why the decision should be made and recorded per job, before anyone tests positive.
• Different words for different stages. Subsection 1 protects a "prospective employee" at the hiring decision; the retest right in subsection 3 belongs to an "employee" tested within the first 30 days of employment. If your process tests after the start date, both can matter for the same person.
• Other drugs. The section is about marijuana only. A confirmed positive for another drug is outside it.

What about off-duty use, adult-use cannabis and medical cards?

• Workplace policies stay valid. NRS 678D.510(1)(a) says the adult-use cannabis chapter does not prohibit "a public or private employer from maintaining, enacting and enforcing a workplace policy prohibiting or restricting" conduct the chapter otherwise permits.
• Medical cannabis. Under NRS 678C.850, employers need not allow medical use in the workplace. They "must attempt to make reasonable accommodations for the medical needs of an employee" who holds a valid registry identification card, unless the accommodation would pose a threat of harm or danger to people or property, impose an undue hardship, or prohibit the employee from fulfilling all job responsibilities. Law enforcement agencies may bar medical use outright.
• Do not lean on the lawful-products law. Nevada's general lawful-products statute, NRS 613.333, protects lawful off-premises use of products during nonworking hours. For hiring decisions about marijuana, NRS 613.132 is the rule that speaks to the test result, so build the policy around it.

Which federal rules still apply in Nevada?

• DOT testing. A commercial driver needs a verified negative result before first performing safety-sensitive functions (49 CFR § 382.301), tested under 49 CFR Part 40. Under § 40.151(e), a Medical Review Officer may not verify a marijuana positive as negative because of a state-law recommendation. These jobs also fall within NRS 613.132's driving exemption.
• Federal contractors. The Drug-Free Workplace Act, 41 U.S.C. § 8102, requires a drug-free workplace statement, an awareness program and conviction reporting. Federally grant-funded positions are outside NRS 613.132 altogether.

What should staffing agencies placing workers in Nevada do?

1. Get the safety determination from the client in writing for each order where the client wants to act on a marijuana result, describing why impairment in the role could affect others' safety.
2. Mark exempt orders up front: firefighter, EMT, DOT-regulated driving and federally grant-funded positions.
3. For everything else, do not let a marijuana-positive screen alone end a placement, and tell new hires tested in their first 30 days about the self-paid retest right.
4. Keep results out of submittals and interview notes; the client needs only to know whether the condition was met.

For the rest of Nevada's hiring rules, including the pay range disclosure after an interview, see our Nevada hiring checklist, and for work authorization checks see E-Verify requirements in Nevada.

Checklist: before you drug test an applicant in Nevada

1. List tested positions and, for each, whether one of the statutory exemptions applies.
2. For safety-based exemptions, record the employer's determination before the job is posted.
3. Test after a conditional offer, the same way for everyone offered the job.
4. For non-exempt jobs, decide in advance that a marijuana result alone will not end the hire.
5. Give written notice of the 30-day retest right to new employees who are tested.
6. Handle registry cardholders through the accommodation process, not the hiring decision.
7. Write the policy with the drug testing policy template. Our drug testing laws guide compares other states, and California and Washington draw the line differently, around metabolites.