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

North Dakota has no comprehensive statute governing how private employers drug test, as of October 2026, so employers may test applicants under their own written policy. One rule applies to every test: under N.D.C.C. 34-01-15, the employer must pay for any drug or alcohol test it requires of an employee or prospective employee, and violating that is an infraction. North Dakota has a medical marijuana program whose law lets employers discipline employees for "working with marijuana in the employee's system," voters rejected adult-use legalization in 2022 and 2024, and the workers' compensation law gives employers with a post-accident testing policy a strong presumption of impairment.

Does North Dakota have a drug testing law for private employers?

Not a comprehensive one. Unlike neighboring Minnesota, which sets out notice, policy and confirmation rules in statute, North Dakota does not tell private employers when they may test, what notice to give, which laboratory to use or how to confirm a positive. Those choices belong in your written policy. Our guide to hiring employees in North Dakota reached the same conclusion. Four parts of the Century Code still shape a program:

• the cost rule in N.D.C.C. 34-01-15;
• the employment provisions of the medical marijuana law, chapter 19-24.1;
• the Human Rights Act's protection for lawful off-duty activity, N.D.C.C. 14-02.4-03; and
• the workers' compensation rules on impairment and testing in chapter 65-01.

Who pays for a drug test in North Dakota?

The employer, always. N.D.C.C. 34-01-15 says that whenever an employer requires "an employee, or prospective employee, to take a medical examination, or furnish any medical records, as a condition of retaining or obtaining employment, the employer shall bear the cost," and that "medical examination includes any test for the presence of drugs or alcohol." An employer that violates the section "is guilty of an infraction."

Three practical points follow. Do not ask applicants to pay up front and seek reimbursement later. If a medical review officer needs prescription records to verify a result and you require the candidate to produce them, the cost of furnishing those records falls on you as well. And when a staffing agency's client asks for the test, the agency, as the employer requiring it, should pay or have the client pay, never the worker. That is a sharp difference from Wyoming, where the labor department says applicants may be charged.

What does North Dakota's medical marijuana law say about employment?

Chapter 19-24.1 lets registered qualifying patients, who hold a registry identification card from the Department of Health and Human Services, use medical marijuana. Two sections matter to employers:

• Protection for patients. Under 19-24.1-32(1), a registered qualifying patient "is not subject to arrest or prosecution or the denial of any right or privilege" for acquiring, using or possessing usable marijuana under the chapter.
• Room for employers. Under 19-24.1-34(2), the chapter "does not prohibit an employer from disciplining an employee for possessing or consuming usable marijuana in the workplace, working while under the influence of marijuana, or working with marijuana in the employee's system."

The employer provision speaks only of employees. It does not say whether an employer may refuse to hire a registered patient who tests positive before starting work, and the chapter has no section on applicants. Because a patient cannot keep working with marijuana in their system without risking discipline, many employers treat a positive pre-employment result from a registered patient the same way, but that is an inference rather than a rule in the statute. For a role that is not safety-sensitive, get advice before rejecting a cardholder, and keep the medical review officer's verification separate from the hiring decision.

Does North Dakota's lawful-activity protection reach marijuana?

The Human Rights Act makes it a discriminatory practice to refuse to hire someone because of "participation in lawful activity off the employer's premises during nonworking hours which is not in direct conflict with the essential business-related interests of the employer" (N.D.C.C. 14-02.4-03(1)). Adult-use marijuana is not lawful in North Dakota, so the clause does not protect it. Whether a registered patient's off-duty use counts as "lawful activity" is not answered by the Century Code. The same section also requires reasonable accommodation for a qualified individual with a disability, which is another reason to handle a cardholder's positive individually rather than by blanket rule.

Is recreational marijuana legal in North Dakota?

No. The Secretary of State's measure and petition archive lists Initiated Measure 2 at the November 2022 general election and Initiated Measure 5 at the November 2024 general election, each of which would have created a Century Code chapter legalizing cannabis, as "Did Not Pass." A THC positive from a candidate without a registry card can be handled under your ordinary policy. For jobs performed in neighboring Montana or Minnesota, follow that state's rules.

How does North Dakota workers' compensation treat drug use?

This is where a written testing policy pays off. The definition of a compensable injury excludes "any injury caused by the use of intoxicants, including recreational marijuana use, or the illegal use of controlled substances" (N.D.C.C. 65-01-02(11)(b)(3)). Under 65-01-11:

• an alcohol concentration at or above the federal transportation limit, or a level of an illegally used controlled substance or recreational marijuana at or above the federal cutoff levels in effect on August 1, 2011, "creates a rebuttable presumption" that the injury was due to impairment;
• an employer "who has a mandatory drug alcohol testing policy for work accidents," or who has reasonable grounds to suspect impairment, may ask the employee to be tested; and
• an employee who refuses a reasonable request, or refuses a post-accident test "as mandated by company policy," forfeits all workers' compensation benefits for that injury.

Write the post-accident rule into the same policy that covers pre-employment testing, give it to every new hire, and use federal cutoff levels so results line up with the statute.

Which federal rules still apply in North Dakota?

• DOT-regulated roles. Drivers, pipeline workers and other covered transportation employees follow 49 CFR Part 40, and a driver needs a verified negative pre-employment result before the first safety-sensitive function (49 CFR 382.301). The cost rule in 34-01-15 still applies to those tests.
• 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 medical review officer still cannot verify a marijuana positive as negative because of a state card.
• Federal contractors follow the FAR Drug-Free Workplace clause.
• The ADA: a test for illegal drugs is not a medical exam, but prescription questions after a positive are; see pre-employment medical exams under the ADA.

What should staffing agencies placing workers in North Dakota do?

• Settle who pays in the client contract. The agency or the client pays for every test; never pass the cost to the worker through a fee or a deduction.
• Give every worker the post-accident rule. The workers' compensation forfeiture depends on testing "mandated by company policy," so the agency's policy, signed before the first assignment, should say a post-accident test is required.
• Handle registry cardholders case by case and record whether the assignment is safety-sensitive, such as oilfield, construction or driving work.
• Check registration separately in North Dakota staffing agency licensing.

For the rest of onboarding, see North Dakota E-Verify requirements and North Dakota background check laws.

North Dakota drug testing laws at a glance

A checklist before you test a candidate in North Dakota

1. Write a policy covering pre-employment and post-accident testing, and give it with the conditional offer.
2. Pay for every test and any medical records you require; never charge the candidate.
3. Use a laboratory that confirms positives at federal cutoff levels, and a medical review officer.
4. For a registered patient's positive, assess the role and get advice before withdrawing an offer.
5. Draft from the drug testing policy template, compare states in drug testing laws in hiring, and see neighboring South Dakota, which gives medical cannabis patients more protection.