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

Ohio has no general statute setting procedures for private-employer drug tests, so employers may test job applicants under their own written policy. Ohio Revised Code 3796.28, as amended by Senate Bill 56 effective March 20, 2026, says the state's marijuana law, medical and adult-use, does not stop an employer from refusing to hire for marijuana use or from enforcing a drug testing or zero-tolerance policy. Employers in the Bureau of Workers' Compensation's voluntary SUPR program, and contractors on state construction contracts, must run testing that includes pre-employment tests, as of October 2026.

Ohio drug testing rules at a glance

Does Ohio have a drug testing law for employers?

Not a general one. Ohio has no statute like Minnesota's that sets notice, laboratory, confirmation and retest rules for every private employer that tests. Instead, Ohio's rules come from four places: the employer-rights section of the marijuana law, the Bureau of Workers' Compensation's voluntary program, a mandate for state construction contractors, and the workers' compensation presumption. If you are in none of the programs, your written policy is the procedure, and it should name the drugs tested, when you test, the laboratory standard, how a candidate reports prescriptions, and what happens after a confirmed positive.

Can Ohio employers refuse to hire for marijuana use?

Yes. Ohio voters legalized adult-use marijuana in 2023, and Senate Bill 56 (136th General Assembly) later folded the adult-use rules into the medical marijuana chapter, R.C. Chapter 3796, effective March 20, 2026. Adults 21 and older may now use and possess marijuana under R.C. 3796.221, and the Division of Cannabis Control regulates both programs. But R.C. 3796.28 keeps employers' options open. It says nothing in the chapter:

• requires an employer to permit or accommodate an employee's use, possession or distribution of marijuana;
• prohibits an employer "from refusing to hire, discharging, disciplining, or otherwise taking an adverse employment action against a person ... because of that person's use, possession, or distribution of marijuana";
• prohibits "establishing and enforcing a drug testing policy, drug-free workplace policy, or zero-tolerance drug policy";
• interferes with federal restrictions on employment, including DOT regulations in 49 CFR;
• lets a person sue an employer over an adverse employment action "related to marijuana"; or
• affects BWC's authority to give premium rebates or discounts for drug-free workplace programs.

Two more divisions matter after the hire. Under R.C. 3796.28(B), a person discharged for marijuana use that violates the employer's drug-free workplace, zero-tolerance or other formal policy is discharged for just cause for unemployment purposes. Under R.C. 3796.28(C), refusing to hire, discharging or otherwise discriminating against someone because their marijuana use violates such a policy is not a violation of R.C. 4112.02(A), (D) or (E), the state civil rights law. Notice the condition in (B) and (C): a formal written policy that regulates marijuana use.

What is the BWC Substance Use Prevention and Recovery program?

The Bureau of Workers' Compensation's Substance Use Prevention and Recovery (SUPR) program is set out in Ohio Administrative Code 4123-17-58, effective July 1, 2025. "Participation in this program under this rule is voluntary" (paragraph (I)). To run a basic SUPR program, an employer applies each year and puts in place (paragraph (C)):

1. accident-analysis training for supervisors and online accident reporting for lost-time claims;
2. a written drug-free workplace policy;
3. annual education for all employees;
4. annual training for all supervisors on enforcing the policy;
5. alcohol and drug testing that "conforms to the federal testing model" of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, including "pre-employment and new-hire drug testing," post-accident, reasonable-suspicion, and return-to-duty and follow-up testing, paid for by the employer except employee-requested retests and follow-up tests; and
6. an employee assistance plan.

The advanced level adds random testing of at least 15% of the workforce each program period, a substance use professional for assessments, and a commitment not to fire an employee for a first positive test (paragraph (D)). An employer that completes the requirements may earn a bonus based on its premium, at the rate in the appendix to OAC 4123-17-75 (paragraph (H)). State agencies and self-insuring employers are not eligible (paragraph (B)(3)).

Do Ohio construction contractors have to drug test?

On state projects, yes. R.C. 153.03 bars a state contracting authority from awarding a public improvement contract, and a construction manager at risk or design-build firm from awarding a subcontract, unless the contract requires the contractor or subcontractor to be enrolled and in good standing in BWC's drug-free workplace program or a comparable program BWC approves. R.C. 153.031 limits the requirement to improvements of the state. Under OAC 4123-17-58(E), comparable-program employers must test employees, including supervisors, under the same testing model before providing labor on the project. BWC offers a state construction contractor look-up to check a contractor's status.

How does workers' compensation affect an Ohio drug policy?

R.C. 4123.54(B) creates a rebuttable presumption that an injured employee was intoxicated or under the influence, and that this caused the injury, when a qualifying post-injury test shows a controlled substance not prescribed to them, or marijuana, at or above the cutoff levels in 49 CFR 40.85, or when the employee refuses a requested test. The presumption is available only if the employer "has posted written notice to employees" that a test result or refusal may affect eligibility for benefits. Put that notice up, and in your onboarding packet, before the first shift.

Which federal rules still apply in Ohio?

• DOT-regulated roles follow 49 CFR Part 40; a commercial driver needs a verified negative pre-employment result before the first safety-sensitive function (49 CFR 382.301). R.C. 3796.28(A)(4) expressly leaves those rules alone.
• Rescheduling. The April 28, 2026 order moved FDA-approved and state-medical-license marijuana to Schedule III; it does not cover Ohio's adult-use sales. DOT's Part 40 guidance (May 15, 2026) says an Ohio patient registration still cannot make a DOT positive negative, and 49 CFR 40.151(e) says the same of any physician recommendation.
• Federal contractors need the policy statement and awareness program in the FAR Drug-Free Workplace clause.
• The ADA: see pre-employment medical exams under the ADA.

What should staffing agencies and PEOs placing workers in Ohio do?

• Check whose BWC policy counts. OAC 4123-17-58(B)(4) says a PEO or alternate employer organization is eligible for SUPR benefits only if it and each of its client employers meet all eligibility and program requirements, and it must file a client list with its annual report.
• Construction placements. A worker placed on a state public improvement project must be covered by an enrolled or comparable program; confirm which entity is enrolled before the start date.
• Write the marijuana rule down. The unemployment and civil-rights protections in R.C. 3796.28(B) and (C) depend on a formal policy, so the agency needs its own, not just the client's.
• Licensing, background checks and onboarding: see Ohio staffing agency licensing, Ohio background check laws and hiring employees in Ohio.

A checklist before you test a candidate in Ohio

1. Adopt a written drug-free workplace policy that says how you treat marijuana.
2. Decide whether to join BWC's SUPR program, and if so follow its testing model, including pre-employment tests.
3. For state construction work, confirm enrollment in SUPR or a comparable program.
4. Use an HHS-certified laboratory and medical review officer, and confirm positives.
5. Post the R.C. 4123.54 notice about post-injury testing.
6. Keep DOT drivers in the federal program.

Start from the pre-employment drug testing policy template, and compare other states in drug testing laws in hiring.