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

Tennessee's drug testing law for private employers is the voluntary Drug-Free Workplace Program in Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 50-9-101 to 50-9-116, run by the Bureau of Workers' Compensation. As of October 2026, a participating employer must test job applicants after a conditional offer, note testing in its job ads, give a written policy before testing, use a certified laboratory and a medical review officer, and pay for the tests; in return it gets a 5% workers' compensation premium credit, and refusing to hire after a confirmed positive counts as for cause. Marijuana is not legal in Tennessee, and a proposed rule with a November 10, 2026 hearing would add kratom to the program's drug definition.

Tennessee drug testing laws at a glance

Do Tennessee employers have to drug test?

No. The Bureau's program page says "Employers are not required to join this program," and the statute agrees from two directions: no cause of action arises from an employer's failure to set up a testing program (§ 50-9-108(h)), and the chapter "shall have no effect on employers" that are not covered employers (§ 50-9-103(5)). To be a covered employer, a business must be under the Workers' Compensation Law, maintain a program that meets the chapter, and state on its posted policy that the policy "is being implemented pursuant to this chapter." Employers outside the program may still test under their own policy (§ 50-9-108(e)).

Joining buys three things, according to the Bureau's About the Program page: "A 5% premium credit on its workers' compensation insurance policy"; a shift in the burden of proof when an injured worker fails a post-accident test, which the worker can overcome only with clear and convincing evidence; and a presumption that refusing to hire an applicant who violates the program is "for cause." The application, form LB-1111, is filed with the Bureau and renewed every year; the Bureau's form asks for it again whenever the employer buys or renews its workers' compensation policy, and it lists no fee.

What are the program's rules for pre-employment drug tests?

For a covered employer, the statute and rule chapter 0800-02-12 set the steps:

1. Notice before the program starts. At least 60 days between a general notice to employees and the program's effective date (§ 50-9-105(b)).
2. Notice in the job ad. "A covered employer shall include notice of drug and alcohol testing on vacancy announcements for positions for which drug or alcohol testing is required," post the policy conspicuously, and make copies available to applicants (§ 50-9-105(c)).
3. Written policy before the test. One time only, before testing, applicants get a written policy statement listing the types of tests, the consequences of a positive or a refusal, confidentiality, how to report medications to the medical review officer, assistance programs, the drug classes tested, and the right to contest or explain a positive to the medical review officer within five working days (§ 50-9-105(a)). The Bureau publishes a sample policy and a pre-employment consent and release form on its How to Get Started page.
4. Test after a conditional offer. "A covered employer must, after a conditional offer of employment, require job applicants to submit to a drug test" (§ 50-9-106(a)(1)). Alcohol testing of applicants is optional, and an employer may, but need not, test an applicant who tested negative within the preceding 12 months (Rule .05(1)(c), (d)).
5. The panel and lab. The drug list is the DOT list posted on the Bureau's Drug Testing page (Rule .07(1)). Labs must be licensed by the Tennessee Department of Health or approved by HHS, the College of American Pathologists or another authority the commissioner recognizes, and confirmation labs must be SAMHSA- or CAP-FUDT-certified. An on-site point-of-collection kit may be used for applicants only, and any positive must be confirmed by a certified laboratory (Rule .05(1)(a)).
6. Medical review before the employer acts. A covered employer may not refuse to hire "on the sole basis of a positive test result that has not been verified by a confirmation test and by a Medical Review Officer" (Rule .02(8)). The Bureau's FAQs say the medical review officer should review positives with the applicant before the employer is told, and under § 50-9-116 the officer considers only prescriptions issued within six months before the positive result.
7. The decision. A refusal to test, or a positive confirmed by the medical review officer, "may be used as a basis for refusing to hire a job applicant" (Rule .05(1)(b)). Termination or refusal is not mandatory, but the Bureau's FAQs warn: "do not discipline one employee and look the other way for another employee."
8. Cost and records. The employer pays for all testing it requires (Rule .02(2)) and keeps test documentation at least 12 months (Rule .05).

After hire, each new employee needs at least one hour of drug-free workplace training within 60 days of the hire date, supervisors two more hours, and every employee signs a yearly acknowledgment of the policy (Rule .11; the Bureau's training page).

What does Tennessee law say about marijuana, hemp and kratom?

• Marijuana is not legal. Tennessee has not legalized marijuana for medical or adult use, and knowingly possessing a controlled substance without a valid prescription is an offense under § 39-17-418. No Tennessee statute protects an applicant's off-duty marijuana use or another state's medical card.
• Hemp products are legal and licensed. Since January 1, 2026, the Alcoholic Beverage Commission has regulated hemp-derived cannabinoid products under Public Chapter 526 (2025), and state law caps their total THC at 0.3% on a dry weight basis, according to the commission. A candidate may say a THC positive came from a legal hemp product. The program's review standard turns on valid prescriptions (§ 50-9-116), and a store purchase is not one, so let the medical review officer handle the conversation and decide under your written policy.
• Kratom is next. On September 16, 2026 the Bureau filed a notice of rulemaking that would redefine "drug" in Rule 0800-02-12-.03 to include "natural and synthetic derivatives of the alkaloid mitragynine or metabolite 7-hydroxymitragynine (Mitragyna speciosa, also known as Kratom)." The public hearing is November 10, 2026. Until the rule is adopted, kratom is not on the program's required list.

Do Tennessee government construction contractors need a drug-free workplace?

Yes. Under § 50-9-113, an employer "with five (5) or more employees receiving pay" that contracts with, or provides construction services to, the state or a local government must submit an affidavit that it has a drug-free workplace program that complies with the chapter, and obtain a certificate of compliance from the department. A contractor that complies only to meet this requirement gets no premium reduction. A contractor found without a program is barred from further government contracts until it complies; a second violation brings a bar of at least three months, and a third at least a year.

Health care employers have one more duty. A covered employer with health care practitioners must report a practitioner who tests positive on a pre-employment or employer-ordered confirmed test, or refuses a test, to the Department of Health and the licensing board (§ 50-9-115; Rule .02(13)).

Which federal rules still apply in Tennessee?

• 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). Testing required by federal rules counts as conforming to the program for those employees (§ 50-9-104(c)).
• Rescheduling. The April 28, 2026 order moved FDA-approved and state-medical-license marijuana to Schedule III; it does not change Tennessee's possession offense in § 39-17-418, and DOT's Part 40 guidance says no state-licensed marijuana product can make a DOT positive negative.
• Federal contractors need the policy statement and awareness program in the FAR Drug-Free Workplace clause.
• The ADA: § 50-9-108(a) says a confirmed positive alone does not make someone disabled; for the medical-inquiry limits, see pre-employment medical exams under the ADA.

What should staffing agencies placing workers in Tennessee do?

• The program is optional for you. Under § 50-9-112, a temporary employment agency "shall not be required by rule, regulation or policy of the department" to implement a drug-free workplace. If you want the credit on your own policy, you need your own certification; a client's covers its payroll, not yours.
• Mirror a covered client's notice. If the client's positions require testing, put that in the vacancy announcements you post and hand candidates the written policy before the test.
• Government construction orders. Confirm whose § 50-9-113 affidavit covers the workers you supply.
• Health care placements. Agree in writing who makes the § 50-9-115 report for a placed practitioner.
• The rest of the hiring file: see Tennessee staffing agency rules, Tennessee background check laws, E-Verify in Tennessee, recording consent for interviews and hiring employees in Tennessee.

A checklist before you test a candidate in Tennessee

1. Decide whether to join the Drug-Free Workplace Program, and if so file form LB-1111 and renew it every year.
2. Add the testing notice to job ads, post the policy, and give the written policy statement before the test.
3. Make a conditional offer, then test with a certified lab or an approved on-site kit.
4. Send positives to the medical review officer and allow five working days to contest or explain.
5. Decide under your written policy and apply it the same way to everyone.
6. Watch the November 10, 2026 kratom rulemaking, and update your panel if it is adopted.

Draft from the drug testing policy template, and compare the similar programs in Georgia and Alabama or the overview in drug testing laws in hiring.