New Hampshire Drug Testing Laws and Regulations

Have you been asked by a prospective employer or current employer in New Hampshire to undergo drug testing? Note that Federal law does not require or prohibit drug testing but it is required in employment relating to aviation, transportation, contractors with the Department of Defense and NASA. Generally, it is the local and state laws that dictate whether an employer has the right to test prospective employees and employees for drug use.

New Hampshire has not passed any drug testing laws. This means that New Hampshire drug testing for employees is not required but employers have the option to require their employees to undergo New Hampshire drug testing but pay the cost of the tests.

The state of New Hampshire excludes employee discrimination based on disability where the term applies to mental or physical impairment that affects and limits a person’s activities. Under the ADA (Americans with Disabilities), an applicant or employee taking prescribed medication for his disability is not liable for a positive result on his drug test. This is true even if the substance is deemed illegal, as long as the medication was legitimately prescribed by a medical doctor. An applicant or employee turned down due to a positive New Hampshire drug test because of his disability has grounds for legal action against the employer.

Under the American with Disabilities, alcohol dependency is a disability but drug dependency is not. Under the New Hampshire drug testing laws, employers are not required to provide their employees with substance abuse assistance or placement in a rehabilitation program.

Discrimination applies to any employer who requires a particular group of employees, i.e. gender, age, race and creed, to undergo New Hampshire drug testing. An employer violates employee invasions of privacy if an applicant or employee is made to commit an indecent act in order to undergo drug testing in New Hampshire. If an employer knowingly announces a false positive drug result of an employee, he is liable for defamation.

Under the ADA, the above stipulations apply to businesses with 15 and more employees.

Under the Model Drug Dealer Liability Act, an employer could take non-economic or economic action against the person involved in the distribution of the illegal substance used by the employee. An employer is not required to provide unemployment benefits to an employee discharged from his job due to substance abuse. In the event of a work related injury, the employer is not required to pay the employee’s compensation if he is found under the influence of prohibited drugs but not when the employer knows that the said employee is using illegal drugs. This does not apply though to employees under legitimate prescription of controlled drugs.