Rhode Island is one of the few states with a standalone statute that spells out when an employer may test a current employee for drugs or alcohol, and a separate statute that covers applicants. Employers who build a testing program around these two statutes, rather than around a generic policy template, have a much easier time explaining the program if an employee or a state agency ever asks why a particular step happened.
Does Rhode Island have a drug testing statute
Yes. Chapter 28-6.5 of the Rhode Island General Laws, titled "Urine and Blood Tests as a Condition of Employment," governs both current employee testing and applicant testing. The full statute text is published by the Rhode Island General Assembly legislature website. This is the primary source employers should read before drafting a policy, not a summary.
Testing a current employee: the reasonable grounds standard
Under R.I. Gen. Laws 28-6.5-1, an employer generally may not test a current employee for drugs or alcohol unless the employer has reasonable grounds to believe the employee is using a controlled substance, based on specific aspects of the employee's job performance and specific, contemporaneous, documented observations. Random testing of employees who are not in a safety sensitive job covered by a separate federal program is not what this statute contemplates. It is built around an observation first, test second sequence.
The statute also sets procedural conditions. The employee must be allowed to provide the sample in private, outside the presence of any other person. Any positive screening result must be confirmed by a federally certified laboratory using gas chromatography or mass spectrometry, or technology recognized as being at least as scientifically accurate. The employee must be given the opportunity to have the same sample tested or evaluated by an independent testing facility, and a reasonable opportunity to rebut or explain a confirmed positive result before the employer acts on it.
One provision surprises a lot of employers coming from other states: the law states that an employee who tests positive is not terminated on that basis alone. Instead, the statute directs that the employee be referred to a substance abuse professional for an evaluation. Employers who want to treat a confirmed positive as grounds for immediate discharge on a first incident should read the statute text directly and talk to counsel about how that referral requirement interacts with the employer's own policy, rather than assuming a confirmed lab result ends the conversation.
Testing applicants after a conditional offer
R.I. Gen. Laws 28-6.5-2 covers job applicants separately. Testing is tied to a conditional offer of employment, meaning the applicant has already been offered the job on the condition of a negative result, not tested as a screening step before an offer is extended. The same private collection and confirmation testing requirements that apply to current employees apply here: samples are collected in private, and a positive screen must be confirmed by a federally certified laboratory using gas chromatography or mass spectrometry or an equally accurate method before an employer relies on it.
| Element | Current employee (28-6.5-1) | Applicant (28-6.5-2) |
|---|---|---|
| Trigger for testing | Reasonable grounds based on specific, documented job performance observations | Conditional offer of employment already extended |
| Collection setting | In private, outside the presence of any other person | In private, outside the presence of any other person |
| Confirmation method | Federally certified lab, GC/MS or an equally accurate method | Federally certified lab, GC/MS or an equally accurate method |
| Right to independent retest | Yes, employee may have sample retested at an independent facility | Statute text should be read directly for the applicant specific procedure |
| Outcome of a confirmed positive | Referral to a substance abuse professional, not termination on that basis alone | Offer may be affected; employers should apply a written, consistent policy |
This statute does not mention random testing programs, and it does not carve out an exception for employers who simply prefer a zero tolerance policy. Employers whose workforce includes positions covered by federal testing rules, such as commercial drivers, should also look at the separate federal framework described below, since a federally mandated program can operate alongside the state statute.
Cannabis in Rhode Island: adult use and medical marijuana
Rhode Island has legalized cannabis for adults through the Rhode Island Cannabis Act, codified at R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 21-28.11. The employer's duties section of that chapter, 21-28.11-30, states that nothing in the chapter is construed to preempt or limit the duties of any employer under other applicable law. In plain terms, legalizing adult use cannabis did not, by itself, rewrite an employer's existing drug testing or workplace safety obligations.
Rhode Island's separate medical marijuana law addresses employment directly. Under R.I. Gen. Laws 21-28.6-4, an employer may not refuse to employ, or otherwise penalize, a person solely because that person holds a medical marijuana card. The same section preserves an employer's ability to act on actual use or possession of marijuana in the workplace, on impairment that could amount to negligence or endanger safety, and specifically on operation of a motor vehicle, aircraft, motorboat, machinery, equipment, or firearms while under the influence. It also preserves an exception where a federal contractor would lose a monetary or licensing benefit by not acting. The statute protects card status, not on duty impairment, and it does not require an employer to accommodate use of marijuana itself.
Employers should treat marijuana policy decisions, including how a lawful cardholder is handled after a positive screen, as a legal question for counsel rather than a judgment call made by HR alone, since the statute language and its interaction with safety sensitive duties can vary by job and by whether federal rules apply.
Workers compensation and a positive test
Rhode Island's workers compensation law addresses intoxication directly. R.I. Gen. Laws 28-33-2 states that no compensation is allowed for an injury or death occasioned by an employee's willful intention to bring about the injury, or where the injury or death resulted from the employee's intoxication or unlawful use of a controlled substance. The statute text available does not create an automatic presumption that a positive post accident drug test, by itself, proves the intoxication caused the injury. The law requires that the injury actually result from the intoxication or substance use, which is a factual question in the claim, not an assumption that follows automatically from a lab result. Employers should not tell an injured worker that a positive test alone will defeat a claim, since that determination generally rests with the workers compensation system and the facts of the case.
Unemployment benefits and a failed or refused test
Rhode Island's employment security law disqualifies a worker from unemployment benefits for a period of time when the worker is discharged for proved misconduct connected with the work. R.I. Gen. Laws 28-44-18 defines misconduct as deliberate conduct in willful disregard of the employer's interest, or a knowing violation of a reasonable and uniformly enforced employer rule or policy. The statute text does not single out drug testing by name. A discharge for failing or refusing a drug test under a clear, written, consistently applied policy may be evaluated as misconduct under this general standard, but the outcome depends on the specific facts and on how the state's unemployment insurance division applies the statute to that policy, so employers should not promise employees a particular unemployment outcome.
Public employers and drug free workplace programs
The statute text located for this article, chapter 28-6.5, is written in general terms and does not carve out a separate standard for public sector employers. Rhode Island agencies and municipalities that want a drug free workplace program distinct from the chapter 28-6.5 framework, or federal grant conditions tied to a drug free workplace certification, should confirm current requirements directly with the relevant state personnel office or the agency's own published policy rather than relying on a general employment law summary, since specific program rules can vary by agency and were not found codified in a single statute for this article.
Federal testing rules can still apply
Rhode Island's statute governs the state law side of testing. It does not replace a federal testing program that already applies to a position. Commercial drivers, pilots, and other safety sensitive transportation employees are covered by the United States Department of Transportation testing procedures at 49 CFR Part 40, which sets its own collection, laboratory, and medical review officer requirements. Where a position is subject to both the state statute and a federal testing mandate, the federal program generally controls the testing procedure for that position, and employers should not assume the state statute's reasonable grounds language overrides a federally mandated random or pre-employment test.
Building a compliant policy
A Rhode Island employer building a written policy should document the specific job performance observations that support a reasonable grounds decision before a current employee is tested, confirm that any conditional offer language is in place before an applicant is tested, use a certified laboratory for confirmation testing rather than relying on a screening result alone, and route every confirmed result that could affect employment through a medical review officer so that legitimate prescriptions and lab explanations are considered before any employment decision is made. None of this is a substitute for having the actual chapter 28-6.5 text and current counsel review the policy before it is rolled out.
For related background, see Workplace Drug Testing Laws by State: What Employers Need to Map and Marijuana Legalization and Workplace Drug Testing: What Employers Can Still Do for how other states structure similar rules.
American Screening Corporation supplies certified lab confirmation services alongside its drug test cups so that any screening result an employer relies on can be confirmed the way Rhode Island's statute describes, by a federally certified laboratory using gas chromatography or mass spectrometry or an equally accurate method.
Frequently asked questions
Does Rhode Island have a law about workplace drug testing
Yes. Chapter 28-6.5 of the Rhode Island General Laws sets conditions for testing current employees and applicants, including a reasonable grounds standard for current employees and a conditional offer requirement for applicants.
Can a Rhode Island employer fire an employee for a first positive drug test
The statute text describes a referral to a substance abuse professional rather than termination based solely on a first confirmed positive result. Employers should read R.I. Gen. Laws 28-6.5-1 directly and consult counsel before treating a first positive as automatic grounds for discharge.
Does Rhode Island protect medical marijuana cardholders from employment discrimination
Rhode Island law generally prohibits refusing to employ or otherwise penalizing a person solely for holding a medical marijuana card, while preserving an employer's ability to act on workplace use, impairment affecting safety, operation of vehicles or equipment while under the influence, and certain federal contractor obligations.
Can an injured employee lose workers compensation benefits for a positive drug test
Rhode Island law bars compensation where an injury or death actually resulted from intoxication or unlawful use of a controlled substance. A positive test alone is not described in the statute as an automatic bar, since the law ties the exclusion to the injury resulting from the intoxication or substance use.
Can an employee be denied unemployment benefits for refusing a drug test
A discharge for refusing or failing a test under a clear, written, consistently applied policy may be evaluated under Rhode Island's general misconduct standard for unemployment disqualification, but the outcome depends on the facts and the unemployment insurance division's application of that standard.
Do federal DOT drug testing rules override Rhode Island's testing law
For positions covered by federal transportation testing rules, the federal program under 49 CFR Part 40 generally governs the testing procedure for that position, alongside any applicable state requirements.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Rhode Island employers should confirm current statute text and apply it to their own workplace with the help of qualified counsel.