HB 281

01-19 12:27  H.B. 281
1Workers' Compensation Cannabis Amendments
                                       2026 GENERAL SESSION
                                            STATE OF UTAH
                                      Chief Sponsor: Walt Brooks
                                              Senate Sponsor:
2
3   LONG TITLE
4   General Description:
5This bill amends provisions related to workers' compensation and cannabis use.
6   Highlighted Provisions:
7This bill:
8▸ defines terms;
9▸ creates a rebuttal presumption regarding cannabis use that would reduce a workers'
10   compensation award under certain circumstances; and
11▸ amends provisions related to testing for cannabinoids.
12   Money Appropriated in this Bill:
13None
14   Other Special Clauses:
15None
16   Utah Code Sections Affected:
17   AMENDS:
1834A-2-302, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2024, Chapter 352
19
20   Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
21Section 1. Section 34A-2-302 is amended to read:
2234A-2-302 . Employee's willful misconduct -- Penalty.
23   (1) For purposes of this section:
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24(a) "Controlled substance" is as defined in Section 58-37-2.
25(b) "Local government employee" is as defined in Section 34-41-101.
26(c) "Local governmental entity" is as defined in Section 34-41-101.
27(d) "State institution of higher education" is as defined in Section 34-41-101.
28(e) "THC" means the same as that term is defined in Section 4-41-102.
29(f)(i) "THC analog" means a substance that is structurally or pharmacologically
30substantially similar to, or is represented as being similar to, delta-9-THC.
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31(ii) "THC analog" does not include the following substances or the naturally
32occurring acid forms of the following substances:
33(A) cannabichromene (CBC), the cannabinoid identified as CAS# 20675-51-8;
34(B) cannabicyclol (CBL), the cannabinoid identified as CAS# 21366-63-2;
35(C) cannabidiol (CBD), the cannabinoid identified as CAS# 13956-29-1;
36(D) cannabidivarol (CBDV), the cannabinoid identified as CAS# 24274-48-4;
37(E) cannabielsoin (CBE), the cannabinoid identified as CAS# 52025-76-0;
38(F) cannabigerol (CBG), the cannabinoid identified as CAS# 25654-31-3;
39(G) cannabigerovarin (CBGV), the cannabinoid identified as CAS# 55824-11-8;
40(H) cannabinol (CBN), the cannabinoid identified as CAS# 521-35-7;
41(I) cannabivarin (CBV), the cannabinoid identified as CAS# 33745-21-0;
42(J) delta-9-tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV), the cannabinoid identified as CAS#
4331262-37-0; or
44(K) a non-intoxicating metabolite of tetrahydrocannabinol, including
4511-nor-9-carboxy-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol.
46      [(e)] (g) "Valid prescription" is a prescription, as defined in Section 58-37-2, that:
47(i) is prescribed for a controlled substance for use by the employee for whom it was
48prescribed; and
49(ii) has not been altered or forged.
50  (2) An employee may not:
51      (a) remove, displace, damage, destroy, or carry away any safety device or safeguard
52provided for use in any employment or place of employment;
53      (b) interfere in any way with the use of a safety device or safeguard described in
54Subsection (2)(a) by any other person;
55      (c) interfere with the use of any method or process adopted for the protection of any
56employee in the employer's employment or place of employment; or
57      (d) fail or neglect to follow and obey orders and to do every other thing reasonably
58necessary to protect the life, health, and safety of employees.
59  (3)(a) Except in case of injury resulting in death:
60[(a)] (i) compensation provided for by this chapter shall be reduced 15% when injury
61is caused by the willful failure of the employee:
62[(i)] (A) to use safety devices when provided by the employer; or
63[(ii)] (B) to obey any order or reasonable rule adopted by the employer for the
64safety of the employee[; and] .
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65(b) [except] Except when the employer permitted, encouraged, or had actual knowledge
66of the conduct described in Subsection (4):
67(i) disability compensation may not be awarded under this chapter or Chapter 3, Utah
68Occupational Disease Act, to an employee when the major contributing cause of
69the employee's injury is the employee's conduct described in Subsection (4); or
70(ii) disability compensation to an employee under this chapter or Chapter 3, Utah
71Occupational Disease Act, shall be reduced by 15% when the employee's conduct
72is a contributing cause of the employee's injury but not the major contributing
73cause.
74   (4) The conduct described in Subsection (3)(b) is the employee's:
75(a) knowing use of a controlled substance that the employee did not obtain under a valid
76prescription;
77(b) intentional abuse of a controlled substance that the employee obtained under a valid
78prescription if the employee uses the controlled substance intentionally:
79(i) in excess of prescribed therapeutic amounts; or
80(ii) in an otherwise abusive manner; or
81(c) intoxication from alcohol with a blood or breath alcohol concentration of .05 grams
82or greater as shown by a chemical test[.] ; or
83(d) notwithstanding any other provision of this Subsection (4), intoxication from THC or
84a THC analog with a whole blood level of THC or THC analog in excess of 20
85nanograms/ml.
86   (5)(a) For purposes of Subsections (3) and (4), as shown by a chemical test that
87conforms to scientifically accepted analytical methods and procedures and includes
88verification or confirmation of any positive test result by gas chromatography, gas
89chromatography-mass spectroscopy, or other comparably reliable analytical method,
90before the result of the test may be used as a basis for the presumption, it is presumed
91that the major contributing cause of the employee's injury is the employee's conduct
92described in Subsection (4) if at the time of the injury:
93(i) the employee has in the employee's system:
94(A) any amount of a controlled substance or its metabolites if the employee did
95not obtain the controlled substance under a valid prescription; or
96(B) a controlled substance the employee obtained under a valid prescription or the
97metabolites of the controlled substance if the amount in the employee's system
98is consistent with the employee using the controlled substance intentionally:
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99(I) in excess of prescribed therapeutic amounts; or
100(II) in an otherwise abusive manner; or
101(ii) the employee has a blood or breath alcohol concentration of .05 grams or greater[.] ;
102or
103(iii) notwithstanding any other provision of this Subsection (5)(a), the employee has a
104concentration of THC or THC analog in whole blood that exceeds 20
105nanograms/ml.
106     (b) The presumption created under Subsection (5)(a) may be rebutted by a
107preponderance of the evidence showing that:
108(i) the chemical test creating the presumption is inaccurate because the employer
109failed to comply with:
110(A) Sections 34-38-4 through 34-38-6; or
111(B) if the employer is a local governmental entity or state institution of higher
112education, Section 34-41-104, Subsection 34-41-103(7), or, if applicable,
113Subsection 34-41-103(6);
114(ii) the employee did not engage in the conduct described in Subsection (4);
115(iii) the test results do not exclude the possibility of passive inhalation of marijuana
116because the concentration of total [urinary cannabinoids] THC or THC analog in
117whole blood is less than [50] 20 nanograms/ml as determined by a blood test
118conducted in accordance with:
119(A) Subsection (8); and
120(B)(I) Sections 34-38-4 through 34-38-6; or
121[(B)] (II) if the employer is a local governmental entity or state institution of
122higher education, Section 34-41-104[, Subsection 34-41-103(7), or, if
123applicable, Subsection 34-41-103(6)];
124(iv) a competent medical opinion from a physician verifies that the amount of
125controlled substances, metabolites, or alcohol in the employee's system does not
126support a finding that the conduct described in Subsection (4) was the major
127contributing cause of the employee's injury or a contributing cause of the
128employee's injury; [or]
129(v)[(A)] the conduct described in Subsection (4) was not a contributing cause of
130the employee's injury; or
131[(B)] (vi) the employee's mental and physical condition were not impaired at the time
132of the injury.
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133(c)(i) Except as provided in Subsections (5)(c)(ii) and (iii), if a chemical test that
134creates the presumption under Subsection (5)(a) is taken at the request of the
135employer, the employer shall comply with:
136(A) Title 34, Chapter 38, Drug and Alcohol Testing; or
137(B) if the employee is a local governmental employee or an employee of a state
138institution of higher education, Title 34, Chapter 41, Local Governmental
139Entity Drug-Free Workplace Policies.
140(ii) Notwithstanding Section 34-38-13, the results of a test taken under Title 34,
141Chapter 38, Drug and Alcohol Testing, may be disclosed to the extent necessary
142to establish or rebut the presumption created under Subsection (5)(a).
143(iii) Notwithstanding Section 34-41-103, the results of a test taken under Title 34,
144Chapter 41, Local Governmental Entity Drug-Free Workplace Policies, may be
145disclosed to the extent necessary to establish or rebut the presumption created
146under Subsection (5)(a).
147   (6)(a) A test sample taken pursuant to this section shall be taken as a split sample.
148(b) One part of the sample is to be used by the employer for testing pursuant to
149Subsection (5)(a):
150(i) at a testing facility selected by the employer; and
151(ii) at the employer's or the employer's workers' compensation carrier's expense.
152(c) The testing facility selected under Subsection (6)(b) shall hold the part of the sample
153not used under Subsection (6)(b) until the sooner of:
154(i) six months from the date of the original test; or
155(ii) when the employee requests that the sample be tested.
156(d) The employee has only six months from the date of the original test to have the
157remaining sample tested:
158(i) at the employee's expense; and
159(ii) at the testing facility selected by the employee, except that the test shall meet the
160requirements of Subsection (5)(a).
161   (7) If any provision of this section, or the application of any provision of this section to any
162person or circumstance, is held invalid, the remainder of this section shall be given
163effect without the invalid provision or application.
164   (8) When testing for a cannabinoid under this section a blood test shall be used.
165Section 2. Effective Date.
166   This bill takes effect on May 6, 2026.
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