June 17, 2019

Nevada passed a paid leave law, which, like Maine, requires employers to provide paid leave for any reason. Below are details that will be relevant to employers.

Nevada Paid Leave

Nevada’s new paid leave law provides, among other things, the following:

• Effective date: Nevada’s paid leave law is effective January 1, 2020 unless future regulations provide otherwise. Thereafter, employees can begin using accrued paid leave on the 90^th calendar day after employment begins.

   

• Eligibility: This law applies to any private employer with 50 or more employees in private employment in Nevada but does not apply to temporary, seasonal, or on-call employees. A new employer is not required to provide paid leave for the first 2 years of its operation.

   

• Accrual rules: Employees will be entitled to at least 0.01923 hours of paid leave for each hour of work performed, i.e., approximately 40 hours if an employee works 40 hours per week over a full year. Employers can (but are not required to) fulfill this requirement by front-loading leave at the beginning of the plan year. Employers must reinstate unused accrued leave for employees who involuntarily separate from employment and are rehired within 90 days.

   

• Amount of pay: Employees are entitled to at least the rate of pay that applied immediate before taking leave. For employees paid by salary, commission, or piece rate, employers must determine the rate of pay by dividing total wages paid for the immediately preceding 90 days by the number of hours worked during that period.

   

• Carryover: Unused leave must carry over to the next plan year, but employers can limit the carryover to 40 hours.

   

• Minimum increment: Employers can (but are not required to) set a minimum increment for using paid leave of no more than 4 hours.

   

• Types of leave: Paid leave is not limited to any specific purpose(s). Therefore, employees will be able to use accrued leave for any reason (illness, family, vacation, etc.).

We expect that Nevada’s Labor Commissioner will issue rules to implement and enforce the above provisions, including guidance on how Nevada’s requirements will apply to employers’ existing PTO, sick, and other leave benefits.

Next Steps

We recommend that employers with employees in Nevada:

• Review current leave policies determine whether changes to leave accruals or other benefit policies are necessary;

   

• Work with HR, payroll, and any third-party vendors to determine what steps, if any, are needed to comply by 2020; and

   

• Stay up to date on implementing guidance from Nevada. We will update our members on new developments.

Resources

• An Act Relating to Employment; Requiring an Employer in Private Employment to Provide Paid Leave
• State and Local Mandated Paid Sick Leave Tool

More Topics

Policy & Advocacy Leave Policy Leave & Flexible Work Arrangements