Nevada — Leave Laws

Nevada requires private employers with 50 or more employees in private employment to provide paid leave to each employee at a rate of at least 0.01923 hours for each hour of work performed. Employees may use this leave for any reason without providing justification to their employer. Employers may limit the use of paid leave to 40 hours per benefit year and may cap carryover at 40 hours per benefit year.

Source: NRS 608.0197

Nevada entitles employees who have been employed for at least 90 days to up to 160 hours of leave in a 12-month period if they are victims of domestic violence or sexual assault, or if a family or household member is a victim. The employee may not be the alleged perpetrator. Leave must be used within the 12 months immediately following the date of the incident and may be taken consecutively or intermittently. Permitted uses include diagnosis, care, or treatment of related health conditions; obtaining counseling or assistance; participating in court proceedings; and establishing a safety plan. After the initial leave, employees must provide at least 48 hours' advance notice for additional leave.

Source: NRS 608.0198

Nevada's Pregnant Workers' Fairness Act (NPWFA), codified at NRS 613.4353–613.4383, requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide reasonable accommodations to female employees and applicants for conditions relating to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the employer's business. The Act took effect October 1, 2017, with notice provisions effective June 2, 2017.

Interactive process requirement. Under NRS 613.4371, when a female employee requests an accommodation for a condition relating to pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition, the employer and employee must engage in a timely, good faith, and interactive process to determine an effective reasonable accommodation. The accommodation may consist of a change in the work environment or in the way things are customarily carried out that allows the employee to have equal employment opportunities, including the ability to perform the essential functions of the position and to have benefits and privileges of employment equal to those available to other employees.

Prohibited adverse actions. NRS 613.438 makes it unlawful for an employer to: (1) refuse to provide a reasonable accommodation upon request unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship as determined under NRS 613.4374; (2) take an adverse employment action against a female employee because she requests or uses a reasonable accommodation, including refusing to promote, requiring a transfer to another position, refusing to reinstate to the same or equivalent position upon return to work, or taking any other action affecting terms or conditions of employment in a manner not desired by the employee; (3) deny an employment opportunity to an otherwise qualified employee or applicant based on a need for accommodation; (4) require an employee or applicant to accept an accommodation the employee did not request or chooses not to accept; or (5) require an employee affected by a pregnancy-related condition to take leave from employment if a reasonable accommodation is available that would allow the employee to continue working.

Undue hardship standard. Under NRS 613.4374, if there is evidence the employer provides or would be required to provide a similar accommodation to a similarly situated employee or applicant, there is a rebuttable presumption that the accommodation does not impose an undue hardship. The employer bears the burden of proving undue hardship.

Documentation. An employer may require a female employee to provide an explanatory statement from the employee's physician concerning the specific accommodation recommended by the physician (NRS 613.438).

Limited exception for construction contractors. Licensed contractors under NRS Chapter 624 are not subject to the requirement to provide a place (other than a bathroom) for expressing breast milk if the employee performs work at a construction job site located more than three miles from the employer's regular place of business, or to certain prohibitions regarding forced leave or forced accommodation acceptance if the employee's work duties include manual labor (NRS 613.438(2)).

The NPWFA complements federal protections under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (which does not require affirmative accommodations absent comparative treatment) and the federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (effective June 27, 2023, applying to employers with 15 or more employees nationwide). Nevada practitioners should analyze both state and federal accommodation obligations when advising on pregnancy-related workplace issues.

Source: NRS 613.4353–613.4383 (Nevada Pregnant Workers' Fairness Act)

Nevada Revised Statutes § 608.0198 entitles eligible employees (those employed at least 90 days) to up to 160 hours of leave in a 12-month period for reasons related to domestic violence or sexual assault—whether the employee is the victim, or a family/household member is the victim (provided the employee is not the alleged perpetrator).

The statute is unambiguous on the paid/unpaid question: "The hours of leave… may be paid or unpaid by the employer" (NRS 608.0198(2)(b)). This means it is entirely within the employer's discretion whether to pay for leave taken under this section, provide it unpaid, or implement a mix. Nevada law does not require that such leave be paid, and it does not bar paid leave if the employer chooses to offer it.

Notably, NRS 608.0198 is silent on whether this statutory leave must run concurrently with, or be exhausted before, any other paid leave that the employer provides (such as PTO, vacation, or sick leave). The law also does not specify any requirement for employer notice to employees regarding the paid or unpaid status of this leave or address specific wage statement display practices for these hours.

In practice, employers should document their approach in written policy and communicate clearly, but the statute itself grants discretion and is otherwise silent on coordination or notification.

Source: NRS 608.0198

Nevada law requires employers with 50 or more employees to allow employees to begin using accrued paid leave only after the employee has completed 90 calendar days of employment. This "waiting period" is measured from the employee’s first day (not just worked days, but consecutive calendar days). For example, if an employee's start date is January 1, they become eligible to use any accrued paid leave on March 31, regardless of how much leave has actually accrued by that point. The employee continues to accrue paid leave from day one, but use is restricted until the conclusion of this 90-day period.

This requirement is categorical: employers cannot require a longer waiting period but are permitted to offer earlier use if they wish. There is no exception in the statute for part-time or seasonal workers, nor for different types of accrual, unless an employer elects a more generous policy.

Employers should document the start and eligibility dates and update handbooks and onboarding materials to reflect this statutory threshold. This provision is found in NRS 608.0197(2)(a), which states: "An employer shall allow an employee to use paid leave beginning on the 90th calendar day of his or her employment."

Source: NRS 608.0197(2)(a)

Nevada Revised Statute (NRS) 608.0198 entitles eligible employees—those who have worked at least 90 days—to take up to 160 hours of leave in a 12-month period if they or a family or household member are victims of domestic violence or sexual assault. There is no requirement in the law that the employer must have a minimum number of employees. Unlike Nevada’s paid leave statute (NRS 608.0197), which applies only to employers with 50 or more employees, NRS 608.0198 applies broadly to all private employers in the state, regardless of size. This means even very small employers are required to comply with these leave provisions if an eligible employee requests it.

The statute is explicit in its coverage and does not carve out exceptions or threshold requirements based on number of employees. Employers should note this contrasts with other Nevada leave statutes that do limit applicability based on employer size, so careful review of each leave law’s specific coverage is critical for compliance.

Source: NRS 608.0198

Nevada’s paid leave statute (NRS 608.0197) requires private employers with 50 or more employees to provide paid leave, but expressly exempts “temporary, seasonal or on-call employees.” NRS 608.0197(8)(b) states: “The requirements of this section do not apply to: ... (b) Temporary, seasonal or on-call employees.”

No statutory definitions or further regulatory guidance. As of June 2026, neither the Nevada Revised Statutes nor the Nevada Labor Commissioner has issued definitions, regulations, or interpretive guidance clarifying exactly what counts as “temporary,” “seasonal,” or “on-call” for this purpose. The law does not provide further detail or examples, and no published administrative or court decisions offer additional gloss.

Risk management for employers. In the absence of official definitions, employers that wish to claim an exemption from the paid leave requirement for a category of workers should carefully document their rationale and classification. Absent a clear, formal test, boundary cases may raise compliance risk until clarified by future statute, regulation, or litigation.

If an employee is not clearly “temporary,” “seasonal,” or “on-call,” and the other requirements of NRS 608.0197 are met, the default is that the employee should receive statutorily mandated paid leave.

Source: NRS 608.0197(8)(b)