This post will guide you through employee leave laws for businesses and workers located in the state of Nevada.
Follow this guide to understand employers’ obligations for vacation time, paid time off (PTO), sick leave, parental leave, bereavement and more, along with state holidays observed in Nevada.
This page is intended for reference purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please see official government sources or consult a legal professional for actual legal advice.
Nevada employers with 50 or more employees must provide employees with at least 0.01923 hours of paid leave for each hour worked (equal to 0.7692 hours for a 40 hour work week).
Any unused leave can be carried over to the following year, though earned leave can be capped at a maximum of 40 hours per benefit year. Carryover is not necessary if an employee’s leave is front-loaded, and offered all at once at the beginning of the benefit year.
Paid vacation time is not required for employers with fewer than 50 employees.
Employees are allowed to carry over their unused leave (up to a limit of 40 hours) from one year to the next.
This means that Use It or Lose It policies are generally not allowed in Nevada, unless the company provides leave in a frontloaded manner.
Note that the above only applies to companies required to provide paid time off. Employers with fewer than 50 employees do not have to provide paid time off, and are free to apply a Use It or Lose It policy if they do.
Use It or Lose It leave policies mean that any leave not used at the end of the year is forfeited, and not carried over to the following year. Learn more about Use It or Lose It policies here.
Employers are not required to pay out any unused vacation time upon separation of employment, unless promised in company policy or employment contracts.
Read More: PTO Payout Laws by State
Sick leave is not required by law in Nevada.
Besides any state laws or provisions written into employment contracts, employers in Nevada must comply with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which entitles eligible employees the right to take 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for serious health conditions, or to care for spouses, children or parents with a serious health condition.
The following official state holidays are observed in Nevada:
| Date | Holiday |
|---|---|
| January 1 | New Year’s Day |
| 3rd Monday in January | Martin Luther King, Jr. Day |
| 3rd Monday in February | Washington’s Birthday |
| Last Monday in May | Memorial Day |
| July 4 | Independence Day |
| 1st Monday in September | Labor Day |
| Last Friday in October | Nevada Day |
| November 11 | Veterans Day |
| 4th Thursday in November | Thanksgiving |
| Day after Thanksgiving | Family Day |
| December 25 | Christmas Day |
There is no requirement to allow employees a paid or unpaid day off for state holidays, and employees required to work on state holidays are not legally entitled to extra compensation (such as higher pay or a compensatory day off), unless promised in their employment contract.
Employers with 15 or more employees are required to provide reasonable accommodation or leave due to any conditions resulting from pregnancy or childbirth. This does not state any specific minimum amount of time that should be provided as maternity leave.
Other than this law, the federal FMLA applies to all eligible employees, entitling new mothers to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for the birth of a new child, as well as the placement of a new adoption or foster.
Paternity leave is not covered by law in Nevada, but fathers have the same right to unpaid, job-protected leave of up to 12 weeks for the birth of their child, or a new adoption or fostered child.
Employers are not required to provide bereavement leave, paid or unpaid, in Nevada.
Nevada law requires employers to provide time off to allow employees to serve on jury duty, however this is not required to be paid.
If it is impractical for employees to vote before or after work, they are entitled to paid voting leave of:
Employees who have been the victim of domestic violence, or who have a family member who is a victim of domestic violence, are entitled to up to 160 hours of unpaid leave in a one year period, to obtain counseling services, to participate in court proceedings, create a safety plan, or seek a medical diagnosis or treatment.
Employers with 50 or more employees must provide four hours of unpaid leave to allow employees to attend school events, such as parent-teacher conferences.
Federal Law (the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)) applies in Nevada, which states that military service members receive up to five years of unpaid leave for military service, and upon returning, must be reinstated to the same position (or an equivalent position) as they had before their leave.
Anything not covered in Nevada state leave laws is up to the discretion of the employer, such as whether or not to provide paid sick leave or PTO, or whether PTO rolls over from year to year.
However, if any benefits are laid out in an employee’s contract or company policy, employers must comply with what has been agreed in that document.
For example, if an employee’s contract states that they are to receive 12 days of PTO each year, the employer is legally required to provide this, even though paid time off is not required by state law.
https://labor.nv.gov/uploadedFiles/labornvgov/content/Employer/SB%20312%20Paid%20Leave%20English.pdf
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