Effective January 1, 2020, all private employers with 50 or more employees in Nevada will have to provide employees with up to 40 hours of paid leave per benefit year. Employers will have to provide 0.01923 hours of paid leave for each hour of work performed. According to the language of the statute, the law does not apply to a Nevada employer who “pursuant to a contract, policy, collective bargaining agreement or other agreement, provides employees with a policy for paid leave or a policy for paid time off to all scheduled employees at a rate of at least 0.01923 hours of paid leave per hour of work performed.”
Some key features of the new law are listed below:
- The law does not apply to a business during its first two years of operation.
- Leave may be provided in a lump sum at the beginning of the benefit year or on an accrual basis over the course of a benefit year.
- Employers can require that paid leave be used in increments up to a maximum of four hours.
- Employers may limit carryover from the previous benefit year to 40 hours.
- The law does not prevent employers from having more generous leave policies.
- Employers are not required, to pay out unused paid leave upon termination of employment. However, if an employee who was involuntarily terminated is rehired by the employer within 90 days of the separation, the employer must reinstate previously unused paid leave hours.
- Each employee is entitled on each payday to an accounting of the hours of paid leave available for their use, and the law imposes record keeping requirements relating to the accrual and use of paid leave.
The Nevada Labor Commissioner has put out an Advisory Opinion on this subject which may provide additional insights.