Paid leave accrual requirement — 50-employee threshold
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
Domestic violence and sexual assault victim leave — 90-day threshold
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
Pregnancy accommodation — 15-employee threshold and interactive process requirement
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)