Three New Nevada Employment Laws Go Into Effect January 1

The Nevada Legislature passed several laws this year that become effective January 1, 2024, including the following three key bills: 

Expansion of Domestic Violence Protections to Include Victims of Sexual Assault: Assembly Bill 163 expands Nevada’s domestic violence employment laws to include victims of sexual assault; as a result, the rights granted to an employee who is a victim of domestic violence are also available to victims of sexual assault as of January 1, 2024.

Specifically, the bill requires a Nevada employer to provide leave to employees who are victims of sexual assault or whose family or household member is a victim of sexual assault (NRS 608.0198). It requires an employer to provide accommodations for an employee who is a victim of sexual assault (NRS 613.222), and protects such employees from retaliation (NRS 613.223). Finally, the bill prohibits the State from denying unemployment benefits to an employee who left employment to protect himself or herself or his or her family or household member from sexual assault, provided the employee actively engaged in an effort to preserve employment.

Amendments to Apprentice Utilization Act: Senate Bill 82 significantly amends the Apprentice Utilization Act, NRS 338.01165, which applies to contractors or subcontractors engaged on public works. It replaces the per job thresholds for apprentice utilization and the waiver application process with utilization thresholds based upon all public works in a calendar year. Contractors are now required to annually report to the Labor Commissioner their good faith efforts to meet the Act’s annual threshold requirements; the first report is not due until February 15, 2025 and must include information for the period which begins on January 1, 2024 and ends on December 31, 2024. SB 82 also allows journeymen to be recognized as apprentices for up to 36 months after graduation in certain circumstances.

The Labor Commissioner will soon publish guidance materials for employers on these changes. She is also offering presentations to employers on the new requirements. If you are interested in such a presentation, please reach out to Kathleen Knight at KZA, [email protected].

State Employees and FMLA: Assembly Bill 376 provides 8 weeks of paid family and medical leave for an employee of the Executive Department of the State Government. To be eligible for leave an employee must be employed for at least 12 consecutive months and have 40 or less hours of accrued sick leave available to them. Employees must be paid half of their regular wages while using leave, and they may, but are not required to, use their accrued sick leave for the same purposes: to bond with a newborn child of the employee or of his/her domestic partner; bond with a newly adopted child of the employee; recover from or undergo treatment for a “serious illness”; care for a “seriously ill” member of the immediate family of the employee; or participate in a qualifying event resulting from the military deployment to a foreign country of an immediate family member of the employee. The bill also includes an anti-retaliation provision.

You can find a full list of labor and employment bills passed by the Nevada Legislature this year in Issues 27 and 30 of the KZA Employer Report. If you have questions about any of these new laws, please contact a KZA attorney.

KZA Employer Report articles are for general information only; they are not intended and should not be construed to be legal advice. Reading or replying to such articles does not establish an attorney-client relationship. In addition, because the subject matters and applicable laws discussed in Employer Report articles are often in a state of change and not always applicable to every type of business entity or organization, readers should consult with counsel before making decisions based on the same.