Your Right to Time Off Work in Nevada

Your employer must give you leave for certain purposes in Nevada.

By , J.D. · UC Berkeley School of Law

Many employers provide time off for vacation, sick leave, personal days, or paid time off (PTO). In addition to these policies, which are voluntary for employers in Nevada, you may have a legal right to take leave from work for health, family, and caretaking responsibilities. For example, if you are temporarily unable to work due to pregnancy or you need time off to care for a family member with a serious health condition, you may have a right to leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Nevada law provides additional leave rights, including the right to time off for school conferences, military service, voting, and more.

Below, we explain your right to take leave from work in Nevada. For more information, see our page on employee leave rights.

Family and Medical Leave Laws in Nevada

Under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), employers must allow eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year to care for a seriously ill family member (parent, child, or spouse), to recuperate from their own serious health conditions, to bond with a new child, or to handle certain urgent matters relating to a family member's military service. The FMLA also requires employers to give employees up to 26 weeks off to care for a family member who suffers or exacerbates a serious illness or injury while serving in the military. (For purposes of this part of the law only, employees may take leave to care for a broader range of family members, including siblings, grandparents, and cousins, if they are next of kin to an injured service member.)

The FMLA applies only to employers with at least 50 employees. To take FMLA leave, employees must have worked for the employer for 12 months and have worked 1,250 hours in the 12 months before taking time off. (Find out more at our Taking Family and Medical Leave page.)

Nevada's family and medical leave law requires employers with at least 50 employees to let their employees take up to four hours off per school year for the following reasons:

  • to attend events sponsored by their child's school
  • to attend teacher-parent conferences
  • to attend a child's school activities during the school day, and
  • to volunteer at their child's school.

In addition to these leave rights, employees may not be fired or threatened with discharge for receiving a call or other notification at work of an emergency involving their children or for attending a conference requested by the school administrator. In addition, under Nevada law, employers with 15 or more employees must provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant employees, which might include time off work.

Nevada Laws on Military Leave

The Unformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), another federal law, gives eligible employees the right to be reinstated to their jobs after taking up to five years off for service in the U.S. military. These employees may be fired only for good cause for a period of up to one year after they return from service. Employers may not discriminate against employees based on their military service. (Find out all about USERRA in Taking Military Leave.)

The laws of many states extend similar rights to employees who serve in the state's military (such as the militia) or are called to state active duty. In Nevada, employers may not discriminate against employees because they are members of the state national guard. Employers also may not fire an employee because the employee assembles for training; attends required maneuvers, ceremonies, or other training; attends field training; or is called to active duty.

Nevada Laws on Time Off for Jury Duty

Nevada law also gives employees the right to take time off work, without fear of retaliation, for the civic responsibilities of serving on a jury and voting. Employers must allow employees to take time off for jury duty and jury service. Employers may not threaten or recommend termination because the employee has received a jury summons or notice, and they may not dissuade or attempt to dissuade the employee from serving on a jury. Employees may not be required to use paid leave for jury service.

An employer may not require an employee to work within eight hours of the start of the employee's jury duty. If the employee's service lasts for four hours or more (including travel time to and from court), the employer may not require the employee to work from 5 p.m. that same day until 3 a.m. the following morning.

Jury duty leave is unpaid. However, under federal law, employers typically cannot deduct an exempt, salaried employee's pay for time spent serving on a jury, unless the employee did no work for the entire week. (For more information, see our article on pay docking.)

Nevada Laws on Voting Leave

Nevada also requires employers to give employees paid time off to cast their ballots in an election, unless they have sufficient time outside of working hours to vote. If the employee works two miles or less from the polling place, the employer must give the employee one hour of paid leave to vote. If the employee works between two and ten miles from the polling place, the employer must provide two hours of paid leave.

And, if the employee works more than ten miles from the polling place, the employer must provide three hours of paid leave. The employer may decide when this time off is taken during the work day.

Nevada Domestic Violence Leave Law

All employers in Nevada must comply with the state's domestic violence leave law. The law requires all employers to provide up to 160 hours of unpaid leave to an employee within 12 months of an act of domestic violence perpetrated against the employee or the employee's family member.

Employees are eligible once they have worked for an employer for 90 days. The leave may be taken to seek medical diagnosis or treatment, to obtain counseling services, to participate in court proceedings, or to establish a safety plan. A "family member" includes a spouse, domestic partner, child, parent, or other adult living with the employee at the time of the domestic violence.

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