AbsentEase
Nevada sick leave law & call-off rules
Nevada took the Illinois road before Illinois did: SB 312 leave is paid leave for any reason — an employer with 50 or more Nevada employees may not ask why, may not demand a note, and may not make the employee find coverage. Below 50 employees the mandate disappears entirely, but a second law most employers miss applies at every size: up to 160 hours of domestic-violence and sexual-assault leave. Add immediate final pay on discharge, and Nevada has sharp edges on both ends of employment. Here is what applies in 2026.
Nevada at a glance
| Paid leave mandate | Yes at 50+ employees — any reason, ~40 hours/year (NRS 608.0197) |
|---|---|
| Asking why / notes | Prohibited for SB 312 leave — balance-based tracking only |
| DV / sexual assault leave | Every employer size: up to 160 hours per year at 90+ days tenure |
| Attendance points on protected leave | Barred — denial or retaliation for covered use is unlawful |
| Meal & rest breaks | 30-minute meal per 8 hours + paid 10-minute rest per 4 hours |
| Final paycheck deadline | Fired: immediately (penalties after 3 days) · Quit: next payday or 7 days, whichever is earlier |
| PTO payout at termination | Policy controls — no statutory payout; SB 312 hours reinstate on rehire within 90 days |
Is paid sick leave required in Nevada?
Yes, as any-reason leave at 50+ employees. Under NRS 608.0197 (SB 312), covered employees accrue 0.01923 hours per hour worked — roughly 40 hours a year full-time — usable from day 90 without providing a reason. Employers in their first two years of operation are exempt, as are temporary, seasonal, and on-call workers, and employers already providing equivalent leave by policy or CBA. Separately, NRS 608.0198 gives employees at every employer size up to 160 hours per year of leave (paid or unpaid, employer's choice) for domestic violence or sexual assault involving the employee or a family member.
How Nevada's sick leave law works
| Accrual rate | 0.01923 hours per hour worked (≈40 hours/year full-time); front-loading permitted; usable from day 90 |
|---|---|
| Who's covered | Private employers with 50+ Nevada employees — first-2-years businesses, temp/seasonal/on-call workers, and equivalent-benefit employers exempt |
| Asking why | Prohibited — the statute says leave may be used "without providing a reason," which forecloses reason requirements and doctor's notes for SB 312 hours |
| Caps & carryover | Use cappable at 40 hours per benefit year; carryover limitable to 40 hours |
| DV/SA leave (all sizes) | Up to 160 hours per 12 months at 90+ days tenure — medical care, counseling, court, safety planning; documentation (police report, protective order, affidavit) MAY be required for this leave |
| Enforcement | Nevada Labor Commissioner — up to $5,000 per violation |
The anti-retaliation rule: NRS 608.0197(5)–(6) bars denying accrued leave, requiring the employee to find a replacement, or retaliating for use — assessing attendance points for SB 312-covered absences is treated as unlawful denial. Like Illinois, the compliant model tracks balances, not reasons.
The federal floor that still applies
FMLA
Employers with 50+ employees within 75 miles must give eligible employees (12+ months tenure, 1,250+ hours in the past year) up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for a serious health condition — their own or a close family member's. FMLA-protected absences can't accrue attendance points, and a call-off that mentions an ongoing condition can be notice enough to trigger your FMLA obligations, even if the employee never says "FMLA."
ADA
For employers with 15+ employees, the ADA can require modified attendance expectations or unpaid leave as a reasonable accommodation for a disability. An attendance policy applied "no exceptions" is exactly the kind that loses ADA cases — build an accommodation carve-out into the policy itself.
Call-offs, no-call no-shows, and firing in Nevada
Nevada is at-will, and below 50 employees the state adds little beyond the DV/SA leave and the federal floor — attendance policy runs on your handbook. At 50 employees, SB 312 flips the model: the classic call-off screening question is prohibited for covered hours, so the attendance ledger has to run on balances, exactly like Illinois. An absence backed by accrued SB 312 leave is untouchable regardless of reason; an absence beyond the balance is where points can live. The Labor Commissioner enforces at up to $5,000 per violation, and the immediate-final-pay rule means the end of employment is as procedurally sharp as the middle. A call-off hotline or text-based call-off system that captures notice time (the one thing you may require) and pairs it with live balances is the compliant architecture.
PTO payout and final paychecks
| Scenario | Rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Employee is fired or laid off | Wages due immediately upon discharge; if unpaid within 3 days, daily wages continue as a penalty up to 30 days | NRS 608.020, 608.040 |
| Employee quits | The earlier of the next regular payday or 7 days after resignation — same penalty applies | NRS 608.030, 608.040 |
| Unused vacation / PTO / SB 312 leave | No statutory payout — the written policy controls; SB 312 balances reinstate if rehired within 90 days after a non-voluntary separation | NRS 608.0197 |
| Late payment | Waiting-time penalty of continued daily wages, up to 30 days | NRS 608.040 |
Nevada's immediate-on-discharge rule plus the 30-day penalty clock puts it in the Massachusetts/Colorado tier for termination logistics — final pay travels with the termination decision. See how PTO accrual works.
Leave Nevada employers must (and must not) provide
| Leave type | Required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Any-reason paid leave | Yes at 50+ employees | Per the mechanics above |
| DV / sexual assault leave | Yes — every size | 160 hours/year, paid or unpaid at the employer's option; documentation may be required |
| Meal & rest breaks | Yes | Unpaid 30-minute meal per continuous 8 hours; paid 10-minute rest per 4 hours (none under 3.5-hour days); single-employee worksites and CBAs exempt |
| Voting | Yes — paid, tiered | 1–3 hours by distance from the polls (≤2 mi: 1h · 2–10 mi: 2h · >10 mi: 3h), if voting outside work hours is impracticable; prior-day request |
| Jury duty | Yes — unpaid, strongly protected | Firing or threats are a gross misdemeanor; no forced PTO use; no shifts within 8 hours of an appearance, or 5pm–3am after 4+ hours of service |
The Nevada employer's attendance playbook
- Put it in writing. A written policy — call-off deadline and channel, points or steps, the no-call no-show rule, and carve-outs for legally protected absences — is what makes discipline defensible. Our attendance policy guide walks through it.
- Give call-offs one channel. "Tell whoever answers" is how records get lost. One number every employee texts or calls makes the record automatic.
- Log everything with timestamps. Unemployment hearings and discrimination charges are won on contemporaneous records, not recollections.
- Enforce consistently. Uneven enforcement converts a lawful termination into a discrimination claim.
- Screen call-offs for protected reasons before applying points — sickness that could be state-protected sick time or FMLA/ADA territory gets a different track than an overslept alarm.
Comparing states? See all published guides on the state sick leave laws hub.