Workers in Nevada (including Las Vegas) are generally entitled to a minimum wage rate of $12.00 per hour.
Employees who are wrongly being denied proper pay may try to settle the matter privately with the employer. If that does not work, employees should consider either:
- filing a wage and hour claim with the Nevada Office of the Labor Commissioner (labor.nv.gov), and/or
- bringing a civil lawsuit for the difference between what the employer paid and what the employer owes
In this article, our Las Vegas Nevada employment law attorneys discuss:
See our related article on overtime pay.
Workers being paid less than what is required may be able to bring a wage-and-hour lawsuit against the employer.
1. Minimum wage laws in Nevada
Currently, Nevada’s minimum hourly rate in a workday is $12.00 per hour.1
These rates are subject to review once a year and is based on the cost of living. The Nevada Legislature in Carson City relies on the Consumer Price Index by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics when determining whether to increases the rates.2
Nevada’s minimum wage may never be lower than the federal one (currently $7.25). Any increase is always announced by April 1st of a given year and is effective July 1st of that same year.
Nevada’s rate had been scheduled to increase until it reached $12.00 by 2024. 3
(Note that the minimum overtime rate is $18.00. Some workers are exempt from overtime pay.)
1.1. Health benefits
Prior to July 1, 2024, Nevada employers could pay a lower hourly rate as long as they offered the employee qualifying health insurance benefits. But if employees were required to work for a set period of time before they could participate in the plan, then employers had to pay the higher wage rate until they became eligible.4
Qualifying health insurance policies that allowed employers to pay the lower wage rate had to meet several standards, such as:
- The plan covered every category of medical care costs employees could have lawfully deducted from their federal income tax return;
- The plan provided medical care benefits pursuant to various federal guidelines, including:
- it was created pursuant to a Taft-Hartley trust and 29 USC 186(c)(5); and
- it fit the specifications of an “employee welfare benefit plan” pursuant to the IRS and ERISA
- Premiums cost a maximum of 10% of the employees’ gross taxable income;
- Employees (and any dependents) could join the plan no later than after six months of employment5
Note that employers could have paid the lower wage rate even if the employee declined health care coverage.6
1.2. Tips
In general, Nevada employers are obligated to pay minimum wage to employees regardless of whether they receive tips. Therefore, employees with the following types of jobs are entitled to minimum wage separate and apart from any tips they receive:
- restaurant food servers
- valet drivers
- hotel bellhops
- delivery drivers7
1.3. Uniforms & meals
Employers who require employees to wear uniforms must provide the clothing — and money to clean it — at no cost to the employees.
Employers who provide meals can count those meals against an employee’s wage if the employee agrees to it. The employer can charge no more than the following prices:8
|
Meal |
Price employer may deduct from wages in Nevada |
| breakfast |
35¢ |
| lunch |
45¢ |
| dinner |
70¢ |
2. Workers not entitled to minimum wage in Nevada
Employers are required to pay each employee a minimum wage.9
Learn about the misclassification of employees as independent contractors in Nevada and the misclassification of non-exempt employees as exempt in Nevada.
3. Legal actions for proper pay in Nevada
Workers who are wrongly denied applicable minimum wage pay by their employers are advised to take the following three steps if necessary.
- Negotiation with the employer,
- File a claim with the Nevada Labor Commissioner,
- File a civil lawsuit in court
3.1. Negotiations
Sometimes employers cut checks with insufficient amounts without realizing it, especially if they are ignorant about current wage laws. Employees may be able to resolve the matter just by speaking to the employer about it.
If an employee does approach an employer, the employee should be armed with information, including:
- copies of current minimum compensation laws
- the hours the employee worked
- the difference between the wages the employee is entitled to and what the employer paid
If the employer will not comply, employees can consider consulting with a labor law attorney. Perhaps the attorney can speak with the employer on the employee’s behalf or compose a compelling letter.
3.2. Filing a claim
If the employee’s “good faith” effort to resolve the wage matter fails, the employee can consider filing a claim with the Nevada Office of the Labor Commissioner. Filing a claim is typically done online through the claim for wages form, where the employee can also attach supporting materials such as pay stubs.
Once the employee files a claim, the Labor Commissioner may investigate the matter, hold a hearing, and issue a binding resolution. Employees are always encouraged to consult with an employment law attorney before filing a claim. Attorneys are skilled in composing claims in a way that maximizes the chances of success.
3.3. Filing a lawsuit
Filing a lawsuit is an alternative to filing a claim with the Labor Commissioner. A Nevada employment law attorney can help the employee determine which option is better for his/her circumstances.
Pursuing a lawsuit is usually more time-consuming and more expensive than filing a claim. But if successful, employees may be able to recover not only their wages but also attorney’s fees.
Note that employees have only two (2) years after the non-payment of wages to file a lawsuit.
Also note employees who have accepted subminimum wage paychecks are not prevented from later bringing a lawsuit to recover their full minimum wage pay; in other words, depositing a subminimum wage paycheck is not a waiver of one’s right to minimum pay. 10
Work in California? See our article on California min. wage laws.
Legal References
- Changes coming to Nevada’s minimum wage, overtime effective July 1, 2024, State of Nevada Department of Business and Industry.
- NV Constitution, Art. 15, Sec. 16; NAC 608.100; NRS 608.250.
- NRS 608.250; NV Labor Commission – Minimum Wage Statutes and Regulations; Nevada Assembly Bill 456 (2019).
- NRS 608.250.
- NAC 608.100; NAC 608.102; NAC 608.104.
- NAC 608.106.
- NRS 608.160.
- Rules To Be Observed By Employers, Nevada Department of Labor.
- NRS 608.250; see Nevada Labor Commissioner training manual on wages.
- NRS 608.260; Neville, Jr. v. Eighth Judicial District Court, (2017) 133 Nev. Adv. Op. 95 (Workers may file a lawsuit for unpaid wages under Nevada’s wage and hour laws.). Martel v. HG Staffing, LLC (2022) 138 Nev. Adv. Op. 56 (“First, a two-year limitations period applies to appellants’ wage claims. Second, a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is valid so long as the employer and the union objectively manifest their assent to the agreement. Third, claims under NRS 608.040, which penalizes employers for failing to timely pay earned wages to former employees, cannot be utilized to recover wages that are time-barred under other statutes. And fourth, an employer that is a party to a CBA is exempt from Nevada’s overtime statute, NRS 608.018, when the CBA provides overtime in a manner different from the statute.”)