Law Contains Posting, Recordkeeping, and Reasonable Accommodation Requirements

Nevada has passed a domestic violence leave law. Highlights of the law are presented below.

Leave Provisions
Under the law, an employee who has been employed by an employer for at least 90 days and who is a victim of an act of domestic violence (as defined under state law), or whose family or household member is a victim of an act of domestic violence (and the employee is not the alleged perpetrator), is entitled to a maximum of 160 hours of leave in one 12-month period. Hours of leave provided under the law:

• May be paid or unpaid by the employer;
• Must be used within the 12 months immediately following the date on which the act of domestic violence occurred;
• May be used consecutively or intermittently; and
• If used for a reason for which leave may also be taken under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), such hours of leave must be deducted from the amount of leave the employee is entitled to take under the state domestic violence leave law and from the amount of leave the employee is entitled to take under the FMLA.

An employee may use the hours of leave only (among other things): for the diagnosis, care, or treatment of a health condition related to an act of domestic violence committed against the employee or family or household member of the employee; or to obtain counseling or assistance related to an act of domestic violence committed against the employee or family or household member of the employee. Click here (section: 1(2)(a)) for additional instances of protected leave.

Posting and Recordkeeping
The state Labor Commissioner is expected to prepare a bulletin which sets forth the law's rights and benefits. The Labor Commissioner is also expected to post the bulletin on its Internet website and require all employers to post the bulletin in a conspicuous location in each workplace maintained by the employer. The bulletin may be included in any printed abstract posted by the employer under state law.

Additionally, an employer must maintain a record of the hours of leave taken under the law for each employee for a 2-year period following the entry of such information in the record and--upon request--must make those records available for inspection by the Labor Commissioner. The employer must exclude the names of the employees from the records, unless a request for a record is for the purpose of an investigation.

Reasonable Accommodations
An employer must make reasonable accommodations which will not create an undue hardship for an employee who is a victim of an act of domestic violence or whose family or household member is a victim of an act of domestic violence. An employer may require an employee to provide documentation that confirms or supports the reason the employee requires the reasonable accommodations. However, certain documentation may be confidential and must be retained by the employer in a manner consistent with the requirements of the federal FMLA.

Prohibited Actions
It is unlawful for any Nevada employer to discharge, discipline, discriminate against in any manner, or deny employment or promotion to (or threaten to take any such action against) an employee because he or she exercises rights granted under the law (section: 7(1)).

Additional details, including information on notice and employer prohibitions, are contained in the text of the law. The law contains various effective dates (see section: 11 of the law). Affected employers with questions about the law's impact on workplace policies and practices should contact a knowledgeable employment law attorney.

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