On July 1, 2024, the minimum wage for all employees in Nevada will change to a uniform $12 an hour, with significant implications for workers’ eligibility for overtime pay.

This major change, authorized by voters in the November 2022 election, puts an end to the existing two-tiered system in which the minimum wage for employees who are offered qualified health care benefits is $1 per hour less than employees who are not offered such benefits.

It also ends the annual incremental minimum wage increases that took effect starting in 2019.

In addition, the switch to a uniform minimum wage of $12 an hour will significantly affect employees’ eligibility for overtime pay. As a result, employers may want to consider increasing hourly rates of pay.

In Nevada, unless exempted from eligibility for overtime pursuant to NRS 608.018(3), employees earning less than 1 1/2 times the new minimum wage are entitled to overtime pay for all hours worked over eight in a workday and 40 in a workweek. Meanwhile, employees who earn more than 1 1/2 times the new minimum wage earn overtime pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.

A “workday” in Nevada is defined as a “a period of 24 consecutive hours which begins when the employee begins work.” This means that nonexempt employees earning less than $18.00 per hour will be entitled to overtime pay of 1 1/2 their rate of pay for hours worked in excess of eight hours in a 24-hour period. Nonexempt employees paid more than $18.00 will be entitled to overtime pay for hours worked in excess of 40 hours in one workweek. Increasing hourly rates of pay to $18.00 or more may help employers avoid daily overtime pay.

We will continue to monitor developments and report any significant changes.

Summer Associate Kelsey Henderson contributed to this alert

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