Nevada Minimum Wage Increases July 1, 2020

By Kamer Zucker Abbott

June 24, 2020

Pursuant to the changes enacted to Nevada’s minimum wage by the 2019 Legislature, the minimum wage will increase July 1, 2020 to $8.00 an hour for the lower tier (employees to whom qualifying health benefits have been offered/made available) and $9.00 an hour for the higher tier (employees to whom qualifying health benefits have not been offered/made available). Additionally, please remember that to qualify for the lower tier, employers must offer qualifying health benefits to the employee and his/her dependents.

The increase in minimum wage may also impact overtime payments under Nevada law. In Nevada, overtime is owed to any employee who is paid less than 1½ times the applicable minimum wage rate who works more than 8 hours in any workday or 40 hours in any workweek. Thus, employers will now owe overtime to an employee making less than $12.00 per hour (if the employee is offered qualified health benefits) or $13.50 per hour (if the employee is not offered qualified health benefits) if that employee works more than 8 hours in any workday or 40 hours in any work week. (These changes to Nevada law do not affect federal overtime which is not tied to minimum wage rates; as such, overtime is owed, under federal law, to any non-exempt employee who works more than 40 hours in any workweek.)

If you have questions about these changes or generally about overtime and minimum wage, please contact a KZA attorney.