Sick Leave Bill Introduced In Nevada Senate

A bill that would require private employers to offer sick leave was introduced in the Nevada State Senate Thursday.

Minimum wage, overtime, benefits and rest breaks are written into state law, but there is no requirement for sick leave. Now a bill in the Nevada Senate would require businesses to offer one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked after 90 days.

Nevada Democratic Senator Aaron Ford is sponsoring the bill.

“When you take a look at lower income and lower middle-income individuals, they are more concerned about losing their job than they are about the health of themselves or their children often times and we think that is an unfair or untenuous position to be in,” Ford says.

Republican Senator James Settelmeyer is skeptical that sick leave can be uniformly applied.

“There is no uniformity in all jobs in the state of Nevada currently and it is hard to put agriculture in the same category as lawyers. So it will be interesting to have that discussion,” Settlemeyer says.

The bill moves to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Labor and Energy. A similar bill is in an Assembly committee. It would require a month of full-time work before sick leave is accrued.