Nevada Mandates Leave and Accommodations for Victims of Domestic Abuse

Author: Jody Rodney/Wednesday, July 5, 2017/Categories: Compliance Corner

Overview. Nevada employers are now required to provide leave to employees who are victims of domestic violence, or whose family or household members are victims of domestic violence. The law also imposes certain record keeping requirements on Nevada employers, and requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to these employees and prohibits discriminatory acts against these employees. See SB 361 for more information.

Effective Date. Beginning January 1, 2018, employees can exercise their rights under the law.

Details.

Leave Protections. SB 361 defines domestic violence as any of the certain “prohibited acts” that are committed against specified persons. The “prohibited acts” include assault, battery, sexual assault, compelling by force or threat of force, false imprisonment, and unlawful or forcible entry of a residence if there is a reasonably foreseeable risk of harm. The list of prohibited acts also includes purposeful or reckless conduct intended to harass such as stalking, arson, trespass, larceny, destruction of property, injuring or killing an animal, or carrying a concealed weapon without a permit. The foregoing acts constitute domestic violence if committed by a person upon the person’s: spouse, former spouse and any other person related by blood or marriage. It also includes persons with whom the person is residing or has resided, has or has had a dating relationship, or with whom the person has a child in common. It also includes the minor child of any of those persons, the person’s minor child or any other person who has been appointed the custodian or legal guardian for the person’s minor child.

The term “family or household member” is defined to mean spouse, domestic partner; minor child; or parent or other adult person who is related within the first degree of consanguinity or affinity to the employee, or other adult person who is or was actually residing with the employee at the time of the act which constitutes domestic violence.

Eligible Employees. An employee who has been employed for at least 90 days and is a victim of domestic violence or whose family or household member is a victim of domestic violence is entitled to domestic violence leave. However, an employee is not entitled to leave where a family or household member is the victim and the employee is the alleged perpetrator.

Amount of Leave. An eligible employee may take up to 160 hours of leave within 12 months immediately following the date on which domestic violence occurred. Leave may be paid or unpaid and may be used consecutively or intermittently. Leave must be deducted from leave permitted by the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) where the domestic violence leave is used for a reason for which leave may also be taken under the FMLA.

Reasons for Leave. An eligible employee may take leave for the following reasons related to an act of domestic violence against the employee or the employee’s family or household member:

• for the diagnosis, care or treatment of a health condition;
• to obtain counseling or assistance;
• to participate in a court proceedings; or
• to establish a safety plan, including any action to increase the safety of the employee or the employee’s family or household member.

Proof of Need for Leave. Employers may require an employee seeking domestic violence leave to provide documentation such as police reports, copies of applications for protection orders, affidavits from victims’ organizations, or documentation from a physician to support the employee’s use of leave. The documentation must be kept confidential and be maintained consistent with the requirements of the FMLA. While the new law does not appear to require an employee to provide advance notice prior to taking initial leave following an occurrence of violence, after the initial leave employees must provide 48 hours’ notice to their employers if they wish to take additional hours of leave.

Recordkeeping Obligations. Employers are required to maintain a record of the hours of leave taken pursuant to this law for each employee for a two year period following the entry of such information in the record. Upon request, employers must make these records available for inspection by the Nevada Labor Commissioner. Employers must exclude the names of the employees from the records requested, unless a request for a record is for the purpose of an investigation. These records should be kept confidential.

Accommodation Obligations. In addition to leave rights, employers must also provide reasonable accommodations for employees who are victims of domestic violence or whose family or a household member is a victim of domestic violence. The employer may require documentation that supports an employee’s request for accommodation.

Potential accommodations include:

• transfers or reassignments;
• modified schedules;
• new work telephone numbers; or
• other reasonable accommodations that do not create undue hardships and that are necessary to ensure the safety of the employee and the workplace.

As always, reach out to your Relationship Manager or Service Team with any questions regarding this Alert.

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Nevada Mandates Leave and Accommodations for Victims of Domestic Abuse