Nevada Legal Holidays and Holiday Pay Laws

Nevada state law follows the federal schedule for legal holidays and recognizes Nevada Day as a state holiday. Nevada requires all government offices and schools to close for legal holidays.

Nevada’s official holiday pay laws apply only to nonexempt employees in positions affected by the legal requirement to close on recognized holidays. Nonexempt public employees may:

• Receive a day’s pay at their regular rate of pay for the holiday
• Receive premium pay (time and a half) if they must work that day
• Convert any time worked to compensatory time for later holiday leave (subject to state caps)

Exempt employees (salaried workers) are not impacted by holiday pay and do not receive paid holidays or comp time.

Private employees with collective bargaining agreements can negotiate paid leave on holidays or other days. Employers can choose to pay holidays, but no laws mandate private holiday pay or other paid time off.

Legal Holidays in Nevada

This holiday schedule is for state employees and is established by the Nevada Legislature. Nevada observes all national legal holidays, in addition to some state-based holidays:

• January 1 – New Year’s Day
• Third Monday in January – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
• Third Monday in February – Presidents’ Day
• Last Monday in May – Memorial Day
• June 19 – Juneteenth
• July 4 – Independence Day
• First Monday in September – Labor Day
• Last Friday in October – Nevada Day
• November 11 – Veterans’ Day
• Fourth Thursday in November – Thanksgiving Day
• Friday following the Fourth Thursday in November – Family Day
• December 25 – Christmas Day

All state, county, and city offices, courts, public schools, and the Nevada System of Higher Education must close on the legal holidays. If either January 1, June 19, July 4, November 11, or December 25 falls on a Sunday, the following Monday must be observed as a legal holiday. If the date is a Saturday, the preceding Friday serves as the legal holiday.

Unpaid Leave

All employees may take unpaid leave if necessary. Nevada follows the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which allows eligible workers to take up to 12 weeks of leave without pay to care for family members with a serious illness, address their own medical condition, or bond with a new infant or adopted child.

Nevada law requires all private employers with more than 50 employees to provide paid leave at a rate of .01923 hours per hour worked. This leave may accumulate to a total of 40 hours per year and roll over for one year. Employees may use this for sick leave or any other purpose.

Get Legal Advice From a Nevada Employment Law Attorney

The state recently updated its minimum wage and overtime laws. If you believe you haven’t received the correct rate of pay or have other issues with wage and hour laws, consider speaking with a Nevada employment law attorney about the best way to proceed with your case.