PAID FAMILY LEAVE (PFL)

An employee must:

1. Be employed by the State for not less than 12 consecutive months;
2. Have accrued not less than 40 hours of sick leave;
3. Have used any accrued sick leave in excess of 40 hours before taking paid family leave; and
4. Have established a qualifying need for leave.

• “Domestic partner” means a person who is in a domestic partnership which is registered or recognized pursuant to chapter 122A of NRS and which has not been terminated pursuant to that chapter.
• “Immediate family” means a parent, sibling, child by blood, adoption or marriage, spouse, grandparent or grandchild.
• “Qualifying event” means any military event or essential need resulting from the military deployment of an immediate family member. The term includes, without limitation, arranging for childcare or parental care during deployment, representing the military family member at a federal, state or local event during deployment and addressing issues due to the death of the military family member.
• “Serious illness” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 232.4854. 

• How is “serious illness” defined? It has the meaning outlined in NRS 232.4854.
• May PFL be taken intermittently? Yes, over a 12-month period. (The 12-month period will be rolling and measured forward from the employee’s hire date.)
• May an employee utilize PFL again once the initial 12-month period has expired? Yes.
• May an employee who utilizes less than the full 8 weeks of PFL in a 12-month period for a qualifying leave event utilize the remaining balance of the 8 weeks of PFL for a different qualifying leave event within the 12-month period? If the employee meets the eligibility criteria for the new leave event, the employee may use the remaining balance of PFL.
• May PFL be used to supplement workers’ compensation temporary total disability? No.
• Must an employee have 40 hours of sick leave available in their bank to utilize PFL? No. An employee must have accrued 40 hours of sick leave but may have utilized some or all of the accrued sick leave prior to utilizing PFL.  An employee must have no more than 40 hours of sick leave available to qualify for PFL.
• Does an employee need to reduce or exhaust their accrued annual leave to be eligible for PFL? No.
• Will an employee approved for and utilizing PFL accrue sick and annual leave while on PFL? No.
• May PFL be utilized in lieu of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provisions? If an employee qualifies for both FMLA and PFL, the provisions of both provisions will run concurrently.
• After an employee’s 8 weeks of PFL have been exhausted, may an eligible employee apply for FMLA and utilize the 12 weeks of FMLA leave? FMLA and PFL can run concurrently if an employee meets the criteria for both provisions. Please note that the regulatory authority for the FMLA, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), has opined that “an employer is prohibited from delaying the designation of FMLA-qualifying leave as FMLA leave. Once an eligible employee communicates a need to take leave for an FMLA-qualifying reason, neither the employee nor the employer may decline FMLA protection for that leave.” (U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Administrator Opinion FMLA2019-1-A and Administrator Opinion 2019-3-A, March 14, 2019)  However, if an employee does not become eligible for FMLA until after their 8 weeks of PFL are exhausted, they may be entitled to 12 work weeks of FMLA protected leave following the 8 weeks of PFL.
• Does an employee have to complete both PFL and FMLA forms if they meet the criteria for both provisions? An employee may be required to complete both PFL and FMLA forms. While the eligibility requirements and qualifying leave events are similar, they are not identical. The federal FMLA regulations have detailed requirements for what information must be provided as well as limitations on what can be requested. For that reason, the State uses the DOL’s FMLA sample forms when possible and base the other FMLA forms on the DOL’s sample documents. The PFL forms have been developed based on the eligibility and leave event criteria outlined in 2023 Nevada Legislative Session, Assembly Bill 376.
• May an employee using PFL (e.g., intermittently to care for a seriously ill parent), after initially meeting the eligibility criteria, utilize their remaining 40 hours of sick leave (includes special sick) for other applicable leave events? Yes.
• When only a fraction or part of a week is approved and used for PFL, how will that be calculated? Similar to Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA) calculations, how many hours will be available to an employee will be based on the number of hours in an employee’s regular work week. An employee whose regular schedule is 40 hours per week would have up to 320 hours (8 weeks). An employee whose regular schedule is 32 hours per week would have up to 256 hours (8 weeks).
• May an appointing authority deny PFL based on business need? No. “An appointing authority or his or her designee shall not deny an eligible employee the right to take paid family leave in accordance with the provisions of this section or retaliate or take any adverse action against an employee for taking paid family leave…” (2023 Nevada Legislative Session, Assembly Bill 376)

Paid Family Leave - Request (HR-16)

Paid Family Leave - Immediate Family Medical Certificate (HR-17)

Paid Family Leave - Employee Medical Certificate (HR-18)

• 2023 Nevada Legislative Assembly Bill 376
• Your agency's human resources
• Division of Human Resource Management, Consultation & Accountability staff