Nevada Workplace Harassment Laws: 15-Employee Rule, 300-Day Deadline

Nevada reaches workplace harassment through its general employment discrimination statute: NRS 613.330(1) makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer to discriminate against any person "with respect to the person's compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment" because of a protected trait. That rule applies only to an employer with 15 or more employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year (NRS 613.310(2)), and a complaint to the Nevada Equal Rights Commission (NERC) is due within 300 days (NRS 233.160(1)(b)).

Chapter 613 of the Nevada Revised Statutes does not use the word harassment and contains no separate definition of sexual harassment. For how other states compare, see workplace harassment laws by state.

Information last verified on 2026-10-20. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers Nevada state law on workplace harassment by employers, supervisors and coworkers under NRS 613.310 to 613.4383 (chiefly NRS 613.310, 613.330, 613.340, 613.350 and 613.412), the NERC complaint rules in NRS 233.160, NRS 10.195 on settlement agreements, the workplace protective order in NRS 33.240 to 33.250, and the state-personnel policy rule in NRS 284.4082. It does not cover wrongful firing or the full complaint and lawsuit procedure (see Nevada wrongful termination), damages estimates, criminal harassment or stalking, harassment outside employment, or federal-employee procedure.

Nevada harassment rules at a glance

What Nevada law prohibits

NRS 613.330(1) provides, "[e]xcept as otherwise provided in NRS 613.350," that it is an unlawful employment practice for an employer:

"(a) To fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any person, or otherwise to discriminate against any person with respect to the person's compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment, because of his or her race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability or national origin; (b) To limit, segregate or classify an employee in a way which would deprive or tend to deprive the employee of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his or her status as an employee, because of his or her race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability or national origin"

Chapter 613 does not use the word harassment anywhere and does not define sexual harassment. A harassment claim under Nevada law rests on the "terms, conditions or privileges of employment" language above. For state personnel, NRS 284.4082 requires the Administrator of the state Division of Human Resource Management to adopt a policy that includes a definition of illegal sex- or gender-based harassment; that rule does not apply to private employers.

Which Nevada employers are covered

Under NRS 613.310(2), "'Employer' means any person who has 15 or more employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year," but the term does not include:

• the United States or any corporation wholly owned by the United States;
• any Indian tribe; or
• any private membership club exempt from taxation under 26 U.S.C. § 501(c).

"Person" includes "the State of Nevada and any of its political subdivisions" (NRS 613.310(5)), so state and local government employers with 15 or more employees are covered. There is no separate, lower threshold for harassment. An employer below the 15-employee line falls outside chapter 613, and the federal Title VII definition of employer uses the same "fifteen or more employees for each working day in each of twenty or more calendar weeks" test (42 U.S.C. § 2000e(b)).

NRS 613.320 adds exemptions: chapter 613's employment provisions do not apply to an employer with respect to employment outside Nevada, or to a religious corporation, association or society with respect to employing individuals of a particular religion to perform work connected with its religious activities, and its provisions on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression do not apply to an organization exempt from taxation under 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(3).

Protected traits under Nevada law

NRS 613.330(1) lists:

• race and color
• religion
• sex
• sexual orientation
• gender identity or expression
• age
• disability
• national origin

Three provisions shape that list:

• Hair: "'Race' includes traits associated with race, including, without limitation, hair texture and protective hairstyles," and a "'[p]rotective hairstyle' includes, without limitation, hairstyles such as natural hairstyles, afros, bantu knots, curls, braids, locks and twists" (NRS 613.310(6)-(7)).
• Age: NRS 613.350(3) provides that it is not an unlawful employment practice for an employer to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge a person (or for related referral and training decisions) "on the basis of his or her age if the person is less than 40 years of age."
• Separate sections: chapter 613 also has a separate section on genetic information (NRS 613.345) and the Nevada Pregnant Workers' Fairness Act provisions (NRS 613.4353 to 613.4383). NRS 613.222 requires an employer to make reasonable accommodations that do not create an undue hardship for an employee who is a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault, and NRS 613.223 makes it unlawful for any employer in Nevada to discharge, discipline or discriminate against an employee because an act of domestic violence or sexual assault was committed against the employee in the workplace.

Marital status is not among the traits listed in NRS 613.330. The sexual orientation and gender identity or expression protections do not apply to 501(c)(3) organizations (NRS 613.320(2)).

The legal standard

No Nevada statute states a hostile-environment standard for private employment. NERC, the state agency that enforces chapter 613, describes the test this way in its training presentation, "Preventing Discrimination and Harassment":

"Harassment becomes unlawful where 1) enduring the offensive conduct becomes a condition of continued employment, or 2) the conduct is severe or pervasive enough to create a work environment that a reasonable person would consider intimidating, hostile, or abusive."

That wording comes from agency guidance, not from the statute or a Nevada appellate decision.

Employer responsibility and the individual harasser

NRS 613.330 is written as a rule for "an employer," and the retaliation section, NRS 613.340, applies to an employer, an employment agency and a labor organization. Chapter 613 contains no clause that makes an individual who aids, abets or incites discrimination liable, and it sets no separate employer-liability rule for harassment by a supervisor, a coworker or a non-employee. How Nevada courts treat those questions is a matter of case law that this page does not summarize.

Retaliation for complaining

NRS 613.340(1) makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer to discriminate against an employee or applicant "because the employee, applicant, person or member, as applicable, has opposed any practice made an unlawful employment practice by NRS 613.133 or 613.310 to 613.4383, inclusive, or because he or she has made a charge, testified, assisted or participated in any manner in an investigation, proceeding or hearing" under those sections. How a firing after a complaint fits with Nevada's default employment rule is covered on the Nevada at-will employment page.

Deadlines and where to file

The Nevada Equal Rights Commission, part of the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, takes complaints.

• Agency first: the Nevada Supreme Court has held that "a party cannot bring a state court claim for employment discrimination unless that claim was first presented to the administrative agency or is reasonably related to the administrative claims" (Pope v. Motel 6, 114 P.3d 277 (Nev. 2005)).
• 300 days: a complaint alleging an unlawful discriminatory practice in employment "must be filed with the Commission not later than 300 days after the date of the occurrence of the alleged practice. A complaint is timely if it is filed with an appropriate federal agency within that period" (NRS 233.160(1)(b)). There is no separate deadline for harassment.
• Form: "The complainant shall specify in the complaint the alleged unlawful practice and sign it under oath" (NRS 233.160(2)).
• Right to sue: NERC "shall issue, upon request from the person, a right-to-sue notice if at least 180 days have passed after the complaint was filed," and the notice must say that the person may, "not later than 90 days after the date of receipt of the right-to-sue notice, bring a civil action in district court" (NRS 613.412).
• Outer limit on suit: NRS 613.430(1) provides that no action authorized by NRS 613.420 or Title VII may be brought more than 180 days after the date of the act complained of, or more than 90 days after the date of a notice listed in that subsection, whichever is later. Under NRS 613.430(2), when a complaint is filed with NERC or the EEOC, that limitation is tolled while the complaint is pending before the agency.
• EEOC: NERC states that it "[p]artners with the EEOC on most employment cases." The EEOC states that its "180 calendar day filing deadline is extended to 300 calendar days if a state or local agency enforces a law that prohibits employment discrimination on the same basis." The EEOC's Las Vegas office, which lists NERC as a fair employment practice agency, states that in Nevada a charge against an employer with 15 or more employees (20 or more for age) may be filed with the EEOC within 300 days from the date of alleged harm.

The steps between filing and suit are on the Nevada wrongful termination page, which also covers remedies, including NRS 613.432's link to the relief available under Title VII. The Nevada employment discrimination settlement calculator is an estimating tool, not a prediction of any outcome.

Training and written policies

Chapter 613 does not require private employers to provide harassment training or to adopt or post a harassment policy.

State government is different. NRS 284.4082(1) requires the state Personnel Administrator to "adopt and maintain a policy concerning sex- or gender-based harassment," which must include a definition of illegal sex- or gender-based harassment, "[t]raining requirements for employees concerning sex- or gender-based harassment," training requirements for managerial or supervisory employees on equal employment opportunity, and a complaint procedure. That rule governs state personnel, not private employers.

NDAs and settlement agreements

NRS 10.195 limits confidentiality terms in settlements, not in other employment agreements. Subject to an exception in NRS 233.190, subsection 1 provides:

"A settlement agreement must not contain a provision that prohibits or otherwise restricts a party from disclosing factual information relating to a claim in a civil or administrative action if the claim relates to any of the following: ... (b) Discrimination on the basis of sex by an employer or a landlord; or (c) Retaliation by an employer or a landlord against the claimant for his or her reporting of discrimination on the basis of sex."

Subsection 1 also lists claims involving certain sexual offenses. Under subsection 2, if a settlement agreement "is entered into on or after July 1, 2019, any provision in such an agreement that prohibits or otherwise restricts a party from disclosing factual information pursuant to subsection 1 is void and unenforceable."

The section still allows a provision that keeps the settlement amount confidential (NRS 10.195(6)(b)), and at the claimant's request the agreement must include a provision barring disclosure of the claimant's identity and facts that could reveal it, unless a governmental agency or public officer is a party (NRS 10.195(4)-(5)). A court may not enter an order restricting disclosure in conflict with subsection 1 (NRS 10.195(3)). The section defines a claimant as a person who filed a claim in a civil or administrative action, and uses the protective-order chapter's definition of employer, a public or private employer in Nevada (NRS 10.195(7); NRS 33.220), so it is not limited to employers with 15 or more employees.

The section is limited to the claims it lists: it covers sex discrimination and retaliation for reporting it, not harassment based on race, religion or another trait. NRS 10.195 does not address nondisclosure terms signed before a dispute, and chapter 613 contains no provision on nondisclosure terms or arbitration. Federal law adds limits for sexual harassment disputes: the Speak Out Act makes nondisclosure and nondisparagement clauses agreed to before a sexual harassment dispute arises judicially unenforceable where the conduct is alleged to violate federal, tribal or state law, and the Ending Forced Arbitration Act lets the person alleging sexual harassment elect court over a predispute arbitration agreement, both explained on the workplace harassment laws hub.

Workplace protective orders: a different kind of harassment

Nevada's protective-order statute uses the phrase "harassment in the workplace" for threats and violence, not for discrimination. Under NRS 33.240, it occurs when a person knowingly threatens to cause or commits an act that causes bodily injury, damage to another person's property, or "[s]ubstantial harm to the physical or mental health or safety of a person"; the threat or act is made against an employer, an employee performing the employee's duties or a person present at the workplace; and it "would cause a reasonable person to fear that the threat will be carried out or the act would cause a reasonable person to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated or harassed."

The order is an employer's tool: under NRS 33.250(1), "[a]n employer or an authorized agent of an employer who reasonably believes that harassment in the workplace has occurred" may apply to a court for a temporary order for protection against the person who allegedly committed the harassment. It is not a discrimination remedy.

Is workplace bullying illegal in Nevada?

Chapter 613 reaches discrimination because of the traits NRS 613.330 lists. It contains no provision on general workplace bullying or abusive conduct unconnected to those traits, and the workplace protective order in NRS 33.240 is limited to the threats and acts that section describes.

Documenting harassment and workplace monitoring

The rules on recording a conversation at work, including a conversation with a harasser, are on the Nevada workplace recording laws page. Employer monitoring of email, devices and workspaces is covered on the Nevada employee monitoring laws page.

Recent changes to Nevada harassment law

• 2001: the Legislature added the workplace protective order provisions, NRS 33.240 and 33.250.
• 2019: NRS 10.195 voided settlement terms restricting disclosure of facts about sex discrimination claims in agreements entered on or after July 1, 2019. The same year, NRS 613.412 added the right-to-sue request after 180 days, and NRS 613.432 tied court remedies to those available under Title VII.
• 2019 and 2021: the Legislature amended NRS 613.310, the chapter's definitions section, which now defines race to include hair texture and protective hairstyles.
• 2021: NRS 284.408 was added to the state personnel chapter on sex- or gender-based harassment.

Related pages

• Workplace harassment laws by state
• Nevada wrongful termination
• Nevada at-will employment laws
• Nevada employee monitoring laws
• Nevada workplace recording laws

This article provides general legal information about Nevada workplace harassment law under NRS chapters 613 and 233 and related statutes as of 2026-10-20. It is not legal advice. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Nevada or the Nevada Equal Rights Commission.

Last updated: 2026-10-20.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is workplace harassment illegal in Nevada?

NRS 613.330(1) makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer with 15 or more employees to discriminate in compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment because of a protected trait. Chapter 613 has no express harassment clause; harassment is reached through that language.

Does Nevada harassment law apply to small employers?

Chapter 613 applies only to an employer with 15 or more employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year (NRS 613.310(2)). It sets no lower threshold for harassment. NRS 613.320 also exempts employment outside Nevada, religious organizations hiring for religious work, and, for sexual orientation and gender identity or expression, 501(c)(3) organizations.

How long do I have to file a harassment complaint in Nevada?

A complaint to the Nevada Equal Rights Commission alleging an unlawful practice in employment must be filed within 300 days after the alleged practice, and it is timely if filed with an appropriate federal agency within that period (NRS 233.160(1)(b)). A court claim under chapter 613 must first be presented to the agency (Pope v. Motel 6, 2005).

What counts as a hostile work environment in Nevada?

No Nevada statute defines it. NERC describes harassment as unlawful where enduring it becomes a condition of continued employment or where it is severe or pervasive enough that a reasonable person would consider the work environment intimidating, hostile or abusive.

Does Nevada require sexual harassment training for employers?

Chapter 613 imposes no harassment training requirement on private employers. NRS 284.4082 requires the state personnel policy on sex- or gender-based harassment to include training requirements, which apply to state personnel.

Can a Nevada harassment settlement include an NDA?

Under NRS 10.195, a settlement agreement must not restrict a party from disclosing factual information about a claim of sex discrimination by an employer, or retaliation for reporting it, and such provisions in agreements entered on or after July 1, 2019 are void and unenforceable. The section covers settlement agreements and the claims it lists. It still allows keeping the settlement amount confidential and, at the claimant's request, the claimant's identity.

Is it illegal to retaliate for reporting harassment in Nevada?

NRS 613.340(1) makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer to discriminate against an employee or applicant for opposing a practice made unlawful by chapter 613 or for making a charge, testifying, assisting or participating in an investigation, proceeding or hearing.

Is workplace bullying illegal in Nevada?

Chapter 613 reaches discrimination tied to the traits listed in NRS 613.330. It contains no provision on general workplace bullying unconnected to those traits.