A recent Nevada Supreme Court decision indicated greater protections may be on the horizon for Nevada employees and the Nevada Legislature has now passed a bill that seeks to remove those protections. In Amazon.com Servs., LLC v. Malloy, the Nevada Supreme Court determined that the Portal-to-Portal Act’s (the “PPA”) exceptions related to excluding preliminary and postliminary work activities from compensation were not incorporated into Nevada’s state laws. As a result, off-the-clock, employer required activities may now be considered compensable work.
The case involved a class action lawsuit against Amazon brought by Nevada employees, who sought compensation for the time they spent getting tested for COVID-19 prior to the start of their shifts. Amazon sought to dismiss the case, relying on the PPA exceptions and arguing that the testing was a preliminary work activity. The Nevada Supreme Court ultimately ruled that the PPA exceptions were not incorporated into Nevada’s wage and hour laws as the state statutes had specific exceptions that did not mirror the PPA.
