Nevada state law requires employers to pay their employees at regular intervals and in agreed upon amounts. An employer cannot change an employee’s rate of pay or system for determining rate of pay and compensation payments without first providing a written seven day notice of the change.

An employer must pay its employees at least twice monthly. An employer must maintain regular paydays and is required to post notices explaining when paydays are. If the employer wants to change the regular payday, he must also provide seven days’ notice to employees.

When it comes to industries, construction employers often get a bad reputation for not paying employees on time or regularly. Often construction contractors are accused of not paying employees at all. They may simply disappear into the night never to be heard from again.

Luckily, either in recognition of these facts and perceptions or as a result of prior issues in this regard, the Nevada Legislature has given construction employees several remedies for obtaining payment of their unpaid wages. Two of these methods are available to all employees employed in the state, but three of them are available exclusively to employees employed by a construction contractor on a work of improvement.

1. Construction Workers Can File a Complaint with the Nevada Labor Commissioner

If a construction worker is not paid wages by their employer, the worker can file a claim or complaint with the Nevada Labor Commissioner. The Labor Commissioner’s website is http://labor.nv.gov/. The worker will file their claim or complaint with the Labor Commissioner and the Labor Commissioner’s Office may investigate and prosecute the employee’s claim. A worker can also go to the Labor Commissioner’s Office in person in either Carson City of Las Vegas to file their claim or complaint.

2. Construction Workers Can Sue Their Employer in Court

Nevada law (NRS 608.140) allows all employees—construction workers included—to file a court case for the collection of their unpaid wages. This was recently decided by the Nevada Supreme Court in Neville v. Eighth Judicial District Court, 133 Nev. Adv. Op. 95 (Dec. 7, 2017).

More importantly, in addition to the unpaid wages being recoverable, the employee can sue to recover the attorney’s fees and costs expended in obtaining payment of wages. Thus, the employee will not have to proceed alone or be unable to afford an attorney because of their employer’s refusal to pay wages.

3. Construction Workers Can File a Mechanic’s Lien on the Property Upon Which They Performed Work

NRS Chapter 108 provides that any laborer on a construction site is eligible to be a lien claimant. These liens are referred to as mechanic’s liens despite the fact they apply to construction laborers, electricians, plasterers, and others in construction. NRS 108.222 allows a lien claimant to file a lien upon the property where they worked providing construction or improvements. The unpaid wages of a laborer are the basis for the mechanic’s lien on the property.

Note that the lien of a laborer does not require any type of pre-lien notice like other claimants are required to file within days of first providing services. So long as the laborer files the lien within 90 days of last providing services on the construction or work of improvement, the lien for unpaid wages will be timely.

NRS 108.226 has several very specific conditions that are required for a lien claimant to perfect and enforce their lien. These steps must be followed fully. Failure to follow the steps will result in loss of the lien on the property and non-payment of wages.

A construction worker with a mechanic’s lien will be recovering unpaid wages against the property owner in exchange for release of the lien on the owner’s property. If the owner refuses to settle or pay the value of the lien, the worker must go through the process of foreclosing on the lien. This is only available on private construction and not on public works. This is an effective tactic for obtaining wages when the contractor for whom the employee was working disappears or is insolvent because it is another source for recovery of the unpaid wages.

4. Construction Workers Can Sue Under NRS 608.150

NRS 608.150(1) provides “every original contractor entering into any contract in this State for the erection, construction, alteration, maintenance or repair, including, without limitation, repairs made under a warranty, of any building or structure, including, without limitation, any equipment or fixtures related thereto, or other work of improvement, shall assume and is liable for the indebtedness for labor incurred by any subcontractor or any contractors acting under, by or for the original contractor.”

Ok, so what does all of that really say? It says a construction worker employed by a contractor on a construction project who is not paid, can seek payment of her unpaid wages from contractors above the employer who did not pay them. In addition, an employee may be able to make a claim against the project owner because under the statute, “‘original contractor’ includes a contractor or any other person who enters into a contract.” Thus, if an employee is not paid by a contractor who entered into a construction contract with the property or project owner, the employee can recover her unpaid wages from the project or property owner.

The statute of limitations on this claim is two years, so the employee does have some time in which to consider this claim before making it. It is also important to note that Nevada is one of only a few states that have a statute like this. Depending on the circumstances of the employee’s case, they can also be awarded attorney’s fee and costs in cases under this law.

5. Construction Workers Can Make Claims on their Employer’s Contractor’s License Bond

All licensed contractors in Nevada are required to have a surety bond that protects those with whom they contract to provide construction services and laborers who work for them. The bonds range in value based on the bid limit of each contractor’s specific license and the undertaking required.

Similar to claims made for unpaid wages based on mechanic’s liens and NRS 608.150, the recovery under this law is against a person other than the employer. The recovery will be against a surety who guarantees the wage payments of the employer to the laborer. This means that even if the employer files bankruptcy without paying its employees, the employees can file claims on the bond for recovery of their unpaid wages.

With these claims, it is imperative to make them quickly. If the contractor has not been paying employees, it is quite likely material suppliers and other vendors are also not being paid. Laborers have priority on claims for wages under these bonds, but not if the bond has already been exonerated because of claims made by other claimants.

Bottomline

If an employee works in construction in Nevada and has not been paid by his or her employer, they have several options for collecting unpaid wages. There are rules requiring strict adherence to claim procedures in some cases and short statutes of limitation in others. The only way in which to consider the best option for making a claim is for an employee to contact a Nevada attorney experienced in labor and employment law to analyze the case and recommend a course of action based on the specific facts and the applicable law.