Steve worked as a carpenter for his former employer, a construction contractor, on a tilt-up warehouse project. His employer was a subcontractor on that project and had a contract with the general contractor. After completing his work on the project, Steve was expecting his paycheck the following Friday, which was his usual bi-weekly pay date.

That Friday came and went, and much to Steve’s dismay, he did not have his paycheck direct deposited. Steve called the owner of the company and his call went straight to voicemail. Steve also called the superintendent for his employer. He learned that the superintendent had also not received his paycheck. Like Steve, the superintendent was also unable to reach the company’s owner.

Steve decided to go to the shop the company used and that he worked out of from time-to-time. There was nobody present at the shop but there was an eviction notice on the front door. Steve’s employer had not paid its rent and was being evicted.

After trying to reach the company’s owner for several weeks, Steve learned the company and its owner filed for bankruptcy. It appeared to Steve that he may never get his paycheck and he was already behind on his bills.

Nevada law provides a special remedy for workers who work in construction and are not paid by their subcontractor employers.

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.”

Under this law, construction workers, like Steve, employed by a contractor on a construction project are entitled to payment of their unpaid wages from general contractors and the contractors above the subcontractor employer who did not pay them. This is indeed a special statute to Nevada because it is one of only a few states that have a statute like this.

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 his unpaid wages from the project or property owner.

The statute of limitations on this claim is two years, so an employee does have some time in which to consider this claim before making it. But most employees need money to pay bills and will not want to wait to make these claims against higher tiered contractors.

Depending upon the circumstances of the employee’s case, they can also be awarded attorney’s fee and costs if they are forced to file a lawsuit against a higher tiered contractor. Another interesting thing about this law is employees do not need to attempt to collect or exhaust all collection attempts against their employer first.

As the title of this post states, it is not only wages that can be collected. The term “indebtedness for labor” in the law is broader than that. It includes any amount of payment or remuneration that an employee has agreed to in exchange for their labor on the construction project. This surely includes health and retirement contributions and other payments to be made by the employer to his employee.

A construction worker in Nevada who is not paid by their employer has several options for collecting unpaid wages. NRS 608.150 is only one of those options. Depending on the statute the worker wants to make claim under, 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 for unpaid wages is for an employee to contact a Nevada licensed attorney to analyze the case and recommend a course of action based on the specific facts of the employee’s case and the applicable law.

Seeking Advice on Nevada Employment and Labor Law Issues

This post is only meant to provide legal information and it is not legal advice and is not to be construed as legal advice. It does not create an attorney-client relationship between the post’s author and any reader of the post.

The original version of this article and more articles on employment and labor law can be found at The Nevada Labor Law Blog.