Before Nevada voters passed Question 2 in 2022, Nevada operated under a two-tier minimum wage system that allowed an employee to be paid a lower minimum wage if an employer offered qualified health benefits.
But because of the constitutional amendment — and a multiyear effort to raise the minimum wage that was approved in the 2019 legislative session — Nevadans now make no less than $12 an hour as of July 1. That’s up from the previous minimum wage of $11.25 an hour, or $10.25 an hour if an employer offered qualifying health benefits.
The new law taking effect Monday was the product of arguments that Nevada's workers should not be penalized with a lower minimum wage because their employers offered certain health benefits.
Critics had argued the change could harm employers by removing an incentive that encouraged them to offer certain health benefits to their employees in exchange for lowering the employees' hourly wage.
The ballot question passed by a 10-point vote margin.
The state's minimum wage will increase to match the federal minimum wage if the federal minimum wage rises above $12 per hour. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour and has remained unchanged since 2009.
The ballot measure also will eliminate the current method of making cost-of-living adjustments. Annual cost of living adjustments are capped, and according to proponents, “have never kept up with the true cost of living for Nevada's workers.”