Updated October 21, 2026. Quick answer: Nevada PERS law treats a retiree’s return to a public job in two ways. A retiree who takes a job with a PERS public employer within 90 calendar days of retiring, or in a position that is eligible for PERS, is disqualified from receiving allowances for the duration of that job, unless one of the exceptions in the table below applies. A retiree who takes a job more than 90 days after retiring in a position that is not eligible for PERS keeps the allowance until the pay in a fiscal year reaches one-half of the average salary of participating employees. The rules sit in NRS 286.520, 286.523 and 286.525.
What this covers
NRS 286.520 is headed “Employment of retired employee: Consequences; notice; exemptions.” NRS 286.523 adds an exception for positions with a critical labor shortage, and NRS 286.525 covers re-enrollment in the System. This page follows the three sections and quotes them.
For the wider set of Nevada PERS choices, see Nevada PERS retirement decisions and public pension retirement decisions.
Who it applies to
It applies to a retired employee who “accepts employment or an independent contract with a public employer under this System”. Employment with an employer that is not a public employer under the System has no effect on the allowance, as the table below shows.
The rules, one by one
Each right-hand cell is language from NRS 286.520 or 286.523.
| Situation | What the statute says |
|---|---|
| Job within 90 days of retiring | “The retired employee accepted the employment or contract within 90 calendar days” after the effective date of retirement |
| Job in a position that is eligible for PERS | “The retired employee is employed in a position which is eligible to participate in this System.” |
| Job more than 90 days after retiring, in a position not eligible for PERS | “an amount equal to one-half of the average salary for participating public employees who are not police officers or firefighters in any fiscal year, for the duration of that employment or contract.” |
| Employer that is not a PERS public employer | “If a retired employee accepts employment with an employer who is not a public employer under this System, the employee is entitled to the same allowances as a retired employee who has no employment.” |
| Elected or appointed to public office | “If a retired employee is chosen by election or appointment to fill an elective public office, the retired employee is entitled to the same allowances as a retired employee who has no employment, unless the retired employee is serving in the same office in which the retired employee served and for which the retired employee received service credit as a member.” |
| Emergency recall | “The System may waive for one period of 30 days or less a retired employee’s disqualification under this section if the public employer certifies in writing, in advance, that the retired employee is recalled to meet an emergency and that no other qualified person is immediately available.” |
| Critical labor shortage position | “The retired employee fills a position for which there is a critical labor shortage” and, at the time of reemployment, is receiving “A benefit that is not actuarially reduced” or is receiving a reduced benefit and “has reached the required age at which the retired employee could have retired with a benefit that was not actuarially reduced”. Both parts must be met. |
| Legislature, Gaming Commission, senior judges, volunteer fire departments | A person who works for “Either house of the Legislature or the Legislative Counsel Bureau”, “The Nevada Gaming Commission as a Commissioner appointed by the Governor” or “The Nevada Court System as a senior justice, senior judge, senior justice of the peace or senior municipal judge” “is exempt from the provisions of subsections 1 and 2 for the duration of that employment or contract.” Subsection 8 gives the same exemption for work with a volunteer fire department whose volunteers are all members of the System. |
What happens to the allowance
For the first two situations the statute says the retired employee “is disqualified from receiving any allowances under this System for the duration of that employment or contract”. For a job more than 90 days after retirement in a position that is not eligible, it says the allowance ends when the retiree earns the one-half average-salary amount quoted in the table, “for the duration of that employment or contract.” The average salary is not a fixed dollar figure: “must be computed on the basis of the most recent actuarial valuation of the System.”
Notices
The statute puts a duty on both sides: “The retired employee and the public employer shall notify the System:” It sets three deadlines, “Within 10 days after the first day of an employment or contract governed by paragraph (a) of subsection 1.” for a job that disqualifies the allowance, “Within 30 days after the first day of an employment or contract governed by paragraph (b) of subsection 1.” for the later job in an ineligible position, and a third notice “Within 10 days after a retired employee earns more than one-half of the average salary” when that threshold is crossed.
Critical labor shortage positions
NRS 286.523 states its policy: “It is the policy of this State to ensure that the reemployment of a retired public employee pursuant to this section is limited to positions of extreme need.” A designation is time limited: “A designating authority shall not designate a position pursuant to subsection 4 as a position for which there is a critical labor shortage for a period longer than 2 years.” The exception covers only a retiree who, at reemployment, receives a benefit that was not actuarially reduced, or who has reached the age at which an unreduced benefit was available; a retiree on a reduced benefit who is younger than that is not covered. A retiree reemployed under the section “may reenroll in the System as provided in NRS 286.525.”
Re-enrolling in the System
NRS 286.525 says “A retired employee who accepts employment in a position eligible for membership may enroll in the System as of the effective date of that employment.” On enrolling, “The retired employee forfeits all retirement allowances for the duration of that employment.” After the job ends the retiree may ask for a refund, and if the retiree does not and “the duration of the employment was at least 6 months, the retired employee gains additional service credit for that employment”. The statute adds “The original service retirement allowance of such a retired employee must not be recalculated based upon the additional service credit”.
Edition
This page reads chapter 286 of the Nevada Revised Statutes as the Nevada Legislature served it on 2026-10-21. Regulations, PERS forms and the rules for a specific membership class sit outside this page; the statute text controls over this summary. The state tax treatment of the pension itself is on whether Nevada taxes pensions.
Common mistakes
- Assuming a retiree may take any public job. The disqualification applies to a job taken “within 90 calendar days” or in a position eligible for the System.
- Treating the earnings test as a dollar amount that is printed in the statute. It is tied to “the most recent actuarial valuation of the System.”
- Forgetting the notices. The statute names both the retired employee and the employer: “The retired employee and the public employer shall notify the System:”
Related: Nevada PERS retirement decisions, public pension retirement decisions, and whether Nevada taxes pensions.
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Answer againSources
- Nevada Revised Statutes chapter 286, Public Employees Retirement (Nevada Legislature): www.leg.state.nv.us
- Related official page (not quoted): Nevada Revised Statutes, index of chapters: www.leg.state.nv.us
- Related official page (not quoted): IRS, Retirement topics: Disability: www.irs.gov
Read from the pension system handbooks linked above on October 21, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a pension system or a qualified professional is the right place to confirm anything consequential.