Reyna Valdivias has been going to construction sites with her dad since she was 13. Now at age 21, she works alongside him and her brothers who often go to work sites at 5 a.m. to beat the brutal Las Vegas summer heat. This year has been especially difficult — particularly for her dad.

“It's just very difficult to work in the heat,” Valdivias said in an interview. “It's been even harder for my dad as it's getting hotter and hotter as the months go by.”

As global temperatures continue to rise and with Nevada among the states most affected by climate change, working conditions for people like Valdivias and her family are about to get even more difficult.

But even as the state and federal officials are kicking off the process of adopting formal rules aimed at protecting workers from extreme heat, advocates say undocumented workers in Nevada and elsewhere are likely to not benefit from those rules given their high rates of working under the table and potential to be exploited.

Vince Saavedra, the executive secretary-treasurer of the Southern Nevada Building Trades Unions, said he’s noticed in his years of construction that many nonunion workers are undocumented and are taken advantage of by their employers. 

“They try to scare them into not saying things,” Saavedra said. “They just want them to be happy that they have a job, and they should be thankful that they can just have a job and not speak up about, hey, the water’s not cold, or there's no shade, or so and so got hurt.” 

Extreme heat by the numbers

Despite the state’s proclivity for brutal triple-digit temperatures, Nevada has no specific regulations protecting workers from extreme heat, and from 2000-2010, Nevada has been found to have some of the highest rates of heat-related workplace fatalities. Workers filed 346 heat complaints to Nevada’s Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA)  in 2023, a 65 percent jump from 2022.

And this past June alone, OSHA received 127 heat-related complaints. With temperatures in Southern Nevada climbing above 115 F for several consecutive days this month, complaints are likely to rise even more. 

While there was a push to pass heat-related protections last year, legislative efforts failed after significant opposition from major business groups. Nevada’s OSHA is now pushing for a revised extreme heat regulation that would require companies to submit self-identified “heat action plans” once a certain temperature is reached.

But with no protections currently in place beyond a federal standard for potable water and a general requirement for employers to keep workplaces hazard-free, immigrant workers such as Valdivias and her father are among some of the most vulnerable to heat-related injuries. 

Only five states currently have formal workplace protections against heat. But just two weeks ago, the Biden administration proposed a rule that would protect workers from extreme temperatures by requiring mandatory water breaks, shaded rest areas and heat illness prevention.

The plan will likely take years to finalize. 

Rising temperatures pose a serious risk to noncitizen workers, who nationwide are more likely to be employed in construction, agricultural and service jobs — the industries that receive the most heat-related complaints in Nevada. During July 2022, Nevada had more than 1,500 migrant workers working in temperatures higher than 101 F.  At those temperatures, the body can begin to experience heat cramps and exhaustion, especially if a person isn’t properly hydrated or accustomed to the climate. 

Under the table

Saavedra said most unions have protocols in place to protect their workers from extreme heat. Non-union members account for about 90 percent of construction workers. Without definitive regulation, non-union workers have little legal or collective backing to support them if they get hurt on the job. 

Cinthia Moore, a Democrat running for the Assembly District 11 seat and the former head of the Nevada Environmental Justice Coalition, helped lead the charge for SB427, the heat protection bill introduced last legislative session that failed to pass. Moore said she decided to work on the bill after noticing people working in her neighborhood complain about being unable to take breaks to access water. 

Many of those workers were undocumented, and Moore noticed that it wasn’t just outdoor workers, but indoor ones who were affected by extreme heat as well. 

“They're afraid to speak up for themselves,” she said. “Or even submit any complaints or anything like that.”

Still, Moore and Saavedra say that they’ve seen many undocumented people gravitate toward residential contracting. A 2020 analysis from the Nation Association of Home Builders shows that a third of Nevada’s construction workers are foreign born. 

But without legal status, many immigrants aren’t eligible to be official employees and rather work as self-employed independent contractors. By hiring such contractors, companies can avoid bestowing employee status, paying taxes and being held liable for harassment and discrimination.  

Valdivias said that outdoor work in residential neighborhoods can be even more exhausting than other types of work. Many neighborhoods in Nevada prohibit outdoor work before 7 a.m., exposing employees to midday heat. 

When Valdivias and her father work  with residential contractors she said she feels that they do not have the same protections as when they work on their own.

“It's just so tiring,” Valdivias said, “because even though we're awake at 6 a.m., we haven't even started and we still end up getting home after 5.”

A significant percentage of the immigrant population don't have health insurance, making them more vulnerable to heat-related stress and workplace injuries. About 25 percent of foreign-born Nevadans are uninsured, and undocumented immigrants are not eligible for federally funded health insurance programs such as Medicaid or Medicare. 

This, combined with fears about being deported, make the undocumented less likely to seek out medical care. 

Saavedra called Biden’s proposal “a good start,” but worries that it won’t be comprehensive enough. Workers in scorching Las Vegas have much different needs than those in the more temperate climates, he says. 

“To me, anything federal is the bare minimum,” said Sen. Edgar Flores (D-Las Vegas), who sponsored the extreme heat protection bill last legislative session. “The state should take it upon themselves to resolve the issues.”