This opinion column was submitted by Jose Vasquez-Maldonado, a Democratic candidate for Assembly District 24.

My name is Jose Vasquez-Maldonado, and I am running for Assembly District 24 to bring awareness to the unhealthy and unsafe conditions of Nevadans’ long, mandatory working hours. Not only are such conditions bad for our mental health, but studies have also shown that they can cause long-term health problems. Indeed, working at night can exacerbate these health issues, so much so that 40-hour work weeks on nightshifts can shorten a worker's lifespan. Thus, we must orient our labor laws around human health, as no one should risk their priceless health at any wage.

Why do I find labor laws so important? Because, as someone from the working class, I know the problems workers face every day, which our government seems to ignore. For this reason, for the past few years, I have been writing down feasible policy ideas that would benefit the working class. From this, I gained insight into how our state government could improve the average worker’s life. Here are three policies our government could incorporate to help the average Nevadan.

First, we could improve workers’ finances. Did you know that paying workers weekly instead of bi-weekly could improve their lives? For decades, wages have remained stagnant while inflation kept increasing and rent has skyrocketed. Thus, many workers are now living paycheck to paycheck, and too many of them are taking out high-interest...

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