Assembly Bill No. 311–Committee on Commerce and Labor
February 23, 1999
____________
Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor
SUMMARY—Revises provisions governing employment practices of certain employers to prohibit discrimination based upon sexual orientation. (BDR 53-1625)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: Yes.
Effect on the State or on Industrial Insurance: No.
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EXPLANATION – Matter in
bolded italics is new; matter between brackets
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
1-1
Section 1. NRS 610.020 is hereby amended to read as follows: 610.020 The purposes of this chapter are:1-3
1. To open to people, without regard to race, color, creed, sex, sexual1-4
orientation, religion, disability or national origin, the opportunity to obtain1-5
training that will equip them for profitable employment and citizenship.1-6
2. To establish, as a means to this end, an organized program for the1-7
voluntary training of persons under approved standards for apprenticeship,1-8
providing facilities for their training and guidance in the arts and crafts of1-9
industry and trade, with instruction in related and supplementary1-10
education.1-11
3. To promote opportunities for employment for all persons, without1-12
regard to race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, religion, disability or1-13
national origin, under conditions providing adequate training and1-14
reasonable earnings.1-15
4. To regulate the supply of skilled workers in relation to the demand1-16
for skilled workers.1-17
5. To establish standards for the training of apprentices in approved1-18
programs.2-1
6. To establish a state apprenticeship council with the authority to2-2
carry out the purposes of this chapter and provide for local joint2-3
apprenticeship committees to assist in carrying out the purposes of this2-4
chapter.2-5
7. To provide for a state director of apprenticeship.2-6
8. To provide for reports to the legislature and to the public regarding2-7
the status of the training of apprentices in the state.2-8
9. To establish procedures for regulating programs and deciding2-9
controversies concerning programs and agreements.2-10
10. To accomplish related ends.2-11
Sec. 2. NRS 610.150 is hereby amended to read as follows: 610.150 Every agreement entered into under this chapter must contain:2-13
1. The names and signatures of the contracting parties and the2-14
signature of a parent or legal guardian if the apprentice is a minor.2-15
2. The date of birth of the apprentice.2-16
3. The name and address of the sponsor of the program.2-17
4. A statement of the trade or craft in which the apprentice is to be2-18
trained, and the beginning date and expected duration of the2-19
apprenticeship.2-20
5. A statement showing the number of hours to be spent by the2-21
apprentice in work and the number of hours to be spent in related and2-22
supplemental instruction, which instruction must not be less than 144 hours2-23
per year.2-24
6. A statement setting forth a schedule of the processes in the trade or2-25
division of industry in which the apprentice is to be trained and the2-26
approximate time to be spent at each process.2-27
7. A statement of the graduated scale of wages to be paid the2-28
apprentice and whether or not compensation is to be paid for the required2-29
time in school.2-30
8. Statements providing:2-31
(a) For a specific period of probation during which the agreement may2-32
be terminated by either party to the agreement upon written notice to the2-33
state apprenticeship council; and2-34
(b) That after the probationary period the agreement may be canceled at2-35
the request of the apprentice, or suspended, canceled or terminated by the2-36
sponsor for good cause, with due notice to the apprentice and a reasonable2-37
opportunity for corrective action, and with written notice to the apprentice2-38
and the state apprenticeship council of the final action taken.2-39
9. A reference incorporating as part of the agreement the standards of2-40
the program as it exists on the date of the agreement and as it may be2-41
amended during the period of the agreement.2-42
10. A statement that the apprentice will be accorded equal opportunity2-43
in all phases of employment and training as an apprentice without3-1
discrimination because of race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation,3-2
religion or disability.3-3
11. A statement naming the state apprenticeship council as the3-4
authority designated pursuant to NRS 610.180 to receive, process and3-5
dispose of controversies or differences arising out of the agreement when3-6
the controversies or differences cannot be adjusted locally or resolved in3-7
accordance with the program or collective bargaining agreements.3-8
12. Such additional terms and conditions as are prescribed or approved3-9
by the state apprenticeship council not inconsistent with the provisions of3-10
this chapter.3-11
Sec. 3. NRS 610.185 is hereby amended to read as follows: 610.185 The state apprenticeship council shall suspend for 1 year the3-13
right of any employer, association of employers or organization of3-14
employees acting as agent for an employer to participate in a program3-15
under the provisions of this chapter if the Nevada equal rights commission,3-16
after notice and hearing, finds that the employer, association or3-17
organization has discriminated against an apprentice because of race, color,3-18
creed, sex, sexual orientation, religion, disability or national origin in3-19
violation of this chapter.3-20
Sec. 4. NRS 613.310 is hereby amended to read as follows: 613.310 As used in NRS 613.310 to 613.435, inclusive, unless the3-22
context otherwise requires:3-23
1. "Disability" means, with respect to a person:3-24
(a) A physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or3-25
more of the major life activities of the person;3-26
(b) A record of such an impairment; or3-27
(c) Being regarded as having such an impairment.3-28
2. "Employer" means any person who has 15 or more employees for3-29
each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or3-30
preceding calendar year, but does not include:3-31
(a) The United States or any corporation wholly owned by the United3-32
States.3-33
(b) Any Indian tribe.3-34
(c) Any private membership club exempt from taxation pursuant to3-35
section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of3-36
3. "Employment agency" means any person regularly undertaking3-37
with or without compensation to procure employees for an employer or to3-38
procure for employees opportunities to work for an employer, but does not3-39
include any agency of the United States.3-40
4. "Labor organization" means any organization of any kind, or any3-41
agency or employee representation committee or plan, in which employees3-42
participate and which exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing4-1
with employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay,4-2
hours of employment or other conditions of employment.4-3
5. "Person" includes the State of Nevada and any of its political4-4
subdivisions.4-5
6. "Sexual orientation" means having or being perceived as having4-6
an orientation for heterosexuality, homosexuality or bisexuality.4-7
Sec. 5. NRS 613.330 is hereby amended to read as follows: 613.330 1. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 613.350, it is an4-9
unlawful employment practice for an employer:4-10
(a) To fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any person, or otherwise to4-11
discriminate against any person with respect to his compensation, terms,4-12
conditions or privileges of employment, because of his race, color,4-13
religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability or national origin; or4-14
(b) To limit, segregate or classify4-15
way which would deprive or tend to deprive4-16
employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an4-17
employee, because of his race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age,4-18
disability or national origin.4-19
2. It is an unlawful employment practice for an employment agency to4-20
4-21
(a) Fail or refuse to refer for employment, or otherwise to discriminate4-22
against, any person because of4-23
orientation, age, disability or national origin4-24
person or any other person with whom he associates; or4-25
(b) Classify or refer for employment any person on the basis of4-26
race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability or national4-27
origin4-28
3. It is an unlawful employment practice for a labor organization:4-29
(a) To exclude or to expel from its membership, or otherwise to4-30
discriminate against, any person because of his race, color, religion, sex,4-31
sexual orientation, age, disability or national origin;4-32
(b) To limit, segregate or classify its membership, or to classify or fail4-33
or refuse to refer for employment any person, in any way which would4-34
deprive or tend to deprive him of employment opportunities, or would4-35
limit his employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status4-36
as an employee or as an applicant for employment, because of his race,4-37
color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability or national origin; or4-38
(c) To cause or attempt to cause an employer to discriminate against4-39
any person in violation of this section.4-40
4. It is an unlawful employment practice for any employer, labor4-41
organization or joint labor-management committee controlling4-42
apprenticeship or other training or retraining, including , without4-43
limitation, on-the-job training programs, to discriminate against any5-1
person6-1
because of his race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability6-2
or national origin in admission to, or employment in, any program6-3
established to provide apprenticeship or other training.6-4
5. It is an unlawful employment practice for any employer,6-5
employment agency, labor organization or joint labor-management6-6
committee to discriminate against6-7
or visual disabilities by interfering, directly or indirectly, with the use of an6-8
aid or appliance, including , without limitation, a guide dog, hearing dog,6-9
helping dog or other service animal , by such a person.6-10
6. It is an unlawful employment practice for an employer, directly or6-11
indirectly, to refuse to permit an employee with a visual or aural disability6-12
to keep his guide dog, hearing dog or other service animal with him at all6-13
times in his place of employment.6-14
7. For the purposes of this section, the terms "guide dog," "hearing6-15
dog," "helping dog" and "service animal" have the meanings ascribed to6-16
them respectively in NRS 426.075, 426.081, 426.083 and 426.097.6-17
Sec. 6. NRS 613.340 is hereby amended to read as follows: 613.340 1. It is an unlawful employment practice for an employer to6-19
discriminate against any of his employees or applicants for employment,6-20
for an employment agency to discriminate against any person, or for a6-21
labor organization to discriminate against any member thereof or applicant6-22
for membership, because he has opposed any practice made an unlawful6-23
employment practice by NRS 613.310 to 613.435, inclusive, or because he6-24
has made a charge, testified, assisted or participated in any manner in an6-25
investigation, proceeding or hearing under NRS 613.310 to 613.435,6-26
inclusive.6-27
2. It is an unlawful employment practice for an employer, labor6-28
organization or employment agency to print or publish or cause to be6-29
printed or published any notice or advertisement relating to employment6-30
by such an employer or membership in or any classification or referral for6-31
employment by such a labor organization, or relating to any classification6-32
or referral for employment by such an employment agency, indicating any6-33
preference, limitation, specification or discrimination, based on race, color,6-34
religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability or national origin, except6-35
that such a notice or advertisement may indicate a preference, limitation,6-36
specification or discrimination based on religion, sex, sexual orientation,6-37
age, physical, mental or visual condition or national origin when religion,6-38
sex, sexual orientation, age, physical, mental or visual condition or6-39
national origin is a bona fide occupational qualification for employment.6-40
3. It is an unlawful employment practice for an employer, labor6-41
organization or employment agency to:7-1
(a) Attempt to commit, or aid, abet, incite, compel or coerce another7-2
person to commit, an unlawful employment practice described in NRS7-3
613.310 to 613.435, inclusive; or7-4
(b) Inquire into or investigate the sexual orientation of an employee or7-5
prospective employee unless sexual orientation is a bona fide7-6
occupational qualification for employment.7-7
Sec. 7. NRS 613.350 is hereby amended to read as follows: 613.350 1. It is not an unlawful employment practice for an7-9
employer to hire and employ employees, for an employment agency to7-10
classify or refer for employment any person, for a labor organization to7-11
classify its membership or to classify or refer for employment any person,7-12
or for an employer, labor organization or joint labor-management7-13
committee controlling apprenticeship or other training or retraining7-14
programs to admit or employ any person in any such program, on the basis7-15
of his religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability or national origin in7-16
those instances where religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, physical,7-17
mental or visual condition or national origin is a bona fide occupational7-18
qualification reasonably necessary to the normal operation of that7-19
particular business or enterprise.7-20
2. It is not an unlawful employment practice for an employer to fail or7-21
refuse to hire and employ employees, for an employment agency to fail to7-22
classify or refer any person for employment, for a labor organization to fail7-23
to classify its membership or to fail to classify or refer any person for7-24
employment, or for an employer, labor organization or joint labor-7-25
management committee controlling apprenticeship or other training or7-26
retraining programs to fail to admit or employ any person in any such7-27
program, on the basis of his disability in those instances where physical,7-28
mental or visual condition is a bona fide and relevant occupational7-29
qualification necessary to the normal operation of that particular business7-30
or enterprise, if it is shown that the particular disability would prevent7-31
proper performance of the work for which the disabled person would7-32
otherwise have been hired, classified, referred or prepared under a training7-33
or retraining program.7-34
3. It is not an unlawful employment practice for an employer to fail or7-35
refuse to hire or to discharge a person, for an employment agency to fail to7-36
classify or refer any person for employment, for a labor organization to fail7-37
to classify its membership or to fail to classify or refer any person for7-38
employment, or for an employer, labor organization or joint labor-7-39
committee controlling apprenticeship or other training or retraining7-40
programs to fail to admit or employ any person in any such program, on7-41
the basis of his age if the person is less than 40 years of age.8-1
4. It is not an unlawful employment practice for a school, college,8-2
university or other educational institution or institution of learning to hire8-3
and employ employees of a particular religion if the school or institution is,8-4
in whole or in substantial part, owned, supported, controlled or managed8-5
by a particular religion or by a particular religious corporation, association8-6
or society, or if the curriculum of the school or institution is directed8-7
toward the propagation of a particular religion.8-8
5. It is not an unlawful employment practice for an employer to8-9
observe the terms of any bona fide plan for employees’ benefits, such as a8-10
retirement, pension or insurance plan, which is not a subterfuge to evade8-11
the provisions of NRS 613.310 to 613.435, inclusive, as they relate to8-12
discrimination against a person because of age, except that no such plan8-13
excuses the failure to hire any person who is at least 40 years of age.8-14
Sec. 8. NRS 613.380 is hereby amended to read as follows: 613.380 Notwithstanding any other provision of NRS 613.310 to8-16
613.435, inclusive, it is not an unlawful employment practice for an8-17
employer to apply different standards of compensation, or different terms,8-18
conditions or privileges of employment pursuant to a bona fide seniority or8-19
merit system, or a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality8-20
of production or to employees who work in different locations, if those8-21
differences are not the result of an intention to discriminate because of8-22
race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability or national8-23
origin, nor is it an unlawful employment practice for an employer to give8-24
and to act upon the results of any professionally developed ability test, if8-25
the test, its administration or action upon the results is not designed,8-26
intended or used to discriminate because of race, color, religion, sex,8-27
sexual orientation, age, disability or national origin.8-28
Sec. 9. NRS 613.400 is hereby amended to read as follows: 613.400 Nothing contained in NRS 613.310 to 613.435, inclusive,8-30
requires any employer, employment agency, labor organization or joint8-31
labor-management committee subject to NRS 613.310 to 613.435,8-32
inclusive, to grant preferential treatment to any person or to any group8-33
because of the race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability8-34
or national origin of the individual or group on account of an imbalance8-35
which exists with respect to the total number or percentage of persons of8-36
any race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability or national8-37
origin employed by any employer, referred or classified for employment8-38
by any employment agency or labor organization, admitted to membership8-39
or classified by any labor organization, or admitted to, or employed in, any8-40
apprenticeship or other training program, in comparison with the total9-1
number or percentage of persons of that race, color, religion, sex, sexual9-2
orientation, age, disability or national origin in any community, section or9-3
other area, or in the available work force in any community, section or9-4
other area.9-5
Sec. 10. NRS 613.405 is hereby amended to read as follows: 613.405 Any person injured by an unlawful employment practice9-7
within the scope of NRS 613.310 to 613.435, inclusive, may file a9-8
complaint to that effect with the Nevada equal rights commission if the9-9
complaint is based on discrimination because of race, color, sex, sexual9-10
orientation, age, disability, religion or national origin.9-11
Sec. 11. NRS 281.370 is hereby amended to read as follows: 281.370 1. All personnel actions taken by state, county or municipal9-13
departments, housing authorities, agencies, boards or appointing officers9-14
thereof must be based solely on merit and fitness.9-15
2. State, county or municipal departments, housing authorities,9-16
agencies, boards or appointing officers thereof shall not refuse to hire a9-17
person, discharge or bar any person from employment or discriminate9-18
against any person in compensation or in other terms or conditions of9-19
employment because of his race, creed, color, national origin, sex, sexual9-20
orientation, age, political affiliation or disability, except when based upon9-21
a bona fide occupational qualification.9-22
3. As used in this section9-23
(a) "Disability" means, with respect to a person:9-24
9-25
or more of the major life activities of the person;9-26
9-27
9-28
(b) "Sexual orientation" means having or being perceived as having9-29
an orientation for heterosexuality, homosexuality or bisexuality.9-30
Sec. 12. NRS 338.125 is hereby amended to read as follows: 338.125 1. It is unlawful for any contractor in connection with the9-32
performance of work under a contract with the state, or any of its political9-33
subdivisions, when payment of the contract price, or any part of such9-34
payment, is to be made from public9-35
to discharge from employment any person because of his race, color,9-36
creed, national origin, sex , sexual orientation or age, or to discriminate9-37
against a person with respect to hire, tenure, advancement, compensation9-38
or other terms, conditions or privileges of employment because of his race,9-39
creed, color, national origin, sex , sexual orientation or age.9-40
2. Contracts negotiated between contractors and the state, or any of its9-41
political subdivisions,9-42
provisions:10-1
In connection with the performance of work under this contract, the10-2
contractor agrees not to discriminate against any employee or applicant for10-3
employment because of race, creed, color, national origin, sex , sexual10-4
orientation or age10-5
10-6
to employment, upgrading, demotion or transfer, recruitment or10-7
recruitment advertising, layoff or termination, rates of pay or other forms10-8
of compensation, and selection for training, including , without limitation,10-9
apprenticeship.10-10
The contractor further agrees to insert this provision in all10-11
subcontracts hereunder, except subcontracts for standard10-12
commercial supplies or raw materials.10-13
3. Any violation of such provision by a contractor10-14
constitutes a material breach of contract.10-15
Sec. 13. The amendatory provisions of this act do not apply to10-16
offenses that were committed before October 1, 1999.~