SB373_EN

Senate Bill No. 373–Committee on Commerce and Labor

CHAPTER..........

AN ACT relating to labor; expanding the authority of the labor commissioner to adopt regulations; reducing the period within which certain unclaimed money collected by the labor commissioner is presumed abandoned; authorizing a person designated by the labor commissioner to conduct certain hearings and issue certain decisions concerning the labor laws of this state; requiring the attorney general to prosecute certain criminal violations that are reported to him by the labor commissioner; authorizing the labor commissioner to prescribe by regulation the minimum wage paid to employees in private employment in this state; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN

SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

Section 1. NRS 607.150 is hereby amended to read as follows:

607.150 1. [The] To carry out the provisions of subsection 1 of

NRS 607.160, the labor commissioner may enter any store, foundry, mill,

office, workshop, mine or public or private works at any reasonable time

[for the purpose of gathering] to gather facts and statistics [contemplated

by this chapter] and make a record thereof.

2. Any owner, corporation, occupant or officer who refuses such entry

to the labor commissioner, his officers or agents is guilty of a

misdemeanor.

Sec. 2. NRS 607.160 is hereby amended to read as follows:

607.160 1. The labor commissioner [shall] :

(a) Shall enforce all labor laws of the State of Nevada the enforcement

of which is not specifically and exclusively vested in any other officer,

board or commission[.] ; and

(b) May adopt regulations to carry out the provisions of

paragraph (a).

2. Whenever after due inquiry the labor commissioner believes that a

person financially unable to employ counsel has a valid and enforceable

claim for wages, commissions or other demands, he may present the facts

to the attorney general showing:

(a) The names of the claimant and his alleged debtor.

(b) A description and the location of the property on which the labor

was performed, if the claim is for wages, or which is the office or place of

business of the debtor if the claim is for a commission, and the right, title

and interest of the debtor therein.

thereof.

(d) The time the claimant began and the time he ceased the labor.

(e) The number of days’ labor performed by him during the

employment and the rate of wages or commission arrangement and terms

of the employment.

(f) The date or dates and the amount, if any, paid on the claim.

(g) The balance due, owing and unpaid on the claim.

(h) The date on which a demand for payment was made upon the debtor

or his agent or representative, and the response, if any, to that demand.

(i) The names of the witnesses upon whom the claimant expects to rely

to provide facts and to what facts each of the witnesses is expected to

testify.

3. The attorney general shall prosecute the claim if he determines that

the claim is valid and enforceable.

Sec. 3. NRS 607.170 is hereby amended to read as follows:

607.170 1. [When the] The labor commissioner [deems it necessary,

he may take an assignment of] may prosecute a claim for wages and

commissions [and prosecute an action for collection of] or commence any

other action to collect wages, commissions and other demands of any

person who is financially unable to employ counsel in a case in which, in

the judgment of the labor commissioner, the claim for wages or

commissions or other action is valid and enforceable in the courts.

2. In all matters relating to wages or commissions and before taking

any assignment, the labor commissioner may [summon] , in accordance

with the provisions of NRS 607.210, subpoena to appear before him, at a

suitable place in the county of the claimant, his employer and all other

[necessary persons for the purpose of adjusting and settling] persons

required to adjust and settle claims for wages or commissions before

bringing suit therefor, and the labor commissioner may effect reasonable

compromises of those claims.

3. The labor commissioner or his deputy may maintain a commercial

account with any bank or credit union within this state for the deposit of

money collected for claims for wages or commissions. The money must be

promptly paid to the person entitled thereto. At the end of each calendar

year, any unclaimed money in the commercial account which has been a

part of the account for [5 years] 1 year or more is presumed abandoned

under NRS 120A.220.

Sec. 4. NRS 607.205 is hereby amended to read as follows:

607.205 In aid of his enforcement responsibilities under the labor laws

of the State of Nevada, including , but not limited to , the provisions of

NRS 338.030, 412.1393, 412.1395, 607.160, 607.170, 608.270 and

chapter 611 of NRS, the labor commissioner or a person designated [from

the commissioner’s regular staff] by him may conduct hearings and issue

decisions thereon in the manner [provided by] set forth in NRS 607.207.

Sec. 5. NRS 607.207 is hereby amended to read as follows:

607.207 1. When an enforcement question is presented under any

labor law of the State of Nevada, the determination of which is not

exclusively vested in another officer, board or commission, the labor

commissioner or a person designated [from the commissioner’s regular

staff] by him may conduct a hearing in any place convenient to the parties,

if practicable, and otherwise in a place chosen by the labor commissioner.

2. Notice of [such hearing shall] the hearing must be given by

registered or certified mail to each party and to any person who has in

writing requested such notice. The hearing [shall] must be conducted [no]

not less than 15 days [following] after the mailing of the notices. The

proceedings [shall] must be recorded and one copy [shall] must be

provided at cost to any party who requests it. The labor commissioner or a

person designated [from the commissioner’s regular staff] by him shall, in

any such hearing, make full use of the authority conferred upon him by

NRS 607.210.

Sec. 6. NRS 607.210 is hereby amended to read as follows:

607.210 1. The labor commissioner or a person designated [from the

commissioner’s regular staff] by him may take testimony in all matters

relating to the duties and requirements of this chapter in [some] a suitable

place in the vicinity to which the testimony is applicable.

2. The labor commissioner or a person designated [from the

commissioner’s regular staff] by him may compel the attendance of

witnesses, and may issue subpoenas. No witness fees may be paid to any

witness unless he is required to testify at a place more than 5 miles from

his place of residence, in which event the witness is entitled to be paid the

same fees as a witness before a district court. Payment must be made from

the fund appropriated for those purposes in the county in which the

testimony is taken and the witness examined in the same manner as

provided for the payment of witness fees in the district court of that

county.

3. Any person subpoenaed [under] pursuant to the provisions of this

[section] chapter who willfully refuses or neglects to testify at the time

and place named in the subpoena is guilty of a misdemeanor.

Sec. 7. NRS 607.215 is hereby amended to read as follows:

607.215 1. Within 30 days after the conclusion of the hearing

provided for in NRS 607.207, the labor commissioner or a person

designated [from the commissioner’s regular staff] by him shall issue a

written decision, setting forth findings of fact and conclusions of law

developed at the hearing.

2. The decision, together with the findings of fact and conclusions of

law, [shall] must be mailed to each of the parties to whom the notice of the

hearing was mailed and to any other persons who may have requested

notice of the hearing. The decision becomes enforceable 10 days

[following such] after the mailing.

3. Upon a petition for judicial review, the court may order trial de

novo.

4. A decision issued pursuant to this section is binding on all parties

and has the force of law.

Sec. 8. NRS 607.220 is hereby amended to read as follows:

607.220 Upon the complaint of the labor commissioner, the [district

attorneys of the several counties] attorney general shall prosecute all

criminal violations of law [which may be] that are reported to [them] him

by the labor commissioner.

Sec. 9. NRS 608.250 is hereby amended to read as follows:

608.250 1. Except as otherwise provided in this section, the labor

commissioner shall, in accordance with federal law, establish by

regulation the minimum wage which may be paid to employees in private

employment within the state . [is $3.35 per hour.] The labor commissioner

shall prescribe increases in the minimum wage in accordance with those

prescribed by federal law, unless he determines that [such] those increases

are contrary to the public interest. [The minimum amount which may be

paid to a minor is 85 percent of that amount.]

2. The provisions of subsection 1 do not apply to:

(a) Casual babysitters.

(b) Domestic service employees who reside in the household where they

work.

(d) Employees engaged in an agricultural pursuit for an employer who

did not use more than 500 man-days of agricultural labor in any calendar

quarter of the preceding calendar year.

(e) Taxicab and limousine drivers.

(f) Severely handicapped persons whose disabilities have diminished

their productive capacity in a specific job and who are specified in

certificates issued by the rehabilitation division of the department of

employment, training and rehabilitation.

3. It is unlawful for any person to employ, cause to be employed or

permit to be employed, or to contract with, cause to be contracted with or

permit to be contracted with, any person for a wage less than that

[provided in] established by the labor commissioner pursuant to the

provisions of this section.

Sec. 10. NRS 608.260 is hereby amended to read as follows:

608.260 If any employer pays any employee a lesser amount than the

minimum wage prescribed by regulation of the labor commissioner

pursuant to the provisions of NRS 608.250, [such] the employee may, at

any time within 2 years, bring a civil action [for the recovery of] to

recover the difference between the amount paid to the employee and the

amount of the minimum wage . [prescribed pursuant to NRS 608.250. No]

A contract between the employer and the employee or any acceptance of a

lesser wage by the employee is not a bar to the action.

Sec. 11. NRS 608.270 is hereby amended to read as follows:

608.270 1. The labor commissioner shall:

(a) Administer and enforce the provisions of NRS 608.250; and

(b) Furnish the district attorney of any county or the attorney general

all data and information concerning violations of the provisions of NRS

608.250, occurring in [such] the county coming to the attention of the

labor commissioner.

2. [Every] Each district attorney shall, [when] if a complaint is made

to him by the labor commissioner or by any aggrieved person, prosecute

[every] each violation of the provisions of NRS 608.250[, occurring] that

occurs in his county. [Should] If any such district attorney [fail, neglect or

refuse for a period of] fails, neglects or refuses for 20 days to commence

[the] a prosecution for [the] a violation of the provisions of NRS 608.250,

after being furnished data and information concerning [such] the violation,

and diligently to prosecute the same to conclusion, [he] the district

attorney is guilty of a misdemeanor, and in addition thereto he [shall]

must be removed from office.

Sec. 12. This act becomes effective on July 1, 2001.

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