Senate Bill No. 450

Senate Bill No. 450-Senators Augustine, Adler, Jacobsen, McGinness, O'Connell, O'Donnell, Porter, Rawson, Rhoads, Townsend, Washington and Wiener

CHAPTER

664

AN ACT relating to child care; reducing the amount of the business tax for a business that provides for the care of the children of certain employees; providing immunity from civil liability to an employer for certain acts relating to child care; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

[Approved July 17, 1997]

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

Section 1. NRS 364A.150 is hereby amended to read as follows:
364A.1501. The total number of equivalent full-time employees employed by a business in a quarter must be calculated by dividing the total number of hours all employees have worked during the quarter by 468.
2. To determine the total number of hours all employees have worked during the quarter, the business must add the total number of hours worked by full-time employees based in this state during the quarter to the total number of hours worked by part-time employees based in this state during the quarter and to the total number of hours worked in this state by employees described in subsection 6. A "full-time employee" is a person who is employed to work at least 36 hours per week. All other employees are part-time employees. An occasional reduction in the number of hours actually worked in any week by a particular employee, as the result of sickness, vacation or other compensated absence, does not affect his status for the purposes of this section if his regular hours of work are 36 or more per week. All hours for which a part-time employee is paid must be included.
3. [The] Except as otherwise provided in subsection 7, the total number of hours worked by full-time employees of a business during the quarter may be calculated by:
(a) Determining from the records of the business the number of hours each full-time employee has worked during the quarter up to a maximum of 468 hours per quarter and totaling the results; or
(b) Multiplying 7.2 hours by the number of days each full-time employee was employed by the business up to a maximum of 65 days per quarter and totaling the results.
4. [The] Except as otherwise provided in subsection 7, the total number of hours worked by part-time employees of a business during the quarter must be calculated by determining from the records of the business the number of hours each part-time employee has worked during the quarter and totaling the results.
5. The total number of hours all employees have worked during the quarter must be calculated excluding the hours worked by a sole proprietor or one natural person in any unincorporated business, who shall be deemed the owner of the business rather than an employee.
6. To determine the total number of hours all employees have worked during the quarter, in the case of a business which employs a natural person at a base or business location outside Nevada, but directs that person to perform at least some of his duties in Nevada, the calculation must include the total number of hours actually worked by that person in Nevada during the quarter. To calculate the number of hours worked in Nevada, the formula in paragraph (b) of subsection 3 must be used for full-time employees, and the formula in subsection 4 must be used for part-time employees.
7. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 8, if a business employs in a calendar quarter a person whose monthly income for that calendar quarter is 150 percent or less of the federally designated level signifying poverty, the business may exclude the total number of hours which the employee worked during that calendar quarter in calculating the total number of hours worked by employees of the business during the quarter if the business provided to the employee for the whole calendar quarter:
(a) Free child care for the children of the employee at an on-site child care facility; or
(b) One or more vouchers for use by the employee to pay the total cost of child care for the calendar quarter at a licensed child care facility that is within a reasonable distance from the business.
8. The number of hours excluded pursuant to subsection 7 must not reduce the total tax liability of the business by more than 50 percent.
9. As used in this section, the term "on-site child care facility" has the meaning ascribed to it in section 4 of this act.
Sec. 2. Chapter 41 of NRS is hereby amended by adding thereto a new section to read as follows:
If an employer:
1. Pays money directly to an employee for use by the employee to pay all or a portion of the cost of child care and the employee selects the child care facility independent of and without any input from the employer;
2. Provides to an employee one or more vouchers for use by the employee to pay all or a portion of the cost of child care at a child care facility licensed and in good standing pursuant to chapter 432A of NRS;
3. Directs or refers an employee to a child care facility licensed and in good standing pursuant to chapter 432A of NRS; or
4. Negotiates a discount or other benefit for an employee at a child care facility licensed and in good standing pursuant to chapter 432A of NRS,
the employer is immune from civil liability for damages arising from or relating to the child care provided to the children of the employee if the damages are caused by an act or omission that constitutes simple negligence.
Sec. 3. Chapter 432A of NRS is hereby amended by adding thereto the provisions set forth as sections 4 and 5 of this act.
Sec. 4. "On-site child care facility" means an establishment that:
1. Is licensed pursuant to this chapter;
2. Provides care to the children of employees of a business at the place of employment;
3. Provides care on a temporary or permanent basis, during the day or overnight, to five or more children who are under the age of 18 years and who are not related within the third degree of consanguinity or affinity to an owner or manager of the business; and
4. Is owned, operated, subsidized, managed, contracted for or staffed by the business.
Sec. 5. If an on-site child care facility does not have sufficient outdoor play space to comply with the requirements established by the board for licensure, the board shall allow the facility to substitute an equal amount of indoor play space for the otherwise required amount of outdoor play space.
Sec. 6. NRS 432A.020 is hereby amended to read as follows:
432A.020As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires, the words and terms defined in NRS 432A.021 to 432A.028, inclusive, and section 4 of this act, have the meanings ascribed to them in those sections.
Sec. 7. NRS 432A.024 is hereby amended to read as follows:
432A.0241. "Child care facility" means:
(a) An establishment operated and maintained for the purpose of furnishing care on a temporary or permanent basis, during the day or overnight, to five or more children under 18 years of age, if compensation is received for the care of any of those children; [or]
(b) An on-site child care facility; or
(c) An outdoor youth program.
2. "Child care facility" does not include:
(a) The home of a natural parent or guardian, foster home as defined in chapter 424 of NRS or maternity home;
(b) A home in which the only children received, cared for and maintained are related within the third degree of consanguinity or affinity by blood, adoption or marriage to the person operating the facility; or
(c) A home in which a person provides care for the children of a friend or neighbor for not more than 4 weeks if the person who provides the care does not regularly engage in that activity.
Sec. 8. This act becomes effective on January 1, 1998.
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