§ 432B.199 — Employment with agency which provides child welfare services: Termination of employee charged with or convicted of certain crimes; correction of information

Nevada § 432B.199

• Jurisdiction: Nevada
• Title 38: PUBLIC WELFARE
• Ch. 432B: Protection

Text

1. If the report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation forwarded to an agency which provides child welfare services pursuant to subsection 5 of NRS 432B.198 , the information received by an agency which provides child welfare services pursuant to subsection 2 of NRS 432B.198 or evidence from any other source indicates that an applicant for employment with the agency, or an employee of the agency:
(a) Has criminal charges pending against him or her for a crime listed in paragraph (a) of subsection 1 of NRS 432B.198 , the agency may deny employment to the applicant or terminate the employment of the employee after allowing the applicant or employee time to correct the information as required pursuant to subsection 2 or 3, whichever is applicable; or
(b) Except as otherwise provided in subsection 6, has been convicted of a crime listed in paragraph (a) of subsection 1 of NRS 432B.198 , has had a substantiated report of child abuse or neglect made against him or her or has not been satisfactorily cleared by a central registry described in paragraph (b) of subsection 2 of NRS 432B.198 , the agency shall deny employment to the applicant or terminate the employment of the employee after allowing the applicant or employee time to correct the information as required pursuant to subsection 2 or 3, whichever is applicable.
2. If an applicant for employment or an employee believes that the information in the report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation forwarded to the agency which provides child welfare services pursuant to subsection 5 of NRS 432B.198 is incorrect, the applicant or employee must inform the agency immediately. An agency that provides child welfare services that is so informed shall give the applicant or employee a reasonable amount of time of not less than 30 days to correct the information.
3. If an applicant for employment or an employee believes that the information received by an agency which provides child welfare services pursuant to subsection 2 of NRS 432B.198 is incorrect, the applicant or employee must inform the agency immediately. An agency which provides child welfare services that is so informed shall give the applicant or employee a reasonable amount of time of not less than 60 days to correct the information.
4. During the period in which an applicant or employee seeks to correct information pursuant to subsection 2 or 3, the applicant or employee:
(a) Shall not have contact with a child or a relative or guardian of the child in the course of performing any duties as an employee of the agency which provides child welfare services.
(b) May be placed on leave without pay.
5. The provisions of subsection 4 must not be construed as preventing an agency which provides child welfare services from initiating internal disciplinary procedures against an employee during the period in which an employee seeks to correct information pursuant to subsection 2 or 3.
6. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 7, an agency which provides child welfare services may waive the prohibition on hiring an applicant or the requirement to terminate the employment of an employee who has been convicted of a crime listed in paragraph (a) of subsection 1 of NRS 432B.198 if the agency adopts and applies an objective weighing test in accordance with this subsection. The objective weighing test must include factors the agency will consider when making a determination as to whether to waive such a prohibition or requirement, including, without limitation:
(a) The age, maturity and capacity of the applicant or employee at the time of his or her conviction;
(b) The length of time since the applicant or employee committed the crime;
(c) Any participation by the applicant or employee in rehabilitative services; and
(d) The relevance of the crime to the position for which the applicant has applied or in which the employee is employed.
7. The:
(a) Prohibition on hiring an applicant who has been convicted of a crime listed in paragraph (a) of subsection 1 of NRS 432B.198 may not be waived through the use of the objective weighing test if the crime was sexually-related and the victim was a child who was less than 18 years of age when the crime was committed.
(b) Requirement to terminate the employment of an employee who has been convicted of a crime listed in paragraph (a) of subsection 1 of NRS 432B.198 may not be waived through the use of the objective weighing test if:
(1) The crime was sexually-related and the victim was a child who was less than 18 years of age when the crime was committed; or
(2) The information concerning the conviction was obtained pursuant to a second or subsequent background investigation concerning the employee that is conducted by the agency.
8. An agency which provides child welfare services shall, with regard to each applicant or employee to whom the agency applies the objective weighing test pursuant to subsection 6:
(a) Track the age, race and ethnicity of the applicant or employee, the position for which the applicant applied or in which the employee is employed and the determination made by the agency; and
(b) Review such data not less than once every 2 years to determine the efficacy of the objective weighing test and whether the data indicates the presence of any implicit bias.
9. The determination made by an agency which provides child welfare services with regard to an applicant or employee to whom the agency applies the objective weighing test is final.
10. For the purposes of this section, the period during which criminal charges are pending against an applicant or employee for a crime listed in paragraph (a) of subsection 1 of NRS 432B.198 begins and ends as set forth in subsection 7 of that section.

Legislative History

(Added to NRS by 2013, 466 ; A 2021, 2631 , 3476 )