1. An employer shall not:

(a) Through means of coercion, misrepresentation or fraud, require a person to be classified as an independent contractor or form any business entity in order to classify the person as an independent contractor; or

(b) Willfully misclassify or otherwise willfully fail to properly classify a person as an independent contractor.

2. In addition to any other remedy or penalty provided by law, the Labor Commissioner may impose an administrative penalty against an employer who misclassifies a person as an independent contractor or otherwise fails to properly classify a person as an employee of the employer. An administrative penalty imposed pursuant to this section must be:

(a) For a first offense committed by an employer who unintentionally misclassifies or otherwise fails to properly classify a person as an employee of the employer, a warning issued to the employer by the Labor Commissioner.

(b) For a first offense committed by an employer who willfully misclassifies or otherwise willfully fails to properly classify a person as an employee of the employer, a fine of $2,500 for the first incident of willfully misclassifying or willfully failing to properly classify one or more persons as an employee of the employer imposed by the Labor Commissioner.

(c) For a second or subsequent offense, a fine of $5,000 for each employee who was willfully misclassified imposed by the Labor Commissioner.

3. Before the Labor Commissioner may enforce an administrative penalty against an employer for misclassifying or otherwise failing to properly classify an employee of the employer pursuant to this section, the Labor Commissioner must provide the employer with notice and an opportunity for a hearing as set forth in NRS 607.207. The Labor Commissioner may impose an administrative penalty as set forth in subsection 2 if the Labor Commissioner finds that:

(a) The employer misclassified a person as an independent contractor; or

(b) The employer otherwise failed to properly classify a person as an employee of the employer.

(Added to NRS by 2019, 3158)