1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 3, any person who is an apprentice or trainee shall be deemed for the purposes of chapters 616A to 616D, inclusive, of NRS to be an employee of an apprenticeship committee registered with the State Apprenticeship Council at a wage of $150 per month while the person is:

(a) Attending a class for vocational training; or

(b) Receiving bona fide instruction as an apprentice or trainee,

under the direction of the apprenticeship committee. Such an apprentice or trainee is entitled to the benefits of chapters 616A to 616D, inclusive, of NRS.

2. A person who is an apprentice or trainee shall be deemed for the purposes of chapters 616A to 616D, inclusive, of NRS to be an employee of an employer who is participating in a program of training and instruction as an apprentice or trainee approved pursuant to chapter 610 of NRS while:

(a) The apprentice or trainee is performing work for that employer; and

(b) The employer is paying the apprentice or trainee a wage for the work performed.

The apprentice or trainee shall be deemed to be an employee at a wage equal to his or her average monthly wage as determined pursuant to the regulations adopted by the Administrator pursuant to NRS 616C.420 and is entitled to the benefits of chapters 616A to 616D, inclusive, of NRS.

3. If an apprentice or trainee who is employed by an employer participating in a program of training and instruction is injured while the apprentice or trainee, as applicable, is deemed to be an employee of the apprenticeship committee pursuant to subsection 1 and the apprentice or trainee is unable to work for an employer participating in the program solely because of that injury, the apprentice or trainee shall be deemed to be an employee of the apprenticeship committee at a wage of $150 per month or at his or her average monthly wage as determined pursuant to the regulations adopted by the Administrator pursuant to NRS 616C.420, whichever is greater.

4. As used in this section, “trainee” means a person who is under the direction of an apprenticeship committee specified in subsection 1 and, for that purpose, is described by that apprenticeship committee as a “journeyworker trainee.”

(Added to NRS by 1981, 710; A 1983, 1292; 1997, 2766; 2001, 363)