Labor & Employment

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 82 to define "city," "project workforce agreement," and "public construction project"; permit a city to establish a mandatory preference for awarding public construction project contracts to a contractor or group of contractors registered with an apprenticeship and training program; permit cities to negotiate wages that are higher than the state or federal minimum wage as a condition of the project workforce agreement; create a new section of KRS Chapter 337 to define "city," "prevailing wage," "prevailing wage rate," and "public works project"; permit a city to enact prevailing wage ordinances; amend KRS 65.016 to grant local governments the authority to adopt and enforce ordinances that require employers in their jurisdiction to provide leave to employees and set a higher minimum wage than state and federal rates.

Amend KRS 61.702, relating to the Kentucky Employees Retirement System and the State Police Retirement System, to increase the nonhazardous and hazardous duty under age 65 retiree health subsidy to $40 and $50 per month for each year of service, respectively, for those members who meet the "career threshold" who began participating in the system on or after July 1, 2003, and who are eligible for a fixed-dollar retiree health subsidy not tied to the premium; extend the employee contribution used to fund retiree health benefits to include members who began participating in the system on or after July 1, 2003, and increase the current hazardous employee contribution rate to 2% of pay for those eligible for the fixed-dollar retiree health subsidy; make technical amendments regarding the retiree health premium reimbursement program to conform to current policy; provide that the amendments to the employee contributions shall be effective July 1, 2027; for calculation of the retiree health subsidy increase, provide that the change shall apply to service earned prior to the effective date of this Act by eligible members, including retirees, and shall prospectively be adjusted annually by the 1.5% increase currently provided in statute; provide that subsidies payable to impacted retirees shall begin on or after January 1, 2027, to coincide with the next health plan year; direct the Public Pension Oversight Board to continue to review the retiree health fund actuarial data and evaluate potential legislative options to address any future continued improvements in the funds; RETROACTIVE.

Amend KRS 78.5520 to redefine "hazardous position" to include code enforcement and zoning inspection personnel employed by a consolidated local government for the purposes of benefits of the County Employees Retirement System.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 156 to establish the Adult Workforce Diploma Pilot Program; define terms; establish the Adult Workforce Diploma Pilot Program fund; establish eligibility criteria for the program; direct the Education and Labor Cabinet to administer the program; provide payments to program providers for students who complete specified milestones; require program result reporting to the Kentucky Board of Education, the Secretary of State, and the Legislative Research Commission; specify a program end date of July 1, 2029.

Amend KRS 304.17-316 to define "breast examination"; provide for annual mammogram coverage for persons ages 40 to 49 years; eliminate cost sharing for any covered breast examination; provide for construction of section; create a new section of Subtitle 17A of KRS Chapter 304 to define terms; require health benefit plans to provide coverage of preventive screenings for the detection of breast cancer for certain individuals; establish requirements for coverage; provide for construction of section; amend KRS 164.2871 and 18A.225 to require self-insured state postsecondary education institution group health plans and the state employee health plan to comply with breast examination coverage requirements; apply sections to health insurance policies, plans, certificates, and contracts issued, renewed, or delivered on or after January 1, 2027; EFFECTIVE January 1, 2027.

Amend KRS 161.155 to allow school district employees to use sick leave for observance of religious holidays not otherwise included on the school's calendar if the employee submits a personal statement verifying the observance and gives advance notice to the district; permit local school districts to compensate teachers and employees prior to retirement for accrued accumulated sick leave above 15 days at up to 30% of the teacher's or employee's daily wage; provide that compensation for sick leave compensated prior to retirement shall not impact retirement benefits or contributions to the Teachers' Retirement System or County Employees Retirement System and shall be considered as payment for services rendered; require the Kentucky Department of Education to annually report to the Legislative Research Commission on school districts who have established a program to compensate unused sick leave prior to retirement; amend KRS 78.616 and 161.220 to conform and to make technical amendments.

Amend KRS 61.315 to include additional cancers which, when they are the cause of death of a firefighter, would make the firefighter eligible for death benefits; make a technical correction.

Amend KRS 337.010 to define "job posting" and "wage range"; create a new section of KRS Chapter 337 to require all employers to include the wages or wage range for the advertised position in any job posting; amend KRS 95A.250 and 337.020 to conform.

Amend KRS 337.010 to increase the applicable threshold of employees of retail stores and service industries from $95,000 to $500,000 average annual gross volume of sales for the employer; amend KRS 337.275 to incrementally raise minimum wage for employers to $15.00 an hour; include anti-preemption language permitting local governments to establish minimum wage ordinances in excess of the state minimum wage.

Amend KRS 344.010 to define terms; amend KRS 344.020, relating to the purpose of the Kentucky's civil rights chapter, to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity; amend KRS 344.025, 344.040, 344.050, 344.060, 344.070, and 344.080, relating to prohibited discrimination in various labor and employment practices, to include discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity; amend KRS 344.100 and 344.110 to conform; amend KRS 344.120 and 344.140, relating to prohibited discrimination in places of public accommodation, to include discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity; amend KRS 344.170, 344.180, 344.190, 344.300, and 344.310, relating to the state and local human rights commissions, to include prohibition of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in the scope of their powers and duties; amend KRS 344.360, 344.370, 344.380, and 344.680, relating to prohibited discrimination in certain housing, real estate, and other financial transactions, to include discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity; amend KRS 344.367, relating to prohibited discrimination in certain insurance sales, to include discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity; amend KRS 344.400, relating to prohibited discrimination in certain credit transactions, to include discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity; make various technical amendments; amend KRS 18A.095 to conform.