336.700 Prohibition against requiring waiver of statutory rights as a condition of
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/ky/336-700A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
employment -- Exceptions -- Arbitration agreements.
(1)As used in this section, "employer" means any person, either individual,
corporation, partnership, agency, or firm, that employs an employee and includes
any person, either individual, corporation, partnership, agency, or firm, acting
directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee; and
"employee" means any person employed by or suffered or permitted to work for an
employer.
(2)Notwithstanding any provision of the Kentucky Revised Statutes to the contrary and
except as provided in subsection
(3)of this section, no employer shall require as a
condition or precondition of employment that any employee or person seeking
employment waive or otherwise diminish any existing or future claim, right, or
benefit to which the employee or person seeking employment would otherwise be
entitled under any provision of the Kentucky Revised Statutes or any federal law.
(3)Notwithstanding subsection
(2)of this section:
(a)Any employer may require an employee or person seeking employment to
execute an agreement for arbitration, mediation, or other form of alternative
dispute resolution as a condition or precondition of employment;
(b)Any employer may require a former employee to execute an agreement to
waive an existing claim as a condition or precondition for the rehiring of the
former employee as part of a settlement of pending litigation or other legal or
administrative proceeding;
(c)Any employer may require an employee or person seeking employment to
execute an agreement to reasonably reduce the period of limitations for filing
a claim against the employer as a condition or precondition of employment,
provided that the agreement does not apply to causes of action that arise under
a state or federal law where an agreement to modify the limitations period is
preempted or prohibited, and provided that such an agreement does not reduce
the period of limitations by more than fifty percent (50%) of the time that is
provided under the law that is applicable to the claim; and
(d)Any employer may require, as a condition or precondition of employment, an
employee or person seeking employment to agree for the employer to obtain a
background check or similar type of personal report on the employee or
person seeking employment in conformance with a state or federal law that
requires the consent of the individual prior to an employer's receipt or use of
such a report.
(4)An arbitration agreement executed by an employer and an employee or a candidate
for employment under subsection (3)(a) of this section shall be subject to general
contract defenses as may be applicable in a particular controversy, including fraud,
duress, and unconscionability.
(5)In accordance with the Federal Arbitration Act, arbitration under subsection (3)(a)
of this section shall safeguard the effective vindication of legal rights, including:
(a)Providing a reasonable location for the arbitration;
(b)Mutuality of obligation sufficient to support the agreement to arbitrate;
(c)Ensuring procedural fairness for the parties to access arbitration, including a
fair process for selecting an impartial arbitrator and the equitable, lawful
allocation of arbitration costs between the parties;
(d)Ensuring that the parties to the agreement shall have at least one
(1)channel
for the pursuit of a legal claim, either by requiring the claim to be arbitrated
individually pursuant to the agreement or otherwise; and
(e)Empowering the arbitrator to award all types of relief for a particular type of
claim that would otherwise be available for a party through judicial
enforcement, including punitive damages as provided by law.
(6)An arbitrator selected to arbitrate an agreement entered into pursuant to this section
shall disqualify himself or herself if he or she has any of the conflicts enumerated
under KRS 26A.015(2).
(7)If an arbitration agreement fails to specify the manner of procedure to govern the
arbitration process, such as, for example, by failing to designate arbitral protocols
promulgated by the American Arbitration Association or similar organization, then
the arbitrator shall use the Kentucky Rules of Civil Procedure in the conduct of the
arbitration.
(8)This section shall apply prospectively and retroactively. Any provision of an
agreement executed prior to June 27, 2019, that violates the requirements of
subsection (3)(c) of this section shall be stricken from the agreement and shall not
operate to invalidate the entire agreement.
(9)The provisions of this section shall not apply to collective bargaining agreements
entered into between employers and the respective representatives of member
employees.