General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 6406
January Session, 2011 *_____HB06406LAB___031111____*
General Assembly
Substitute Bill No. 6406
January Session, 2011
*_____HB06406LAB___031111____*
AN ACT CONCERNING EMPLOYER'S RESPONSIBILITIES AND EMPLOYEE RIGHTS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective January 1, 2012) (a) Each employer, at the time of hiring, shall provide notice to each employee (1) of the employee's entitlements and benefits, whether negotiated or statutory, (2) that retaliation in any form by the employer against the employee for requesting to use or using entitlements and benefits, whether negotiated or statutory, is prohibited, and (3) that the employee has a right to file a complaint with the Labor Commissioner for any violation of this section. Employers may comply with the provisions of this section by displaying a poster in a conspicuous place, accessible to employees, at the employer's place of business that contains the information required by this section in both English and Spanish. The Labor Commissioner may adopt regulations, in accordance with chapter 54 of the general statutes, to establish additional requirements concerning the means by which employers shall provide such notice. The Labor Commissioner shall administer this section within available appropriations.
(b) For the purposes of this section and section 2 of this act, (1) "employee" means any person engaged in service to an employer in the business of the employer, who has worked a minimum of five hundred twenty hours for an employer within the past twelve months and is (A) paid on an hourly basis, or (B) not exempt from the minimum wage and overtime compensation requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and the regulations promulgated thereunder, as amended from time to time. "Employee" does not include (i) day or temporary workers, and (ii) employees of any constituent unit of the state system of higher education, as defined in section 10a-1 of the general statutes, who are part-time or adjunct faculty members, university assistants working less than twenty hours per work, educational assistants or other part time professional employees; (2) "employer" means any person, firm, business, educational institution, nonprofit agency, corporation, limited liability company or other entity that employs fifty or more persons in the state; (3) "entitlements and benefits, whether negotiated or statutory" means paid sick leave, maternity leave, vacation time, medical coverage, prescription drug coverage, dental coverage, vision coverage, employee discounts, family and medical leave, and worker's compensation benefit; and (4) "retaliatory personnel action" means any termination, suspension, constructive discharge, demotion, unfavorable reassignment, refusal to promote, disciplinary action, warning, whether verbal or written or other adverse employment action taken by an employer against an employee.
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective January 1, 2012) (a) No employer shall take retaliatory personnel action or discriminate against an employee because the employee (1) requests or uses entitlements and benefits, whether negotiated or statutory, or (2) files a complaint with the Labor Commissioner alleging the employer's violation of this section. The Labor Commissioner shall administer this section within available appropriations.
(b) Any employer who is found by the Labor Commissioner, by a preponderance of the evidence, to have violated the provisions of this section shall be liable to the Labor Department for a civil penalty of six hundred dollars for each violation. The Labor Commissioner may award the employee all appropriate relief, including rehiring or reinstatement to the employee's previous job, payment of back wages and reestablishment of employee benefits to which the employee otherwise would have been eligible if the employee had not been subject to such retaliatory personnel action or discriminated against. Any party aggrieved by the decision of the commissioner may appeal the decisions to the Superior Court in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 January 1, 2012 New section
Sec. 2 January 1, 2012 New section
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1
January 1, 2012
New section
Sec. 2
January 1, 2012
New section
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In subsection (a) of section 2, "in accordance with section 2 of this act" was deleted and "section 2 of this act" was also deleted in subsection (a) and (b) of section 2 and replaced with "this section" for accuracy of reference and to conform with the style of the general statutes.
LAB Joint Favorable Subst.-LCO
LAB
Joint Favorable Subst.-LCO