General Assembly Raised Bill No. 911
January Session, 2015 LCO No. 3315
*03315_______LAB*
Referred to Committee on LABOR AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEES
Introduced by:
(LAB)
General Assembly
Raised Bill No. 911
January Session, 2015
LCO No. 3315
*03315_______LAB*
Referred to Committee on LABOR AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEES
Introduced by:
(LAB)
AN ACT CONCERNING CIVIL ACTIONS TO COLLECT PAST DUE PAYMENTS TO EMPLOYEE WELFARE FUNDS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2015) (a) For the purposes of this section, "employee welfare fund" shall have the same meaning as provided in subsection (i) of section 31-53 of the general statutes.
(b) Any payment to an employee welfare fund that is past due under the terms of a written contract or rules and regulations adopted by the trustees of such funds shall be considered wages for the purpose of section 31-72 of the general statutes, as amended by this act.
(c) (1) Any sole proprietor or general partner, or officer, director or member of a corporation or limited liability company, who fails to make such payment when due to an employee welfare fund under the terms of a written contract or rules and regulations adopted by the trustees of such fund, or (2) any employee of a corporation or limited liability company who has been designated by the corporation or limited liability company to make such payment and who fails to make such payment when due to an employee welfare fund shall be personally liable in a civil action for payment of the amount due such fund, as well as costs and reasonable attorney's fees.
Sec. 2. Section 31-72 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2015):
When any employer fails to pay an employee wages in accordance with the provisions of sections 31-71a to 31-71i, inclusive, or section 1 of this act, other than a sole proprietor or general partner against whom an action has been brought in accordance with the provisions of section 1 of this act for the same failure to pay wages, or fails to compensate an employee in accordance with section 31-76k or where an employee or a labor organization representing an employee institutes an action to enforce an arbitration award which requires an employer to make an employee whole or to make payments to an employee welfare fund, such employee or labor organization may recover, in a civil action, twice the full amount of such wages, with costs and such reasonable attorney's fees as may be allowed by the court, and any agreement between him and his employer for payment of wages other than as specified in said sections shall be no defense to such action. The Labor Commissioner may collect the full amount of any such unpaid wages, payments due to an employee welfare fund or such arbitration award, as well as interest calculated in accordance with the provisions of section 31-265 from the date the wages or payment should have been received, had payment been made in a timely manner. In addition, the Labor Commissioner may bring any legal action necessary to recover twice the full amount of unpaid wages, payments due to an employee welfare fund or arbitration award, and the employer shall be required to pay the costs and such reasonable attorney's fees as may be allowed by the court. The commissioner shall distribute any wages, arbitration awards or payments due to an employee welfare fund collected pursuant to this section to the appropriate person.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2015 New section
Sec. 2 October 1, 2015 31-72
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1
October 1, 2015
New section
Sec. 2
October 1, 2015
31-72
Statement of Purpose:
To allow individuals to bring civil actions against their employers to recover past due payments to employee welfare funds and to require payments to employee welfare funds to be considered "wages" for purposes of section 31-72 of the general statutes.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]