General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 395
February Session, 2016 *_____SB00395GL____031116____*
General Assembly
Substitute Bill No. 395
February Session, 2016
*_____SB00395GL____031116____*
AN ACT CONCERNING WAGE THEFT AND ALCOHOLIC LIQUOR PERMIT NONRENEWAL AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ISSUANCE OF ALCOHOLIC LIQUOR PERMITS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 31-72 of the 2016 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
(a) When any employer fails to pay an employee wages in accordance with the provisions of sections 31-71a to 31-71i, inclusive, 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 shall recover, in a civil action, (1) twice the full amount of such wages, with costs and such reasonable attorney's fees as may be allowed by the court, or (2) if the employer establishes that the employer had a good faith belief that the underpayment of wages was in compliance with law, the full amount of such wages or compensation, with costs and such reasonable attorney's fees as may be allowed by the court. Any agreement between an employee and his or her 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.
(b) The Labor Commissioner shall notify the Commissioner of Consumer Protection, in writing, of the name and address of any employer holding a permit issued pursuant to title 30 authorizing the sale or serving of alcoholic liquor on such employer's premises when such employer has (1) paid or agreed to pay less than the minimum fair wage or overtime wage in violation of section 31-60, (2) withheld, diverted or failed to pay wages in violation of any provision of sections 31-71a to 31-71e, inclusive, (3) employed an employee for a workweek longer than forty hours without providing remuneration for his or her employment in violation of section 31-76c, or (4) failed to compensate an employee in violation of section 31-76k.
Sec. 2. Section 30-55a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
(a) The Department of Consumer Protection shall, upon notice from the administrator of the Unemployment Compensation Act of the name and address of any employer subject to chapter 567 who has failed to file any return or to pay the contributions prescribed under the provisions of said chapter, suspend the permit of such employer until written notice from the administrator has been received that the returns have been filed and the contributions, including interest, have been paid.
(b) When any permit premises where alcoholic liquor is consumed on the premises emits noise which, when measured at a radius of two hundred feet from the premises, as described in the permittee's application for a liquor permit, exceeds the ambient noise standard for the land use classification for the location at which such measurement is made, as established by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection pursuant to section 22a-69, the Department of Consumer Protection may suspend the permit to sell alcoholic liquor for three days for a first violation, five days for a second violation and fourteen days for any subsequent violation.
(c) The Commissioner of Consumer Protection shall, upon receiving notice from the Labor Commissioner, pursuant to subsection (b) of section 31-72, as amended by this act, consider such notice and may suspend the permit of such employer. The Commissioner of Consumer Protection shall not reinstate the permit until he or she has received written notice from the Labor Commissioner that the employer is in compliance with section 31-60, sections 31-71a to 31-71e, inclusive, and sections 31-76c and 31-76k.
Sec. 3. Subsection (c) of section 30-6a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
(c) The department shall not adopt or enforce any regulation: (1) Requiring prior approval of alterations or changes in the interior or exterior of permit premises; (2) requiring prior approval for live entertainment or the installation of amusement devices or games; (3) requiring registration of employees or agents of permittees; (4) requiring the presence of retail permittees on permit premises during hours of sale or prohibiting employment of such permittees in another occupation or business except as provided in section 30-45; [or] (5) establishing a mandated minimum price above which a permittee must sell; or (6) prohibiting the issuance of a permit to an applicant who is unable to read and understand English.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 from passage 31-72
Sec. 2 from passage 30-55a
Sec. 3 from passage 30-6a(c)
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1
from passage
31-72
Sec. 2
from passage
30-55a
Sec. 3
from passage
30-6a(c)
GL Joint Favorable Subst.
GL
Joint Favorable Subst.