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General Assembly Committee Bill No. 765
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 6187
Referred to Committee on LABOR AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEES
Introduced by:
(LAB)
AN ACT ENSURING FAIR AND EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 31-76 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 2
(a) The Labor Commissioner shall carry out the provisions of section 3
31-75, as amended by this act, either upon complaint or upon the 4
commissioner's own motion. For this purpose, the commissioner, or 5
the commissioner's authorized representative, may enter places of 6
employment, inspect payrolls, investigate work and operations on 7
which employees are engaged, question employees and take such 8
action as is reasonably necessary to determine compliance with section 9
31-75, as amended by this act. At the request of any employee who has 10
received less than the wage to which the employee is entitled under 11
section 31-75, as amended by this act, the commissioner may take an 12
assignment of such wage claim in trust and may bring any legal action 13
necessary to collect such claim. In any action brought by the 14
commissioner, the employer who violates the provisions of section 31-15
75, as amended by this act, may be found liable to the employee or the 16
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employees affected for the difference between the amount of wages 17
paid and the maximum wage paid any other employee for equal work, 18
compensatory damages and, if the violation is found to be intentional 19
or committed with reckless indifference to the employee's or 20
employees' rights under section 31-75, as amended by this act, punitive 21
damages. Any agreement to work for less than the wage to which such 22
employee is entitled under section 31-75, as amended by this act, shall 23
not be a defense to such action. 24
(b) Unless and except to the extent that a wage claim has been 25
assigned to the commissioner pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, 26
an action to redress a violation of section 31-75, as amended by this act, 27
may be maintained in any court of competent jurisdiction by any one 28
or more employees. Any agreement to work for less than the wage to 29
which such employee is entitled under section 31-75, as amended by 30
this act, shall not be a defense to such action. An employer who 31
violates section 31-75, as amended by this act, may be found liable for 32
the difference between the amount of wages paid and the maximum 33
wage paid any other employee for equal work, compensatory 34
damages, attorney's fees and costs, punitive damages if the violation is 35
found to be intentional or committed with reckless indifference to the 36
employee's or employees' rights under section 31-75, as amended by 37
this act, and such legal and equitable relief as the court deems just and 38
proper. 39
(c) An employer may file a motion in any court of competent 40
jurisdiction to disallow an award of compensatory and punitive 41
damages. The court shall grant the motion if the employer 42
demonstrates, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the employer 43
(1) completed, within three years before the date that the employee 44
filed such action, an equal pay analysis of the employer's pay practices 45
in good faith that was reasonable in detail and scope in light of the size 46
of the employer; and (2) eliminated the wage differentials for the 47
plaintiff. If the court grants the motion, the court may award back pay 48
only for the two-year period immediately preceding the filing of the 49
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action and may award costs and reasonable attorney's fees, but may 50
not award compensatory or punitive damages. Evidence of an equal 51
pay analysis undertaken in accordance with this subsection shall be 52
inadmissible in any other proceeding. 53
[(c)] (d) For purposes of this section, discrimination in compensation 54
under section 31-75, as amended by this act, occurs when a 55
discriminatory compensation decision or practice is adopted, when an 56
individual is subject to a discriminatory compensation decision or 57
practice, or when an individual is affected by application of a 58
discriminatory compensation decision or practice, and shall be deemed 59
to be a continuing violation each time wages, benefits or other 60
compensation is paid, resulting in whole or in part from such a 61
decision or practice. 62
[(d)] (e) No action shall be brought or any prosecution instituted for 63
any violation of section 31-75, as amended by this act, except within 64
two years after such violation or any act described in subsection [(c)] 65
(d) of this section, or within three years if such violation is intentional 66
or committed with reckless indifference. 67
Sec. 2. Subsection (b) of section 31-75 of the general statutes is 68
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 69
October 1, 2019): 70
(b) If an employee can demonstrate that his or her employer 71
discriminates on the basis of sex by paying wages to employees at the 72
employer's business at a rate less than the rate at which the employer 73
pays wages to employees of the opposite sex at such business for equal 74
work on a job, the performance of which requires equal skill, effort and 75
responsibility, and which are performed under similar working 76
conditions, such employer must demonstrate that such differential in 77
pay is made pursuant to (1) a seniority system, provided time spent on 78
leave due to a pregnancy-related condition or protected family and 79
medical leave shall not reduce seniority; (2) a merit system; (3) a 80
system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production; 81
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or (4) a differential system based upon a bona fide factor other than 82
sex, such as education, training or experience. Said bona fide factor 83
defense shall apply only if the employer demonstrates that such factor 84
(A) is not based upon or derived from a sex-based differential in 85
compensation, and (B) is job-related and consistent with business 86
necessity. Such defense shall not exist where the employee 87
demonstrates that an alternative employment practice exists that 88
would serve the same business purpose without producing such 89
differential and that the employer has refused to adopt such 90
alternative practice. 91
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2019 31-76
Sec. 2 October 1, 2019 31-75(b)
Statement of Purpose:
To ensure all employees receive fair and equal pay for equal work.
[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.]
Co-Sponsors: SEN. LOONEY, 11th Dist.; SEN. DUFF, 25th Dist.
SEN. MCCRORY, 2nd Dist.; SEN. CASSANO, 4th Dist.
SEN. LESSER, 9th Dist.; SEN. WINFIELD, 10th Dist.
SEN. COHEN, 12th Dist.; SEN. ABRAMS, 13th Dist.
SEN. OSTEN, 19th Dist.; SEN. MOORE, 22nd Dist.
SEN. BRADLEY, 23rd Dist.; SEN. KUSHNER, 24th Dist.
SEN. HASKELL, 26th Dist.; SEN. LEONE, 27th Dist.
SEN. FLEXER, 29th Dist.; SEN. NEEDLEMAN, 33rd Dist.
SEN. BERGSTEIN, 36th Dist.; REP. ELLIOTT, 88th Dist.
REP. GIBSON, 15th Dist.; REP. WINKLER, 56th Dist.
REP. MICHEL, 146th Dist.
S.B. 76