Connecticut 2019 Regular Session

Connecticut Senate Bill SB01051 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

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7	7		General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1051
8	8		January Session, 2019
9	9		LCO No. 5410
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12	12		Referred to Committee on HUMAN SERVICES
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14	14
15	15		Introduced by:
16	16		(HS)
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20	20		AN ACT STRENGTHENING HO ME CARE SERVICES.
21	21		Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
22	22		Assembly convened:
23	23
24	24		Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2019) (a) For purposes of this 1
25	25		section and section 2 of this act, (1) "commissioner" means the 2
26	26		Commissioner of Consumer Protection; (2) "employee organization" 3
27	27		means any lawful association, labor organization, federation or council 4
28	28		having as a primary purpose the improvement of wages, hours and 5
29	29		other conditions of employment among workers; and (3) "homemaker- 6
30	30		companion agency" has the same meaning as provided in section 20-7
31	31		670 of the general statutes, as amended by this act. 8
32	32		(b) The Commissioner of Consumer Protection shall establish and 9
33	33		maintain a directory of employees of homemaker-companion agencies 10
34	34		whether such employees work on a paid, unpaid, part-time, full-time, 11
35	35		temporary or permanent basis. The commissioner shall assign a unique 12
36	36		identification number to each employee of a homemaker-companion 13
37	37		agency and shall collect and maintain the following information 14
38	38		concerning each employee: (1) Full name, (2) job title, (3) date of hire, 15
39	39		(4) self-identified gender, (5) home address, (6) mailing address, (7) 16 Raised Bill No. 1051
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46	46		telephone number, (8) electronic mail address, (9) full legal name of the 17
47	47		homemaker-companion agency employing the employee, and (10) a 18
48	48		list of home care trainings offered by the homemaker-companion 19
49	49		agency or its designee and date the training was completed by the 20
50	50		employee. 21
51	51		(c) A homemaker-companion agency shall collect and submit to the 22
52	52		commissioner information required pursuant to subsection (b) of this 23
53	53		section for each employee not later than five business days after hiring 24
54	54		such employee and shall submit updated information to the 25
55	55		commissioner for each employee on a quarterly basis. Information 26
56	56		other than the employee's full name, identification number, name of 27
57	57		any homemaker-companion agency employing the employee and a list 28
58	58		of home care trainings completed by the employee shall not be deemed 29
59	59		a public record under section 1-200 of the general statutes. Employees 30
60	60		shall not be responsible for any costs related to the directory. 31
61	61		(d) The commissioner shall make each employee's full name, 32
62	62		identification number, name of any homemaker-companion agency 33
63	63		employer and a list of home care trainings completed by the employee 34
64	64		available to the public unless such information is exempt from 35
65	65		disclosure by the commissioner pursuant to this section. The 36
66	66		commissioner shall provide all reported information, including contact 37
67	67		information, to a homemaker-companion agency or employee 38
68	68		organization upon request. 39
69	69		(e) Whenever the commissioner receives a request to inspect or copy 40
70	70		information contained in any public record about any employee in the 41
71	71		directory, the commissioner shall notify the homemaker-companion 42
72	72		agency that provided information on such employee not later than one 43
73	73		business day after receiving the request. Not later than one business 44
74	74		day after receiving notice from the commissioner, the agency shall 45
75	75		notify, in writing, (1) each employee concerned, provided such notice 46
76	76		shall not be required to be in writing where impractical due to a large 47
77	77		number of employees concerned, and (2) the employee organization, if 48
78	78		any, of each employee concerned. Except as otherwise set forth in this 49 Raised Bill No. 1051
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85	85		section or as may otherwise be required by law, the commissioner shall 50
86	86		not disclose any information which is not a public record. Except as 51
87	87		otherwise required by law, the commissioner may withhold from 52
88	88		disclosure information in the public record about an employee listed in 53
89	89		the directory whenever the commissioner has reasonable cause to 54
90	90		believe that release of such information would place the employee in 55
91	91		imminent danger. 56
92	92		(f) Unless otherwise required by law or court order, the 57
93	93		commissioner shall not provide access to the directory to federal, state 58
94	94		and local government entities, including, but not limited to, United 59
95	95		States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or for the purpose of 60
96	96		criminal prosecution. 61
97	97		Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2019) (a) A homemaker-companion 62
98	98		agency shall provide an employee with (1) a minimum of sixteen hours 63
99	99		of paid training not later than sixty days after hiring such employee, 64
100	100		and (2) eight hours of paid continuing education annually. Training 65
101	101		topics shall include (A) services to assist consumers with personal 66
102	102		hygiene, (B) cooking, (C) household cleaning, (D) laundry and other 67
103	103		activities of daily living, and (E) a minimum of one hour of training in 68
104	104		federal and state workplace safety, fair wage and antidiscrimination 69
105	105		laws, regulations related to the employee's job duties and the rules of 70
106	106		any applicable collective bargaining agreement. 71
107	107		(b) A homemaker-companion agency shall ensure that employee 72
108	108		training is provided by a trainer with experience in workforce training 73
109	109		in the home care industry, with preference given to a trainer with 74
110	110		experience in both the effective performance of home care duties and 75
111	111		the rights and responsibilities of home care consumers and employees. 76
112	112		(c) The Commissioner of Consumer Protection shall adopt 77
113	113		regulations in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of the 78
114	114		general statutes to implement the provisions of this section and section 79
115	115		1 of this act. 80 Raised Bill No. 1051
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122	122		Sec. 3. Subdivision (5) of section 20-670 of the general statutes is 81
123	123		repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 82
124	124		1, 2019): 83
125	125		(5) "Comprehensive background check" means a background 84
126	126		investigation of a prospective employee performed by a homemaker-85
127	127		companion agency, that includes: (A) A review of any application 86
128	128		materials prepared or requested by the agency and completed by the 87
129	129		prospective employee; (B) an in-person interview of the prospective 88
130	130		employee; (C) verification of the prospective employee's Social 89
131	131		Security number; (D) if the position applied for within the agency 90
132	132		requires licensure on the part of the prospective employee, verification 91
133	133		that the required license is in good standing; (E) a check of the sexual 92
134	134		offender registry established and maintained pursuant to section 54-93
135	135		257; (F) a review of criminal conviction information obtained through a 94
136	136		search of current criminal matters of public record in this state based 95
137	137		on the prospective employee's name and date of birth; (G) if the 96
138	138		prospective employee has resided in this state less than three years 97
139	139		prior to the date of the application with the agency, a review of 98
140	140		criminal conviction information from the state or states where such 99
141	141		prospective employee resided during such three-year period; and (H) a 100
142	142		review of any other information that the agency deems necessary in 101
143	143		order to evaluate the suitability of the prospective employee for the 102
144	144		position. 103
145	145		Sec. 4. Section 20-671 of the general statutes is repealed and the 104
146	146		following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2019): 105
147	147		No person acting individually or jointly with any other person shall 106
148	148		establish, conduct, operate or maintain a homemaker-companion 107
149	149		agency in this state without first obtaining a certificate of registration 108
150	150		from the Commissioner of Consumer Protection pursuant to section 109
151	151		20-672. A homemaker-companion agency shall submit annual cost 110
152	152		reports and audited financial statements to the commissioner. Annual 111
153	153		cost reports may be identical to annual reports submitted by the 112
154	154		agency to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 113 Raised Bill No. 1051
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161	161		This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
162	162		sections:
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164	164		Section 1 July 1, 2019 New section
165	165		Sec. 2 July 1, 2019 New section
166	166		Sec. 3 July 1, 2019 20-670(5)
167	167		Sec. 4 July 1, 2019 20-671
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169	169		HS Joint Favorable
170		-	APP Joint Favorable
171	170