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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 409
February Session, 2020
LCO No. 2641
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC SAFETY AND SECURITY
Introduced by:
(PS)
AN ACT CONCERNING HO MEMAKER AND COMPANIO N SERVICES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 20-670 of the 2020 supplement to the general 1
statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof 2
(Effective October 1, 2020): 3
As used in sections 20-670 to [20-680] 20-681, inclusive: 4
(1) "Certificate" means a certificate of registration issued under 5
section 20-672. 6
(2) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Consumer 7
Protection or any person designated by the commissioner to administer 8
and enforce the provisions of sections 20-670 to 20-680, inclusive. 9
(3) "Companion services" means nonmedical, basic supervision 10
services to ensure the well-being and safety of a person in such person's 11
home. 12
(4) "Employee" means any person employed by, or who enters into a 13 Raised Bill No. 409
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contract to perform services for, a homemaker-companion agency, 14
including, but not limited to, temporary employees, pool employees 15
and persons treated by such agency as independent contractors. 16
(5) "Comprehensive background check" means a background 17
investigation of a prospective employee performed by a homemaker-18
companion agency or a registry, that includes: (A) A review of any 19
application materials prepared or requested by the agency and 20
completed by the prospective employee; (B) an in-person interview of 21
the prospective employee; (C) verification of the prospective employee's 22
Social Security number; (D) if the position applied for within the agency 23
requires licensure on the part of the prospective employee, verification 24
that the required license is in good standing; (E) a check of the registry 25
established and maintained pursuant to section 54-257; (F) a review of 26
criminal conviction information obtained through a search of current 27
criminal matters of public record in this state based on the prospective 28
employee's name and date of birth; (G) if the prospective employee has 29
resided in this state less than three years prior to the date of the 30
application with the agency, a review of criminal conviction information 31
from the state or states where such prospective employee resided 32
during such three-year period; and (H) a review of any other 33
information that the agency deems necessary in order to evaluate the 34
suitability of the prospective employee for the position. 35
(6) "Homemaker services" means nonmedical, supportive services 36
that ensure a safe and healthy environment for a person in such person's 37
home, such services to include assistance with personal hygiene, 38
cooking, household cleaning, laundry and other household chores. 39
(7) "Homemaker-companion agency" means (A) any public or private 40
organization that employs one or more persons and is engaged in the 41
business of providing companion services or homemaker services, or (B) 42
any registry. "Homemaker-companion agency" shall not include a home 43
health care agency, as defined in subsection (d) of section 19a-490, or a 44
home health aide agency, as defined in subsection (e) of section 19a-490. 45 Raised Bill No. 409
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(8) "Registry" means any person or entity engaged in the business of 46
supplying or referring an [individual] employee to or placing an 47
[individual] employee with a consumer to provide homemaker or 48
companion services provided by such [individual] employee, when the 49
[individual] employee providing such services is either (A) directly 50
compensated as an employee, in whole or in part, by the consumer, or 51
(B) treated, referred to or considered by such person or entity as an 52
independent contractor. 53
(9) "Service plan" means a written document provided by a 54
homemaker-companion agency to a person utilizing services provided 55
by such agency, that specifies the anticipated scope, type, frequency and 56
duration of homemaker or companion services that are to be provided 57
by such agency for the benefit of the person. 58
Sec. 2. Section 20-679a of the general statutes is repealed and the 59
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2020): 60
(a) A registry that supplies, refers or places an [individual] employee 61
with a consumer shall provide the consumer with a written notice, to be 62
signed by the consumer, specifying the legal liabilities of such registry 63
to the [individual] employee supplied or referred to or placed with the 64
consumer. Such notice shall be given to the consumer before the 65
commencement of services and such services shall not commence until 66
the registry receives a signed copy of the notice from the consumer, 67
unless a bona fide emergency exists and such registry details the specific 68
nature of the emergency on a form approved by the department and 69
signed by the consumer or an authorized representative of the 70
consumer. If a bona fide emergency exists, the registry shall provide 71
such notice not later than four calendar days after the date on which it 72
supplies, refers or places an [individual] employee with a consumer. If 73
the registry maintains an Internet web site, a sample of the notice shall 74
be posted on such Internet web site. 75
(b) Each notice provided to a consumer pursuant to subsection (a) of 76
this section shall be written in boldface type and plain language and 77 Raised Bill No. 409
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shall comply with the plain language standard detailed in section 42-78
152. Such notice shall include a statement identifying the registry as an 79
employer, joint employer, leasing employer or nonemployer, as 80
applicable, along with a statement advising the consumer he or she may 81
be considered an employer under law and, if that is the case, the 82
consumer may be [held] (1) responsible for the payment of federal and 83
state taxes, Social Security, overtime and minimum wage, 84
unemployment, workers' compensation insurance payments and any 85
other applicable payment required under state or federal law; (2) 86
responsible for reporting compensation paid to an employee to the 87
Internal Revenue Service; (3) legally liable for work-related injuries; and 88
(4) legally required to carry workers' compensation insurance or other 89
forms of insurance for employees. The notice shall also include a 90
statement that the consumer should consult a financial, legal, 91
accounting or tax professional if [he or she is uncertain about his or her 92
responsibility for the payment of such taxes or payments] the consumer 93
is uncertain about the consumer's responsibilities to employees. 94
(c) For purposes of this section, a homemaker-companion agency that 95
supplies, refers or places an independent contractor with a consumer for 96
the provision of companion or homemaker services shall be considered 97
a registry, as defined in section 20-670, as amended by this act, and shall 98
be required to provide the consumer with a notice pursuant to 99
subsection (a) of this section. 100
Sec. 3. Section 20-681 of the 2020 supplement to the general statutes 101
is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 102
October 1, 2020): 103
[For purposes of this section "covenant not to compete" means any 104
contract or agreement that restricts the right of an individual to provide 105
homemaker, companion or home health services (1) in any geographic 106
area of the state for any period of time, or (2) to a specific individual. 107
Any covenant not to compete is against public policy and shall be void 108
and unenforceable.] 109 Raised Bill No. 409
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A contract or agreement between an individual and a homemaker-110
companion agency, registry or home health aide registry prohibiting 111
such individual from providing homemaker, companion or home 112
health services to a specific individual, or a competing homemaker-113
companion agency, registry or home health aide registry is a covenant 114
not to compete that is against public policy and shall be void and 115
unenforceable, unless it is a private contract or agreement (1) not to 116
solicit or accept solicitation from any client, employee or vendor of such 117
homemaker-companion agency, registry or home health aide registry, 118
and (2) limited in duration to not more than one year. For purposes of 119
this section "home health aide registry" has the same meaning as 120
provided in section 19a-490. 121
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2020 20-670
Sec. 2 October 1, 2020 20-679a
Sec. 3 October 1, 2020 20-681
Statement of Purpose:
To (1) allow a registry, in addition to a homemaker-companion agency,
to conduct background checks on prospective employees; (2) expand the
contents of the required notice to a consumer regarding homemaker and
companion services; and (3) modify provisions on covenants not to
compete between an individual and a homemaker-companion agency,
registry or home health aide agency.
[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.]