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OLR Bill Analysis
HB 6383
AN ACT CONCERNING CALL CENTERS AND NOTICE OF
CLOSURES.
SUMMARY
This bill establishes notice requirements for certain call centers that
relocate out of state and makes them ineligible to receive state financial
support for five years after the relocation. They must also remit the
value of any state financial support they received over the previous
five years. The bill applies to call centers that employ at least 50
employees to staff a call center who (1) work at least 20 hours per week
or have been employed by the center for at least six months or (2) work
at least 1,500 hours in the aggregate (excluding overtime) per week.
“Call centers” are facilities or operations through which employees
receive phone calls or electronic communications to provide customer
assistance or service.
The bill also establishes certain in-state requirements for state
contractors who perform state-business-related call center and
customer service work.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2021
CALL CENTER RELOCATION S
Notice Requirement
The bill requires call centers that intend to relocate out of state to
notify the labor commissioner at least 100 days before doing so. This
applies to relocations of call center facilities or operations that
comprise at least 30% of a call center’s or operating unit’s average total
call volume over the previous 12 months.
The bill subjects violators of the notice requirement to a civil penalty
of up to $10,000 per day for each violation but allows the 2021HB-06383-R000029-BA.DOCX
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commissioner to reduce the penalty for just cause.
Loss of State Financial Support
The bill requires the labor commissioner to compile an annual list of
each call center whose relocation was subject to the bill’s notice
requirement. He must make the list publicly available and prominently
display a link to it on the Department of Labor website.
Under the bill, a call center on the list:
1. is ineligible for direct or indirect state grants, state guaranteed
loans, state tax benefits, or other state financial support for five
years after the list is published and
2. must remit the unamortized value of any state grant,
guaranteed loan, state tax benefit, or other state financial
support it received in the five-year period before it was placed
on the list.
The bill allows the commissioner, in consultation with the
appropriate agency, to waive the remittance requirement if the call
center shows that the remittance would threaten state or national
security, result in substantial job loss in the state, or harm the
environment.
STATE CONTRACTOR REQUIREME NTS
The bill requires each state agency head to ensure that for all new
contracts or agreements entered into on or after October 1, 2021, all
state-business-related call center and customer service work is
performed by state contractors, or other agents or subcontractors,
entirely within the state. If any of these entities perform work outside
the state and add customer service employees who will perform work
under the new contracts or agreements, the bill requires the new
employees to be immediately employed within the state. In addition,
any businesses subject to a contract or agreement before October 1,
2021, with terms that extend beyond October 1, 2023, must meet these
in-state requirements if their contract is renewed. 2021HB-06383-R000029-BA.DOCX
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OTHER PROVISIONS
The bill also specifies that it does not:
1. prevent an employer from receiving a grant to provide training
or other employment assistance to people who particularly need
such training or employment assistance due to the call center’s
relocation;
2. allow withholding or denial of payments or other compensation
or benefits provided by law (e.g., unemployment benefits,
disability payments, or worker retraining or readjustment
funds) to workers employed by employers that relocate out of
state; or
3. create a private cause of action against a call center that violates
the bill’s provisions.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Labor and Public Employees Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 9 Nay 4 (02/18/2021)