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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 668
January Session, 2021
AN ACT CONCERNING A FAIR WORK WEEK SCHED ULE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2021) (a) As used in this section: 1
(1) "Employee" means any person (A) paid on an hourly basis, (B) not 2
exempt from the minimum wage and overtime compensation 3
requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and the 4
regulations promulgated thereunder, as amended from time to time, 5
and (C) suffered or permitted to work by an employer in: 6
(i) Any occupation in the mercantile trade, which, for the purposes of 7
this clause, means the trade of wholesale or retail selling of groceries or 8
commodities and any operation incidental or supplemental thereto, 9
including, but not limited to, buying, delivering or maintaining such 10
groceries or commodities, and any office, stock or clerical work, except 11
repair and service employees having the major portion of their duties 12
unrelated to the mercantile trade; 13
(ii) A restaurant occupation, including any person engaged in the 14
preparation and serving of food for human consumption or in any 15
operation incidental or supplemental thereto, whether the food is 16
served at or away from the point of preparation or the preparation and 17
serving of food is the sole business of the employing establishment or 18
enterprise. A restaurant occupation includes, but is not limited to, 19 Substitute Bill No. 668
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employees of restaurants, cafeterias, that portion of hotel businesses 20
involving the preparation and serving of food, commissaries, fast food 21
outlets, grills, coffee shops, luncheonettes, sandwich shops, tearooms, 22
nightclubs, cabarets, automats, caterers, frankfurter stands, operators of 23
food vending machines, and that portion of a business involving the 24
serving of food in department stores, drugstores, candy stores, bakeries, 25
pizzerias, delicatessens, places of amusement and recreation, 26
commercial and industrial establishments and social, recreational, 27
fraternal and professional clubs that either regularly or intermittently 28
serve food. A restaurant occupation does not include the preparation 29
and serving of food in a nonprofit educational, charitable or religious 30
organization where the food service is not regularly available to the 31
general public, or the preparation and serving of food in hospitals, 32
convalescent homes or homes for the elderly where the food service is 33
not regularly available to the general public and is incidental to the care 34
of the patient; 35
(iii) An occupation within a hotel, motel or resort with one of the 36
following broad or detailed occupation code numbers and titles, as 37
defined by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics Standard Occupational 38
Classification system or any successor system: 35-3010 Bartenders; 35-39
9020 Dishwashers; 35-9030 Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge 40
and Coffee Shop; 37-2010 Building Cleaning Workers; 37-3010 Grounds 41
Maintenance Workers; 39-3030 Ushers, Lobby Attendants and Ticket 42
Takers; 39-6010 Baggage Porters, Bellhops and Concierges; 43-4080 43
Hotel, Motel and Resort Desk Clerks; 43-4170 Receptionists and 44
Information Clerks; or 45
(iv) Any occupation in long-term health care services, as defined both 46
(I) in the 2012 North American Industry Classification System under 47
code 623110 for nursing homes, and (II) under the Labor Department 48
classification (T) 31-1012 for nursing aides, orderlies and attendants; 49
(2) "Employer" means (A) an employer, as defined in section 31-71a 50
of the general statutes, who employs not less than two hundred fifty 51
employees, (B) a franchisee, as defined in section 42-133e of the general 52 Substitute Bill No. 668
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statutes, if the network of franchises employs not less than two hundred 53
fifty employees in aggregate, and (C) a nursing home, as defined in 54
section 19a-490 of the general statutes, if the nursing home (i) employs 55
not less than one hundred employees, or (ii) is controlled or operated by 56
a management company that employs not less than one hundred 57
employees in the aggregate; 58
(3) "Regular rate" has the same meaning as provided in section 31- 59
76b of the general statutes; 60
(4) "Scheduled work hours" means the hours an employee is 61
scheduled to work pursuant to a work schedule; 62
(5) "Shift" means the consecutive hours an employer schedules an 63
employee to work, or to be available to report to work at the request or 64
permission of the employer, except that a break of not more than one 65
hour shall not be considered an interruption of consecutive hours; 66
(6) "Work schedule" means a written notice of an employee's regular 67
and on-call hours, including specific start and end times for each shift, 68
during a consecutive seven-day period; and 69
(7) "Work schedule change" means any employer -initiated 70
modification to the employee's work schedule, including: (A) The 71
addition or reduction of hours; (B) cancellation of a work shift or portion 72
of a work shift; (C) a change in the date, time or location of a work shift; 73
or (D) scheduling the employee for an on-call work shift for which the 74
employee is subsequently not needed to report to work. 75
(b) Upon hiring an employee, an employer shall (1) obtain a written 76
statement of the employee's desired number of weekly work hours and 77
the days and times the employee is available to work, and (2) provide 78
the employee with a written estimate of the employee's work schedule. 79
The employer shall notify the employee that the employee may modify 80
such written statement at any time and the employer shall revise the 81
written estimate of the employee's work schedule if there is a significant 82
change to such schedule due to changes in the employee's availability 83 Substitute Bill No. 668
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or the employer's business needs. Such written estimate shall not be 84
considered a contractual offer binding the employer and shall contain: 85
(A) The average number of work hours the employee can expect to work 86
each week; (B) the minimum and maximum numbers of work hours the 87
employee can expect to work each week; (C) the minimum length of 88
shifts that the employee can expect to work; and (D) the number of days, 89
the amount of time and the number of shifts that the employee can 90
expect to work and days of the week and times or shifts the employee 91
will not be scheduled to work. An estimate made without a basis in good 92
faith shall be a violation of this subsection. An employer is not in 93
violation of any provision of this subsection when an employee's 94
average weekly work hours significantly exceed the number provided 95
in the written estimate if the employer makes every effort to schedule 96
the employee for the employee's desired number of weekly work hours. 97
(c) Not later than the date of an employee's first shift, the employer 98
shall provide to the employee the employee's work schedule for the 99
period commencing on the date of the employee's first shift and ending 100
on the last date of the seven-day period covered by the work schedule 101
posted by the employer pursuant subsection (d) of this section. 102
Thereafter, the employer shall notify the employee of the employee's 103
work schedule in accordance with the provisions of subsection (d) of 104
this section. 105
(d) Not later than fourteen days prior to the first date of the seven-106
day period of any work schedule, an employer shall post the work 107
schedule in a conspicuous place that is readily accessible and visible to 108
all employees at the workplace and shall transmit such schedule to each 109
employee. Such transmission may be electronic if electronic means are 110
regularly used to communicate scheduling information to employees. 111
The work schedule shall identify all employees currently employed at 112
the worksite, whether or not such employees are scheduled to work any 113
hours in the work schedule. 114
(e) An employer shall provide to each employee written notice of any 115
work schedule change as promptly as possible and prior to such change 116 Substitute Bill No. 668
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taking effect. Not later than twenty-four hours after making a change to 117
the work schedule, the employer shall revise the posted work schedule 118
to reflect the change. An employee may decline to work any hours not 119
included in the posted work schedule. If the employee voluntarily 120
consents to work such hours, such consent shall be recorded in writing. 121
(f) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, an 122
employer shall pay an employee (A) one hour of pay at the employee's 123
regular rate for each instance that the employer, less than fourteen days 124
prior to the commencement of scheduled work hours, adds one or more 125
hours of work or changes the date, time or location of a work shift 126
without a reduction of hours, and (B) one-half of the employee's regular 127
rate for any scheduled work hours the employee does not work due to 128
the employer cancelling or reducing the employee's scheduled work 129
hours: (i) After the employee reports to work such scheduled work 130
hours, or (ii) less than fourteen days prior to the commencement of such 131
scheduled work hours. 132
(2) The provisions of subdivision (1) of this subsection shall not apply 133
if the employee's scheduled work hours are changed due to: (A) The 134
employee's written request, including, but not limited to, a request to 135
use sick leave, vacation leave or other leave pursuant to employer 136
policy; (B) a mutually agreed-upon shift trade or coverage arrangement 137
between employees, subject to an existing employer policy regarding 138
such shift trade or coverage arrangement; or (C) the inability of the 139
employer's operations to begin or continue due to (i) the failure of a 140
public utility or the shutdown of public transportation, (ii) fire, flood or 141
other natural disaster, or (iii) an emergency declaration issued by the 142
President of the United States or the Governor of this state. 143
(g) An employee may decline to work any shift that begins less than 144
eleven hours after the end of the employee's previous day's shift or 145
during the eleven-hour period following the end of a shift that spanned 146
more than one day. If an employee consents to work such shift, such 147
consent shall be in writing and the employee shall be compensated at 148
one and one-half times the employee's regular rate of pay for any hours 149 Substitute Bill No. 668
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worked during the shift for which the employee consented. 150
(h) An employee may request adjustments to such employee's work 151
schedule, including, but not limited to, requests: (1) Not to be scheduled 152
for work shifts during certain days or times or at certain locations; (2) 153
for certain hours, days or locations of work; (3) for more or fewer work 154
hours; and (4) to be scheduled consistently for a specified or minimum 155
number of weekly work hours. The employer shall engage in an 156
interactive process to discuss such employee requests, but may grant or 157
deny the request for any bona fide business reason that is not unlawful. 158
(i) Each employer subject to the provisions of this section shall, unless 159
exempted by regulations adopted by the Labor Commissioner pursuant 160
to subsection (k) of this section, keep a true and accurate record for not 161
less than three years of: (1) The shifts worked each day and each week 162
by each of its employees, (2) each employee's work schedule, and (3) any 163
revisions to such work schedule. 164
(j) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit an employer 165
from adopting policies related to employee scheduling that are more 166
favorable to an employee than those required by this section. 167
(k) Prior to hiring a new employee from an external applicant pool or 168
through a contractor, including a temporary help service or 169
employment agency, as defined in section 31-129 of the general statutes, 170
an employer shall make every effort to schedule existing employees for 171
the desired number of weekly work hours identified in the written 172
statements provided pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, provided 173
the employer may hire a new employee if existing employees lack, and 174
cannot obtain with reasonable training, the qualifications necessary to 175
perform the duties of the position being filled. This section shall not be 176
construed to require any employer to schedule employees to work 177
hours required to be paid at an overtime rate under state or federal law. 178
If an employer fails to offer existing employees opportunities to work 179
their desired number of weekly work hours before hiring a new 180
employee, the employer shall compensate existing employees at the 181 Substitute Bill No. 668
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employees' regular hourly rate for hours worked by a newly hired 182
employee that occurred within the existing employees' written 183
availability. 184
(l) The Labor Commissioner may adopt regulations, in accordance 185
with the provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes, to implement 186
and enforce the provisions of this section. 187
(m) Any person aggrieved by a violation of any provision of this 188
section, the Labor Commissioner, the Attorney General or any entity a 189
member of which is aggrieved by a violation of this section, may bring 190
a civil action to recover damages, civil penalties and such equitable and 191
injunctive relief as the court deems appropriate. Any individual who 192
prevails in such civil action shall be awarded reasonable attorney's fees 193
and costs to be taxed by the court. For each violation of a provision of 194
subsections (b) to (f), inclusive, of this section or subsection (k) of this 195
section, the employer shall pay a civil penalty of two hundred dollars to 196
the Labor Commissioner for each employee affected by the violation 197
during each pay period the violation continued. 198
(n) The Labor Commissioner, or, in the case of a civil action, a court, 199
may grant the following relief to an employee or former employee for a 200
violation of any provision of this section, in addition to, or as an 201
alternative to, any other remedies provided by law: 202
(1) All compensatory damages and other relief required to make the 203
employee or former employee whole; 204
(2) An order directing the employer to comply with the 205
recordkeeping requirements of subsection (i) of this section; and 206
(3) (A) For each violation of a provision of subsection (b) of this 207
section, two hundred dollars and an order directing compliance with 208
said subsection; (B) for each violation of a provision of subsections (c) to 209
(e), inclusive, of this section, two hundred dollars and an order directing 210
compliance with said subsections, as applicable; (C) for each violation 211
of a provision of subsection (f) of this section, three hundred dollars, 212 Substitute Bill No. 668
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payment of any compensation unpaid in violation of said subsection 213
and an order directing compliance with said subsection; and (D) for each 214
violation of a provision of subsection (k) of this section, the greater of 215
five hundred dollars or such employee's actual damages and an order 216
directing compliance with said subsection. The relief authorized 217
pursuant to this subsection shall be imposed on a per employee and per 218
instance basis for each violation. 219
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2021 New section
LAB Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO
JUD Joint Favorable