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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 974
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 4281
Referred to Committee on AGING
Introduced by:
(AGE)
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 Section 20-670 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2021): 2
As used in sections 20-670 to 20-680, inclusive: 3
(1) "Certificate" means a certificate of registration issued under 4
section 20-672. 5
(2) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Consumer 6
Protection or any person designated by the commissioner to administer 7
and enforce the provisions of sections 20-670 to 20-680, inclusive. 8
(3) "Companion services" means nonmedical, basic supervision 9
services to ensure the well-being and safety of a person in such person's 10
home. 11
(4) "Employee" means any person employed by, or who enters into a 12
contract to perform services for, a homemaker-companion agency, 13 Raised Bill No. 974
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including, but not limited to, temporary employees, pool employees 14
and persons treated by such agency as independent contractors. 15
(5) "Comprehensive background check" means a backgroun d 16
investigation of a prospective employee performed by a homemaker-17
companion agency or a registry, that includes: (A) A review of any 18
application materials prepared or requested by the agency or registry 19
and completed by the prospective employee; (B) an in-person interview 20
of the prospective employee; (C) verification of the prospective 21
employee's Social Security number; (D) if the position applied for within 22
the agency or registry requires licensure on the part of the prospective 23
employee, verification that the required license is in good standing; (E) 24
a check of the registry established and maintained pursuant to section 25
54-257; (F) a review of criminal conviction information obtained through 26
a search of current criminal matters of public record in this state based 27
on the prospective employee's name and date of birth; (G) if the 28
prospective employee has resided in this state less than three years prior 29
to the date of the application with the agency or registry, a review of 30
criminal conviction information from the state or states where such 31
prospective employee resided during such three-year period; and (H) a 32
review of any other information that the agency or registry deems 33
necessary in order to evaluate the suitability of the prospective 34
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. 974
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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, 2021): 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. 974
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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 to report compensation paid to employees to the Internal 87
Revenue Service; and (3) legally liable for work-related injuries, 88
including that employees shall be covered by workers' compensation 89
insurance or other form of insurance. 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] regarding his 93
or her responsibilities for 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, and shall be required to provide 98
the consumer with a notice pursuant to subsection (a) of this section. 99
Sec. 3. Section 305 of public act 19-117 is repealed and the following 100
is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 101
For purposes of this section "covenant not to compete" means any 102
contract or agreement [that restricts the right of an individual to 103
provide] between an individual and a homemaker-companion agency, 104
registry or provider of home health services prohibiting such individual 105
from providing homemaker, companion or home health services [(1) in 106
any geographic area of the state for any period of time, or (2)] to a 107
specific individual, or for a competing homemaker-companion agency, 108
registry or provider of home health services, but does not include any 109
private contract or agreement not to solicit or accept solicitation from 110 Raised Bill No. 974
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any client, employee or vendor of such homemaker-companion agency, 111
registry or provider of home health services, provided such contract or 112
agreement shall be limited in duration to not more than six months. Any 113
covenant not to compete is against public policy and shall be void and 114
unenforceable. 115
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2021 20-670
Sec. 2 October 1, 2021 20-679a
Sec. 3 from passage PA 19-117, Sec. 305
AGE Joint Favorable C/R HS