Connecticut Senate Bill SB01002 Introduced / Bill

                        
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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General Assembly  Raised Bill No. 1002  
January Session, 2021 
LCO No. 4442 
 
 
Referred to Committee on LABOR AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEES  
 
 
Introduced by:  
(LAB)  
 
 
 
 
AN ACT CONCERNING LA BOR ISSUES RELATED T O COVID-19, 
PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT AND OTHER STAFFING 
MATTERS. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General 
Assembly convened: 
 
Section 1. Section 31-290a of the general statutes is repealed and the 1 
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 2 
(a) No employer who is subject to the provisions of this chapter shall: 3 
[discharge,] (1) Discharge or cause to be discharged, or in any manner 4 
discipline or discriminate against any employee because the employee 5 
has filed a claim for workers' compensation benefits or otherwise 6 
exercised the rights afforded to him pursuant to the provisions of this 7 
chapter, or (2) deliberately misinform or otherwise deliberately 8 
dissuade an employee from filing a claim for workers' compensation 9 
benefits. 10  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
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(b) Any employee who is so discharged, disciplined or discriminated 11 
against or who has been deliberately misinformed or dissuaded from 12 
filing a claim for workers' compensation benefits may either: (1) Bring a 13 
civil action in the superior court for the judicial district where the 14 
employer has its principal office for the reinstatement of his previous 15 
job, payment of back wages and reestablishment of employee benefits 16 
to which he would have otherwise been entitled if he had not been 17 
discriminated against or discharged and any other damages caused by 18 
such discrimination or discharge. The court may also award punitive 19 
damages. Any employee who prevails in such a civil action shall be 20 
awarded reasonable attorney's fees and costs to be taxed by the court; 21 
or (2) file a complaint with the chairman of the Workers' Compensation 22 
Commission alleging violation of the provisions of subsection (a) of this 23 
section. Upon receipt of any such complaint, the chairman shall select a 24 
commissioner to hear the complaint, provided any commissioner who 25 
has previously rendered any decision concerning the claim shall be 26 
excluded. The hearing shall be held in the workers' compensation 27 
district where the employer has its principal office. After the hearing, 28 
the commissioner shall send each party a written copy of his decision. 29 
The commissioner may award the employee the reinstatement of his 30 
previous job, payment of back wages and reestablishment of employee 31 
benefits to which he otherwise would have been eligible if he had not 32 
been discriminated against or discharged. Any employee who prevails 33 
in such a complaint shall be awarded reasonable attorney's fees. Any 34 
party aggrieved by the decision of the commissioner may appeal the 35 
decision to the Appellate Court.  36 
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) For the purposes of 37 
adjudication of claims for payment of benefits under the provisions of 38 
chapter 568 of the general statutes, when there is a dispute regarding 39 
whether a request for medical and surgical aid or hospital and nursing 40 
services, including mechanical aids and prescription drugs, is 41 
reasonable or necessary, the employer or insurer shall file a notice of 42 
controversy. A copy of the notice of controversy shall be sent to the 43 
originator of the request. A health care provider, employee or other 44  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
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interested party may request a hearing regarding payment of medical 45 
and related services for determination of any such dispute. 46 
(b) Payment of a medical bill by an employer or insurer shall not be 47 
considered an admission by the employer or the insurer as to the 48 
reasonableness of subsequent medical bills. The provisions of this 49 
section shall not affect the applicability of any notice provision of section 50 
31-294c of the general statutes. 51 
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) For the purpose of 52 
adjudication of claims for payment of benefits under the provisions of 53 
chapter 568 of the general statutes, an employee who died or was unable 54 
to work as a result of contracting COVID-19, or due to symptoms that 55 
were later diagnosed as COVID-19, at any time during (1) the public 56 
health and civil preparedness emergencies declared by the Governor on 57 
March 10, 2020, or any extension of such declarations, or (2) any new 58 
public health and civil preparedness emergencies declared by the 59 
Governor as a result of a COVID-19 outbreak in this state, shall be 60 
presumed to have contracted COVID-19 as an occupational disease 61 
arising out of and in the course of employment, provided (A) the 62 
contraction of COVID-19 by such employee shall be confirmed by a 63 
positive laboratory test or, if a laboratory test was not available for the 64 
employee, as diagnosed and documented by the employee's licensed 65 
physician, licensed physician's assistant or licensed advanced practice 66 
registered nurse, based on the employee's symptoms; and (B) a copy of 67 
the positive laboratory test or the written documentation of the 68 
physician's, physician assistant's or advanced practice registered nurse's 69 
diagnosis is provided to the employer or insurer. For the purposes of 70 
this section, "COVID-19" means the respiratory disease designated by 71 
the World Health Organization on February 11, 2020, as coronavirus 72 
2019, and any related mutation thereof recognized by the World Health 73 
Organization as a communicable respiratory disease. 74 
(b) The provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to 75 
an employee who, during the fourteen consecutive days immediately 76 
preceding the date the employee died or was unable to work due to 77  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
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contracting COVID-19 or due to symptoms that were later diagnosed as 78 
COVID-19: (1) Was employed in a capacity where he or she worked 79 
solely from home and did not have physical interaction with other 80 
employees or work-related supplies or materials of the employer, or (2) 81 
was the recipient of an individualized written offer or directive from his 82 
or her employer to work solely from home, but otherwise chose to work 83 
at a work site of the employer.  84 
(c) Notwithstanding the definition of "occupational disease" under 85 
section 31-396 of the general statutes, COVID-19 shall be considered an 86 
occupational disease for any employee who was diagnosed with 87 
COVID-19 in accordance with subsection (a) of this section. 88 
(d) The presumption under subsection (a) of this section shall only be 89 
rebutted if the employer or insurer clearly demonstrates by a 90 
preponderance of the evidence that the employment of the individual 91 
was not a direct cause of the occupational disease. The employer or the 92 
insurer, within ten days of filing a notice to contest an employee's rights 93 
to compensation benefits pursuant to section 31-294c of the general 94 
statutes, shall provide evidence to rebut the presumption under 95 
subsection (a) of this section. If a compensation commissioner finds that 96 
such presumption has been rebutted, such commissioner shall decide 97 
the claim on its merits, in accordance with established practices of 98 
causation. For purposes of this section, an employee's preexisting 99 
condition shall have no bearing on the merits of a claim, both with 100 
regard to approving a claim and continuing benefits once they have 101 
been awarded. 102 
(e) An employee who has contracted COVID-19 but who is not 103 
entitled to the presumption under subsection (a) of this section shall not 104 
be precluded from making a claim as provided in chapter 568 of the 105 
general statutes. 106 
(f) Beginning on July 1, 2021, and ending on January 1, 2023, the 107 
Workers' Compensation Commission shall provide a detailed report on 108 
the first business day of each month on COVID -19 workers' 109  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
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compensation claims and shall provide such reports to the joint 110 
standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of 111 
matters relating to labor and insurance. Such monthly reports shall 112 
contain: (1) The number of total COVID-19 workers' compensation 113 
claims filed since May 10, 2020; (2) the number of record-only claims 114 
filed by hospitals, nursing homes, municipalities and other employers, 115 
listed by employer name; (3) the number of COVID-19 workers' 116 
compensation cases filed by state employees in each agency; (4) the 117 
number of such claims contested by each individual employer, 118 
including state agencies, third-party administrators and insurers, by 119 
client; (5) the reasons cited by each employer, including state agencies, 120 
third-party administrators or insurers, by client, for contesting such 121 
claims; (6) the number of claims that have received a hearing by the 122 
Workers' Compensation Commission; (7) the number of: (A) Rulings by 123 
the Workers' Compensation Commission regarding such claims that 124 
have been appealed, (B) approved voluntary agreements, (C) findings 125 
and awards, (D) findings and dismissals, (E) petitions for review, and 126 
(F) stipulations; (8) the average time it took to schedule an initial hearing 127 
once it has been requested; and (9) the average time it took to adjudicate 128 
contested COVID-19 workers' compensation claims. Employers, 129 
including state agencies, third-party administrators and insurers shall 130 
comply with all requests from the Workers' Compensation Commission 131 
for information required to compile the reports. 132 
Sec. 4. Subsection (a) of section 31-306 of the general statutes is 133 
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 134 
passage): 135 
(a) Compensation shall be paid to dependents on account of death 136 
resulting from an accident arising out of and in the course of 137 
employment or from an occupational disease as follows: 138 
(1) [Four] Twenty thousand dollars shall be paid for burial expenses 139 
in any case in which the employee died on or after October 1, 1988. On 140 
January 1, 2022, and not later than each January first thereafter, the 141 
compensation for burial benefits shall be adjusted by the percentage 142  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
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increase between the last complete calendar year and the previous 143 
calendar year in the consumer price index for urban wage earners and 144 
clerical workers in the northeast urban area of New York-Northern New 145 
Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT-PA, with no seasonal adjustment, as 146 
calculated by the United States Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor 147 
Statistics. If there is no one wholly or partially dependent upon the 148 
deceased employee, the burial expenses [of four thousand dollars] shall 149 
be paid to the person who assumes the responsibility of paying the 150 
funeral expenses. 151 
(2) Twenty thousand dollars shall be paid for burial expenses in any 152 
case in which an employee died due to contracting COVID-19 during 153 
(A) the public health and civil preparedness emergencies declared by 154 
the Governor on March 10, 2020, or any extension of such declarations, 155 
or (B) any new public health and civil preparedness emergencies 156 
declared by the Governor as a result of a COVID-19 outbreak in this 157 
state. For the purposes of this subdivision, "COVID-19" means the 158 
respiratory disease designated by the World Health Organization on 159 
February 11, 2020, as coronavirus 2019, and any related mutation thereof 160 
recognized by the World Health Organization as a communicable 161 
respiratory disease. 162 
[(2)] (3) To those wholly dependent upon the deceased employee at 163 
the date of the deceased employee's injury, a weekly compensation 164 
equal to seventy-five per cent of the average weekly earnings of the 165 
deceased calculated pursuant to section 31-310, after such earnings have 166 
been reduced by any deduction for federal or state taxes, or both, and 167 
for the federal Insurance Contributions Act made from such employee's 168 
total wages received during the period of calculation of the employee's 169 
average weekly wage pursuant to said section 31-310, as of the date of 170 
the injury but not more than the maximum weekly compensation rate 171 
set forth in section 31-309 for the year in which the injury occurred or 172 
less than twenty dollars weekly. (A) The weekly compensation rate of 173 
each dependent entitled to receive compensation under this section as a 174 
result of death arising from a compensable injury occurring on or after 175 
October 1, 1977, shall be adjusted annually as provided in this 176  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
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subdivision as of the following October first, and each subsequent 177 
October first, to provide the dependent with a cost-of-living adjustment 178 
in the dependent's weekly compensation rate as determined as of the 179 
date of the injury under section 31-309. If the maximum weekly 180 
compensation rate, as determined under the provisions of said section 181 
31-309, to be effective as of any October first following the date of the 182 
injury, is greater than the maximum weekly compensation rate 183 
prevailing at the date of the injury, the weekly compensation rate which 184 
the injured employee was entitled to receive at the date of the injury or 185 
October 1, 1990, whichever is later, shall be increased by the percentage 186 
of the increase in the maximum weekly compensation rate required by 187 
the provisions of said section 31-309 from the date of the injury or 188 
October 1, 1990, whichever is later, to such October first. The cost-of-189 
living increases provided under this subdivision shall be paid by the 190 
employer without any order or award from the commissioner. The 191 
adjustments shall apply to each payment made in the next succeeding 192 
twelve-month period commencing with the October first next 193 
succeeding the date of the injury. With respect to any dependent 194 
receiving benefits on October 1, 1997, with respect to any injury 195 
occurring on or after July 1, 1993, and before October 1, 1997, such 196 
benefit shall be recalculated to October 1, 1997, as if such benefits had 197 
been subject to recalculation annually under this subparagraph. The 198 
difference between the amount of any benefits that would have been 199 
paid to such dependent if such benefits had been subject to such 200 
recalculation and the actual amount of benefits paid during the period 201 
between such injury and such recalculation shall be paid to the 202 
dependent not later than December 1, 1997, in a lump-sum payment. 203 
The employer or its insurer shall be reimbursed by the Second Injury 204 
Fund, as provided in section 31-354, for adjustments, including lump-205 
sum payments, payable under this subparagraph for deaths from 206 
compensable injuries occurring on or after July 1, 1993, and before 207 
October 1, 1997, upon presentation of any vouchers and information 208 
that the Treasurer shall require. No claim for payment of retroactive 209 
benefits may be made to the Second Injury Fund more than two years 210 
after the date on which the employer or its insurer paid such benefits in 211  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
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accordance with this subparagraph. (B) The weekly compensation rate 212 
of each dependent entitled to receive compensation under this section 213 
as a result of death arising from a compensable injury occurring on or 214 
before September 30, 1977, shall be adjusted as of October 1, 1977, and 215 
October 1, 1980, and thereafter, as provided in this subdivision to 216 
provide the dependent with partial cost-of-living adjustments in the 217 
dependent's weekly compensation rate. As of October 1, 1977, the 218 
weekly compensation rate paid prior to October 1, 1977, to the 219 
dependent shall be increased by twenty-five per cent. The partial cost-220 
of-living adjustment provided under this subdivision shall be paid by 221 
the employer without any order or award from the commissioner. In 222 
addition, on each October first, the weekly compensation rate of each 223 
dependent as of October 1, 1990, shall be increased by the percentage of 224 
the increase in the maximum compensation rate over the maximum 225 
compensation rate of October 1, 1990, as determined under the 226 
provisions of section 31-309 existing on October 1, 1977. The cost of the 227 
adjustments shall be paid by the employer or its insurance carrier who 228 
shall be reimbursed for such cost from the Second Injury Fund as 229 
provided in section 31-354 upon presentation of any vouchers and 230 
information that the Treasurer shall require. No claim for payment of 231 
retroactive benefits may be made to the Second Injury Fund more than 232 
two years after the date on which the employer or its insurance carrier 233 
paid such benefits in accordance with this subparagraph. 234 
[(3)] (4) If the surviving spouse is the sole presumptive dependent, 235 
compensation shall be paid until death or remarriage. 236 
[(4)] (5) If there is a presumptive dependent spouse surviving and 237 
also one or more presumptive dependent children, all of which children 238 
are either children of the surviving spouse or are living with the 239 
surviving spouse, the entire compensation shall be paid to the surviving 240 
spouse in the same manner and for the same period as if the surviving 241 
spouse were the sole dependent. If, however, any of the presumptive 242 
dependent children are neither children of the surviving spouse nor 243 
living with the surviving spouse, the compensation shall be divided into 244 
as many parts as there are presumptive dependents. The shares of any 245  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
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children having a presumptive dependent parent shall be added to the 246 
share of the parent and shall be paid to the parent. The share of any 247 
dependent child not having a surviving dependent parent shall be paid 248 
to the father or mother of the child with whom the child may be living, 249 
or to the legal guardian of the child, or to any other person, for the 250 
benefit of the child, as the commissioner may direct. 251 
[(5)] (6) If the compensation being paid to the surviving presumptive 252 
dependent spouse terminates for any reason, or if there is no surviving 253 
presumptive dependent spouse at the time of the death of the employee, 254 
but there is at either time one or more presumptive dependent children, 255 
the compensation shall be paid to the children as a class, each child 256 
sharing equally with the others. Each child shall receive compensation 257 
until the child reaches the age of eighteen or dies before reaching age 258 
eighteen, provided the child shall continue to receive compensation up 259 
to the attainment of the age of twenty-two if unmarried and a full-time 260 
student, except any child who has attained the age of twenty-two while 261 
a full-time student but has not completed the requirements for, or 262 
received, a degree from a postsecondary educational institution shall be 263 
deemed not to have attained age twenty-two until the first day of the 264 
first month following the end of the quarter or semester in which the 265 
child is enrolled at the time, or if the child is not enrolled in a quarter or 266 
semester system, until the first day of the first month following the 267 
completion of the course in which the child is enrolled or until the first 268 
day of the third month beginning after such time, whichever occurs first. 269 
When a child's participation ceases, such child's share shall be divided 270 
among the remaining eligible dependent children, provided if any child, 271 
when the child reaches the age of eighteen years, is physically or 272 
mentally incapacitated from earning, the child's right to compensation 273 
shall not terminate but shall continue for the full period of incapacity. 274 
[(6)] (7) In all cases where there are no presumptive dependents, but 275 
where there are one or more persons wholly dependent in fact, the 276 
compensation in case of death shall be divided according to the relative 277 
degree of their dependence. Compensation payable under this 278 
subdivision shall be paid for not more than three hundred and twelve 279  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
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weeks from the date of the death of the employee. The compensation, if 280 
paid to those wholly dependent in fact, shall be paid at the full 281 
compensation rate. The compensation, if paid to those partially 282 
dependent in fact upon the deceased employee as of the date of the 283 
injury, shall not, in total, be more than the full compensation rate nor 284 
less than twenty dollars weekly, nor, if the average weekly sum 285 
contributed by the deceased at the date of the injury to those partially 286 
dependent in fact is more than twenty dollars weekly, not more than the 287 
sum so contributed. 288 
[(7)] (8) When the sole presumptive dependents are, at the time of the 289 
injury, nonresident aliens and the deceased has in this state some person 290 
or persons who are dependent in fact, the commissioner may in the 291 
commissioner's discretion equitably apportion the sums payable as 292 
compensation to the dependents. 293 
Sec. 5. Subdivision (16) of section 31-275 of the general statutes is 294 
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 295 
passage): 296 
(16) (A) "Personal injury" or "injury" includes, in addition to 297 
accidental injury that may be definitely located as to the time when and 298 
the place where the accident occurred, an injury to an employee that is 299 
causally connected with the employee's employment and is the direct 300 
result of repetitive trauma or repetitive acts incident to such 301 
employment, and occupational disease. 302 
(B) "Personal injury" or "injury" shall not be construed to include: 303 
(i) An injury to an employee that results from the employee's 304 
voluntary participation in any activity the major purpose of which is 305 
social or recreational, including, but not limited to, athletic events, 306 
parties and picnics, whether or not the employer pays some or all of the 307 
cost of such activity; 308 
(ii) A mental or emotional impairment, unless such impairment (I) 309 
arises from a physical injury or occupational disease, (II) in the case of a 310  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
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police officer of the Division of State Police within the Department of 311 
Emergency Services and Public Protection, an organized local police 312 
department or a municipal constabulary, arises from such police 313 
officer's use of deadly force or subjection to deadly force in the line of 314 
duty, regardless of whether such police officer is physically injured, 315 
provided such police officer is the subject of an attempt by another 316 
person to cause such police officer serious physical injury or death 317 
through the use of deadly force, and such police officer reasonably 318 
believes such police officer to be the subject of such an attempt, or (III) 319 
in the case of [a police officer, parole officer or firefighter,] an eligible 320 
individual as defined in section 31-294k, as amended by this act, is a 321 
diagnosis of post-traumatic stress [disorder] injury as defined in section 322 
31-294k, as amended by this act, that meets all the requirements of 323 
section 31-294k, as amended by this act. As used in this clause, "in the 324 
line of duty" means any action that a police officer is obligated or 325 
authorized by law, rule, regulation or written condition of employment 326 
service to perform, or for which the police officer or firefighter is 327 
compensated by the public entity such officer serves; 328 
(iii) A mental or emotional impairment that results from a personnel 329 
action, including, but not limited to, a transfer, promotion, demotion or 330 
termination; or 331 
(iv) Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph (B)(i) of this 332 
subdivision, "personal injury" or "injury" includes injuries to employees 333 
of local or regional boards of education resulting from participation in a 334 
school-sponsored activity but does not include any injury incurred 335 
while going to or from such activity. As used in this clause, "school-336 
sponsored activity" means any activity sponsored, recognized or 337 
authorized by a board of education and includes activities conducted on 338 
or off school property and "participation" means acting as a chaperone, 339 
advisor, supervisor or instructor at the request of an administrator with 340 
supervisory authority over the employee. 341 
Sec. 6. Section 31-294k of the general statutes is repealed and the 342 
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 343  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
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(a) As used in this section: 344 
(1) "COVID-19" means the respiratory disease designated by the 345 
World Health Organization on February 11, 2020, as coronavirus 2019, 346 
and any related mutation thereof recognized by the World Health 347 
Organization as a communicable respiratory disease; 348 
(2) "Eligible individual" means a police officer, firefighter, emergency 349 
medical services personnel, Department of Correction employee, 350 
telecommunicator or health care provider; 351 
(3) "Emergency medical services personnel" has the same meaning as 352 
provided in section 20-206jj; 353 
[(1)] (4) "Firefighter" has the same meaning as provided in section 7-354 
313g; 355 
(5) "Health care provider" means a person employed at a doctor's 356 
office, hospital, health care center, clinic, medical school, local health 357 
department or agency, nursing facility, retirement facility, nursing 358 
home, home health care provider, any facility that performs laboratory 359 
or medical testing, pharmacy or any similar institution, and a person 360 
employed to provide personal care assistance, as defined in section 17b-361 
706; 362 
[(2)] (6) "In the line of duty" means any action that [a police officer, 363 
parole officer or firefighter] an eligible individual is obligated or 364 
authorized by law, rule, regulation or written condition of employment 365 
service to perform, or for which the [officer or firefighter] eligible 366 
individual is compensated by the public entity such [officer or 367 
firefighter] individual serves, except that, in the case of a volunteer 368 
firefighter, such action or service constitutes fire duties, as defined in 369 
subsection (b) of section 7-314b; 370 
[(3)] (7) "Mental health professional" means a board-certified 371 
psychiatrist or a psychologist licensed pursuant to chapter 383, who has 372 
experience diagnosing and treating post-traumatic stress [disorder] 373  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
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injury; 374 
[(4)] (8) "Parole officer" means an employee of the Department of 375 
Correction who supervises inmates in the community after their release 376 
from prison on parole or under another prison release program; 377 
[(5)] (9) "Police officer" has the same meaning as provided in section 378 
7-294a, except that "police officer" does not include an officer of a law 379 
enforcement unit of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe or the Mohegan 380 
Tribe of Indians of Connecticut; 381 
[(6) "Post-traumatic stress disorder"] (10) "Post-traumatic stress 382 
injury" means [a disorder] an injury that meets the diagnostic criteria for 383 
post-traumatic stress disorder as specified in the most recent edition of 384 
the American Psychiatric Association's "Diagnostic and Statistical 385 
Manual of Mental Disorders"; [and] 386 
[(7)] (11) "Qualifying event" means: [an] 387 
(A) An event occurring in the line of duty (i) on or after July 1, 2019, 388 
and before the effective date of this act in which a police officer, parole 389 
officer or firefighter, or (ii) on or after the effective date of this section in 390 
which an eligible individual who is a police officer, firefighter, 391 
emergency medical services personnel, Department of Correction 392 
employee or telecommunicator: 393 
[(A)] (I) Views a deceased minor; 394 
[(B)] (II) Witnesses the death of a person or an incident involving the 395 
death of a person; 396 
[(C)] (III) Witnesses an injury to a person who subsequently dies 397 
before or upon admission at a hospital as a result of the injury and not 398 
as a result of any other intervening cause; 399 
[(D)] (IV) Has physical contact with and treats an injured person who 400 
subsequently dies before or upon admission at a hospital as a result of 401 
the injury and not as a result of any other intervening cause; 402  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
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[(E)] (V) Carries an injured person who subsequently dies before or 403 
upon admission at a hospital as a result of the injury and not as a result 404 
of any other intervening cause; or 405 
[(F)] (VI) Witnesses a traumatic physical injury that results in the loss 406 
of a vital body part or a vital body function that results in permanent 407 
disfigurement of the victim, or 408 
(B) An event arising out of and in the course of employment on or 409 
after March 10, 2020, in which an eligible individual who is a health care 410 
provider: 411 
(i) Is engaged in activities substantially dedicated to mitigating or 412 
responding to the public health and civil preparedness emergencies 413 
declared by the Governor on March 10, 2020, or any extension of such 414 
emergency declarations; 415 
(ii) Witnesses the death of a person due to COVID-19 or due to 416 
symptoms that were later diagnosed as COVID-19; 417 
(iii) Witnesses an injury to a person who subsequently dies as a result 418 
of COVID-19 or due to symptoms that were later diagnosed as COVID-419 
19; 420 
(iv) Has physical contact with and treats or provides care for a person 421 
who subsequently dies as a result of COVID-19 or due to symptoms that 422 
were later diagnosed as COVID-19; or 423 
(v) Witnesses a traumatic physical injury that results in the loss of a 424 
vital body function of a person due to COVID-19 or due to symptoms 425 
that were later diagnosed as COVID-19; 426 
(12) "Telecommunicator" has the same meaning as provided in 427 
section 28-30; and 428 
(13) "Witnesses" means, for an eligible individual who is a 429 
telecommunicator, hears by telephone or radio. 430  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
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(b) A diagnosis of post-traumatic stress [disorder] injury is 431 
compensable as a personal injury as described in subparagraph 432 
(B)(ii)(III) of subdivision (16) of section 31-275, as amended by this act, 433 
if a mental health professional examines [a police officer, parole officer 434 
or firefighter] the eligible individual and diagnoses the [officer or 435 
firefighter] individual with a post-traumatic stress [disorder] injury as a 436 
direct result of a qualifying event, provided (1) the post-traumatic stress 437 
[disorder] injury resulted from [the officer or firefighter] (A) the eligible 438 
individual acting in the line of duty if such individual is a police officer, 439 
firefighter, emergency medical services personnel, Department of 440 
Correction employee or telecommunicator and, in the case of a 441 
firefighter, such firefighter complied with Federal Occupational Safety 442 
and Health Act standards adopted pursuant to 29 CFR 1910.134 and 29 443 
CFR 1910.156, or (B) the eligible individual acting the course of 444 
employment if such individual is a health care provider, (2) a qualifying 445 
event was a substantial factor in causing the [disorder, (3) such 446 
qualifying event, and not another event or source of stress, was the 447 
primary cause of the post-traumatic stress disorder] injury, and [(4)] (3) 448 
the post-traumatic stress [disorder] injury did not result from any 449 
disciplinary action, work evaluation, job transfer, layoff, demotion, 450 
promotion, termination, retirement or similar action of the [officer or 451 
firefighter] eligible individual. Any such mental health professional 452 
shall comply with any workers' compensation guidelines for approved 453 
medical providers, including, but not limited to, guidelines on release 454 
of past or contemporaneous medical records. 455 
(c) Whenever liability to pay compensation is contested by the 456 
employer, the employer shall file with the commissioner, on or before 457 
the twenty-eighth day after the employer has received a written notice 458 
of claim, a notice in accordance with a form prescribed by the 459 
chairperson of the Workers' Compensation Commission stating that the 460 
right to compensation is contested, the name of the claimant, the name 461 
of the employer, the date of the alleged injury and the specific grounds 462 
on which the right to compensation is contested. The employer shall 463 
send a copy of the notice to the employee in accordance with section 31-464  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
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321. If the employer or the employer's legal representative fails to file 465 
the notice contesting liability on or before the twenty-eighth day after 466 
receiving the written notice of claim, the employer shall commence 467 
payment of compensation for such injury on or before the twenty-eighth 468 
day after receiving the written notice of claim, but the employer may 469 
contest the employee's right to receive compensation on any grounds or 470 
the extent of the employee's disability within one hundred eighty days 471 
from the receipt of the written notice of claim and any benefits paid 472 
during the one hundred eighty days shall be considered payments 473 
without prejudice, provided the employer shall not be required to 474 
commence payment of compensation when the written notice of claim 475 
has not been properly served in accordance with section 31-321 or when 476 
the written notice of claim fails to include a warning that the employer 477 
(1) if the employer has commenced payment for the alleged injury on or 478 
before the twenty-eighth day after receiving a written notice of claim, 479 
shall be precluded from contesting liability unless a notice contesting 480 
liability is filed within one hundred eighty days from the receipt of the 481 
written notice of claim, and (2) shall be conclusively presumed to have 482 
accepted the compensability of the alleged injury unless the employer 483 
either files a notice contesting liability on or before the twenty-eighth 484 
day after receiving a written notice of claim or commences payment for 485 
the alleged injury on or before such twenty-eighth day. An employer 486 
shall be entitled, if the employer prevails, to reimbursement from the 487 
claimant of any compensation paid by the employer on and after the 488 
date the commissioner receives written notice from the employer or the 489 
employer's legal representative, in accordance with the form prescribed 490 
by the chairperson of the Workers' Compensation Commission, stating 491 
that the right to compensation is contested. Notwithstanding the 492 
provisions of this subsection, an employer who fails to contest liability 493 
for an alleged injury on or before the twenty-eighth day after receiving 494 
a written notice of claim and who fails to commence payment for the 495 
alleged injury on or before such twenty-eighth day, shall be conclusively 496 
presumed to have accepted the compensability of the alleged injury. If 497 
an employer has opted to post an address of where notice of a claim for 498 
compensation by an employee shall be sent, as described in subsection 499  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	17 of 57 
 
(a) of section 31-294c, the twenty-eight-day period set forth in this 500 
subsection shall begin on the date when such employer receives written 501 
notice of a claim for compensation at such posted address. 502 
(d) Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter, workers' 503 
compensation benefits for any [police officer, parole officer or 504 
firefighter] eligible individual for a personal injury described in 505 
subparagraph (B)(ii)(III) of subdivision (16) of section 31-275, as 506 
amended by this act, shall (1) include any combination of medical 507 
treatment prescribed by a board-certified psychiatrist or a licensed 508 
psychologist, temporary total incapacity benefits under section 31-307 509 
and temporary partial incapacity benefits under subsection (a) of section 510 
31-308, and (2) be provided for a maximum of fifty-two weeks from the 511 
date of diagnosis. No medical treatment, temporary total incapacity 512 
benefits under section 31-307 or temporary partial incapacity benefits 513 
under subsection (a) of section 31-308 shall be awarded beyond four 514 
years from the date of the qualifying event that formed the basis for the 515 
personal injury. The weekly benefits received by an [officer or a 516 
firefighter] eligible individual pursuant to section 31-307 or subsection 517 
(a) of section 31-308, when combined with other benefits including, but 518 
not limited to, contributory and noncontributory retirement benefits, 519 
Social Security benefits, benefits under a long-term or short-term 520 
disability plan, but not including payments for medical care, shall not 521 
exceed the average weekly wage paid to such [officer or firefighter] 522 
eligible individual. An [officer or firefighter] eligible individual 523 
receiving benefits pursuant to this subsection shall not be entitled to 524 
benefits pursuant to subsection (b) of section 31-308 or section 31-308a. 525 
Sec. 7. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) As used in this section: 526 
(1) "Compensation" means an employee's average weekly earnings 527 
for the twelve-month period immediately preceding the date of the 528 
employee's last day of active employment with an employer, including 529 
wages or salary, payments to an employee while on vacation or on 530 
leave, allocated or declared tip income, bonuses or commissions, 531 
contributions or premiums paid by the employer for fringe benefits, 532  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	18 of 57 
 
overtime or other premium payments, and allowances for expenses, 533 
uniforms, travel or education; 534 
(2) "COVID-19" means the respiratory disease designated by the 535 
World Health Organization on February 11, 2020, as coronavirus 2019, 536 
and any related mutation thereof recognized by the World Health 537 
Organization as a communicable respiratory disease; 538 
(3) "Customary seasonal work" means work performed by an 539 
employee for approximately the same portion of each calendar year; 540 
(4) "Employer" means any person, including a corporate officer or 541 
executive, who directly or indirectly or through an agent or any other 542 
person, including through the services of a temporary service or staffing 543 
agency or similar entity, conducts an enterprise and employs or 544 
exercises control over the wages, hours or working conditions of any 545 
employee; 546 
(5) "Employment site" means the principal physical place where a 547 
laid-off employee performed the predominance of the employee's duties 548 
prior to being laid off, or, in the case of a laid-off employee in 549 
construction, transportation, building services or other industries where 550 
work is performed at locations other than the employer's administrative 551 
headquarters from which such assignments were made, any location 552 
served by such headquarters; 553 
(6) "Enterprise" means any income-producing economic activity 554 
carried on in this state that employs five or more employees; 555 
(7) "Laid-off employee" means any employee who was employed by 556 
the employer for six months or more in the twelve months preceding 557 
March 10, 2020, and whose most recent separation from active service 558 
or whose failure to be scheduled for customary seasonal work by that 559 
employer occurred after March 10, 2020, and was due to government 560 
shutdown orders, lack of business, or a reduction or furlough of the 561 
employer's workforce; and 562  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	19 of 57 
 
(8) "Length of service" means the total of all periods of time during 563 
which an employee has been in active service, including periods of time 564 
when the employee was on leave or on vacation. 565 
(b) Each employer shall send to each of its laid-off employees, in 566 
writing to their last known physical address and electronic mail address, 567 
and in a text message to their mobile phone, all job positions that become 568 
available at the employer for which the laid-off employee is qualified. A 569 
laid-off employee is qualified for a position if the employee: (1) Held the 570 
same or similar position at the enterprise at the time of the employee's 571 
most recent separation from active service with the employer; or (2) is 572 
or can be qualified for the position with the same training that would be 573 
provided to a new employee hired for such position. The employer shall 574 
offer such positions to laid-off employees in the order of preference set 575 
forth under subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection. Where more than 576 
one employee is entitled to preference for a position, the employer shall 577 
offer the position to the employee with the greatest length of service at 578 
the employment site. An employer may make offers of employment for 579 
a position to more than one laid-off employee with the final offer of 580 
employment for such position conditioned upon the order of preference 581 
described in this subsection. 582 
(c) An offer of employment to a laid-off employee pursuant to this 583 
section shall be in the same classification or job title at the same 584 
employment site, subject to relocation as provided in subsection (g) of 585 
this section, and with substantially the same duties, compensation, 586 
benefits and working conditions as applied to the laid-off employee 587 
immediately prior to March 10, 2020. 588 
(d) Any laid-off employee who is offered a position pursuant to this 589 
section shall be given not less than ten days in which to accept or decline 590 
the offer. A laid-off employee who declines an offer due to his or her 591 
age, underlying health conditions of himself or herself or of a family 592 
member or other person living in his or her household shall retain his 593 
or her right to accept the position and shall retain all other rights under 594 
this section until both (1) the expiration of the public health and civil 595  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	20 of 57 
 
preparedness emergencies declared by the Governor on March 10, 2020, 596 
and any extension of such emergency declarations, and (2) the laid-off 597 
employee is reoffered the position. 598 
(e) Each employer that declines to rehire a laid-off employee on the 599 
grounds of lack of qualifications and instead hires a person other than a 600 
laid-off employee shall provide to the laid-off employee a written notice 601 
not later than thirty days after the date such person is hired. Such notice 602 
shall identify the person hired in lieu of rehiring the laid-off employee, 603 
the reasons for such decision and all demographic data the employer 604 
has regarding such new hire and the laid-off employee who was not 605 
rehired. 606 
(f) Laid-off employees rehired pursuant to this section shall be 607 
permitted to work for not less than thirty work days, unless there is just 608 
cause for their termination. 609 
(g) The requirements of this section shall apply under any of the 610 
following circumstances: 611 
(1) The ownership of the employer changed after a laid-off employee 612 
was laid off, but the enterprise continues to conduct the same or similar 613 
operations it did prior to March 10, 2020; 614 
(2) The form of organization of the employer changed after March 10, 615 
2020; 616 
(3) Substantially all of the assets of the employer were acquired by 617 
another entity that conducts the same or similar operations using 618 
substantially the same assets; or 619 
(4) The employer relocates the operations at which a laid-off 620 
employee was employed prior to March 10, 2020, to a different 621 
employment site not greater than twenty-five miles away from the 622 
original employment site. 623 
(h) No employer shall terminate, refuse to reemploy, reduce 624 
compensation, or otherwise take any adverse action against any person 625  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	21 of 57 
 
seeking to enforce his or her rights under this section or for participating 626 
in proceedings related to this section, opposing the violation of any 627 
provision of this section or otherwise asserting rights under this section. 628 
(i) An employer that terminates, refuses to reemploy or takes any 629 
other adverse action against any laid-off employee shall provide to the 630 
employee at or before the time of the termination, refusal to reemploy 631 
or other adverse action a detailed written statement of the reason or 632 
reasons for the termination, refusal to reemploy or other adverse action, 633 
including all the facts substantiating the reason or reasons and all facts 634 
known to the employer that contradict the substantiating facts. 635 
(j) (1) A laid-off employee aggrieved by a violation of any provision 636 
of this section may bring a civil action for judicial enforcement of such 637 
provision in the superior court for the judicial district where the 638 
violation is alleged to have occurred or where the employer has its 639 
principal office. Any laid-off employee who prevails in such civil action 640 
shall be awarded reasonable attorney's fees and costs to be taxed by the 641 
court. 642 
(2) If the court finds that the employer has violated this section, the 643 
court may enjoin the employer from engaging in such violation and 644 
order such affirmative action as may be appropriate, which may 645 
include, but shall not be limited to, reinstatement or hiring of a laid-off 646 
employee, with or without back pay, including fringe benefits or any 647 
other equitable relief as the court deems appropriate. Interim earnings 648 
or amounts earnable with reasonable diligence by the person or persons 649 
discriminated against shall reduce the back pay otherwise allowable. 650 
Before interim earnings are deducted from lost wages, there shall be 651 
deducted from the interim earnings any reasonable amounts expended 652 
by the laid-off employee in searching for, obtaining or relocating to new 653 
employment. The court may order compensatory and punitive damages 654 
if the court finds that the employer engaged in the violation with malice 655 
or with reckless indifference to the requirements of this section. 656 
(3) If it is established that a laid-off employee exercised rights under 657  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	22 of 57 
 
this section or alleged in good faith that the employer was not 658 
complying with this section and the employer thereafter terminated, 659 
refused to reemploy, demoted or otherwise took adverse action against 660 
the laid-off employee, and such action took place not later than sixty 661 
days after such exercise, a rebuttable presumption shall arise that the 662 
employer's action was taken in violation of this section. The employer 663 
may assert that the sole and factual reason for the action was a legitimate 664 
business reason. The laid-off employee may rebut the employer's 665 
asserted legitimate business reason by showing that such reason is a 666 
pretext. 667 
(k) The Labor Commissioner shall establish a system for receiving 668 
information about claimed violations of this section. The system shall 669 
enable the submission of information, in writing or electronically, by 670 
any person purporting to have knowledge of the claimed violation. The 671 
Labor Commissioner shall retain all information for a minimum of two 672 
years after submission. 673 
(l) The provisions of this section shall apply to each laid-off employee, 674 
whether or not such laid-off employee is represented for purposes of 675 
collective bargaining or is covered by a collective bargaining agreement, 676 
and may be waived in a bona fide collective bargaining agreement, but 677 
only if the waiver is explicitly set forth in the agreement in clear and 678 
unambiguous terms. Unilateral implementation of terms and conditions 679 
of employment by either party to a collective bargaining relationship 680 
shall not constitute or be permitted as a waiver of all or any part of the 681 
provisions of this section. 682 
Sec. 8. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) As used in this section and 683 
section 9 of this act, "personal protective equipment" means the 684 
equipment and devices necessary to comply with section 31-370 of the 685 
general statutes. 686 
(b) Not later than six months after the end of the public health and 687 
civil preparedness emergencies declared by the Governor on March 10, 688 
2020, or the effective date of this section, whichever is later, the 689  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	23 of 57 
 
Commissioner of Public Health, in consultation with the Department of 690 
Administrative Services and the Division of Emergency Management 691 
and Homeland Security, shall award a contract or contracts for the 692 
procurement of personal protective equipment to create two stockpiles 693 
of such equipment pursuant to this section. The commissioner may 694 
make awards to multiple bidders and shall, to the maximum extent 695 
feasible, pay for the personal protective equipment with federal public 696 
health emergency funds. Each stockpile shall be gradually filled to a 697 
capacity determined by the commissioner, provided at least one third of 698 
the capacity of the stockpile shall be filled each year until capacity is 699 
met. If personal protective equipment from a stockpile is used, the 700 
stockpile shall be refilled in a manner similar to how the initial stockpile 701 
was filled. 702 
(c) One stockpile shall consist of personal protective equipment 703 
approved for use by a federal agency and one stockpile shall consist of 704 
personal protective equipment approved for use by the Department of 705 
Public Health, in consultation with the Department of Administrative 706 
Services and the Division of Emergency Management and Homeland 707 
Security. Fifty per cent of the personal protective equipment in each 708 
stockpile shall, to the maximum extent feasible, be manufactured in this 709 
state, and thirty per cent of the personal protective equipment in each 710 
stockpile shall, to the maximum extent feasible, be manufactured in the 711 
United States. 712 
(d) (1) During a declaration of a public health emergency, the 713 
Commissioner of Public Health shall make personal protective 714 
equipment in such stockpiles available without charge to state agencies, 715 
political subdivisions of the state, nursing homes, hospitals, nonprofit 716 
organizations and public schools. If the commissioner determines, after 717 
making such personal protective equipment available, that there is an 718 
excess supply of personal protective equipment, the commissioner shall 719 
make such excess supply available for purchase by other private entities 720 
at fair market value. The commissioner shall establish orders of priority 721 
for the entities that may gain access to the state's personal protective 722 
equipment stockpiles. 723  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	24 of 57 
 
(2) When any personal protective equipment in a stockpile is within 724 
one year of its expiration date, the commissioner shall make such 725 
personal protective equipment available for sale at no more than fair 726 
market value to the following entities, in order of priority: (A) Private 727 
nursing homes in this state, (B) federally qualified healthcare centers in 728 
this state, (C) hospitals, (D) nonprofit hospitals and entities that provide 729 
direct medical care in this state, (E) public school districts in this state, 730 
and (F) private schools and nonpublic charter schools in this state. To 731 
the extent feasible, expired personal protective equipment shall be 732 
disposed of in an environmentally sound manner. 733 
(e) The Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, 734 
in consultation with the Department of Public Health and the 735 
Department of Administrative Services, shall submit a report annually 736 
to the Governor and the General Assembly, in accordance with the 737 
provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes, on the status of the 738 
stockpiles. The report shall include data on the price paid by the state 739 
for the personal protective equipment and data on any personal 740 
protective equipment sold by the state. The reports shall be made 741 
available to the public on the Internet web site of the Division of 742 
Emergency Management and Homeland Security. 743 
Sec. 9. (NEW) (Effective from passage) The Division of Emergency 744 
Management and Homeland Security, in consultation with the 745 
Department of Public Health, shall establish a process to evaluate, 746 
distribute and approve personal protective equipment for use during 747 
public health emergencies. The process shall be designed to assist the 748 
production of personal protective equipment by businesses not 749 
otherwise engaged in the production of such equipment and not 750 
approved by a federal agency to produce such equipment, and shall 751 
prioritize businesses that manufacture personal protective equipment in 752 
this state. The process shall require the Department of Administrative 753 
Services to assist the Division of Emergency Management and 754 
Homeland Security and the Department of Public Health in the review 755 
of such businesses to ensure such businesses are legitimate and do not 756 
have any unresolved safety or health citations. 757  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	25 of 57 
 
Sec. 10. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) As used in this section: 758 
(1) "Department" means the Department of Public Health; 759 
(2) "Health care provider" has the same meaning as provided in 760 
section 19a-17b of the general statutes, except that "health care provider" 761 
does not include an independent medical practice that is owned and 762 
operated, or maintained as a clinic or office, by one or more licensed 763 
physicians and used as an office for the practice of their profession, 764 
within the scope of their license, regardless of the name used publicly to 765 
identify the place or establishment unless the medical practice is 766 
operated or maintained exclusively as part of an integrated health 767 
system or health facility; 768 
(3) "Long-term care provider" means a home health care agency, 769 
home health aide agency, behavioral health facility, alcohol or drug 770 
treatment facility, assisted living services agency, or nursing home, each 771 
as defined in section 19a-490 of the general statutes; 772 
(4) "Covered provider" means a health care provider or long-term 773 
care provider; 774 
(5) "Health care worker" means an individual employed by a health 775 
care provider; 776 
(6) "Long-term care worker" means an individual employed by a 777 
long-term care provider; and 778 
(7) "Personal protective equipment" or "PPE" means the equipment 779 
and devices necessary to comply with section 31-370 of the general 780 
statutes. 781 
(b) On and after January 1, 2023, or one year after regulations are 782 
adopted pursuant to subsection (g) of this section, whichever is later, 783 
each covered provider shall maintain an unexpired inventory of PPE 784 
deemed sufficient by the Commissioner of Public Health for ninety days 785 
of surge consumption in the event of a state of emergency declaration 786 
by the Governor, or a local emergency for a pandemic or other health 787  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	26 of 57 
 
emergency. Personal protective equipment in the inventory shall be new 788 
and not previously worn or used. Each covered provider shall provide 789 
an inventory of its PPE to the department upon request from the 790 
department. Except as provided in subsections (d) and (e) of this section, 791 
a covered provider that violates this subsection shall be subject to a civil 792 
penalty in the amount of twenty-five thousand dollars. 793 
(c) If a covered provider provides services in a facility or other setting 794 
controlled or owned by another covered provider that is obligated to 795 
maintain a PPE inventory pursuant to this section, the covered provider 796 
that controls or owns the facility or other setting shall be required to 797 
maintain the required PPE for the covered provider providing services 798 
in such facility or setting. 799 
(d) Any covered provider may apply to the department, in writing, 800 
for a waiver of some or all of the PPE inventory requirements described 801 
in subsection (a) of this section. The department may approve the 802 
waiver if the covered provider has twenty-five or fewer employees and 803 
the covered provider agrees to close in-person operations during any 804 
public health emergency in which increased use of PPE is recommended 805 
by the department until sufficient PPE becomes available to the covered 806 
provider to return to in-person operations. 807 
(e) (1) The department may exempt a covered provider from the civil 808 
penalty under subsection (a) of this section if the department determines 809 
that supply chain limitations make meeting the required supply level 810 
infeasible, and (A) a covered provider has made a reasonable attempt, 811 
as determined by the department, to obtain PPE, or (B) the covered 812 
provider shows that meeting the required supply level is not possible 813 
due to issues beyond the covered providers control, such as the covered 814 
provider ordered the PPE but such order was not fulfilled by the 815 
manufacturer or distributor, or the PPE was damaged in transit or 816 
stolen. 817 
(2) A covered provider shall not be assessed a civil penalty under 818 
subsection (a) of this section if the covered provider's PPE inventory 819  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	27 of 57 
 
falls below the required supply level as a result of the covered provider's 820 
distribution of PPE to its health care workers or long-term care workers, 821 
or to another covered provider's workers, during a state of emergency 822 
declared by the Governor or a declared local emergency for a pandemic 823 
or other health emergency, provided the covered provider replenishes 824 
its inventory to the required supply level not later than thirty days after 825 
the date the inventory falls below the required supply level if the 826 
department has determined there is not a supply limitation. 827 
(f) A covered provider shall supply PPE to its health care workers and 828 
long-term care workers and require that such workers use the PPE. 829 
(g) The department shall adopt regulations, in accordance with 830 
chapter 54 of the general statutes, to carry out the provisions of this 831 
section. Such regulations shall (1) establish requirements for the surge 832 
capacity levels described in subsection (a) of this section, including, but 833 
not limited to, the types and amount of PPE to be maintained by the 834 
covered provider based on the type and size of each covered provider, 835 
as well as the composition of health care workers and long-term care 836 
workers in its workforce, and (2) not establish policies or standards that 837 
are less protective or prescriptive than any federal, state or local law on 838 
PPE standards. 839 
Sec. 11. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) Each acute care hospital and 840 
nursing home shall collect data on COVID-19 in a form and format 841 
prescribed by the Commissioner of Public Health (1) each day during 842 
the time period of the public health and civil preparedness emergencies 843 
declared by the Governor on March 10, 2020, or any extension of such 844 
time periods, and (2) monthly after the expiration of such time periods. 845 
The COVID-19 data shall be based on nationally recognized and 846 
recommended standards and shall include, but need not be limited to 847 
for each such hospital and nursing home: (A) Current inpatient data of 848 
COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths, (B) the number of 849 
employees exposed to COVID-19 and exhibiting symptoms of COVID-850 
19 who were tested for COVID-19, (C) the number of asymptomatic 851 
employees tested for COVID-19, (D) the number of COVID-19 vaccines 852  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	28 of 57 
 
administered, (E) census data of beds and ventilators, and (F) an 853 
inventory of personal protective equipment, including the quantity in 854 
possession and the utilization rate. 855 
(b) Each acute care hospital and nursing home shall post such data to 856 
such hospital's and nursing home's Internet web site each day during 857 
the time period of the public health and civil preparedness emergencies 858 
declared by the Governor on March 10, 2020, or any extension of such 859 
time periods, and quarterly after such time period has expired. For 860 
purposes of this section "COVID-19" means the respiratory disease 861 
designated by the World Health Organization on February 11, 2020, as 862 
coronavirus 2019, and any related mutation thereof recognized by the 863 
World Health Organization as a communicable respiratory disease. 864 
Sec. 12. (NEW) (Effective from passage) As used in this section and 865 
sections 13 to 16, inclusive, of this act: 866 
(1) "Covered week" means any week within the eligible time period 867 
in which a covered employee was required to perform work for an 868 
employer at the job site or away from the covered employee's home. 869 
(2) "COVID-19" means the respiratory disease designated by the 870 
World Health Organization on February 11, 2020, as coronavirus 2019, 871 
and any related mutation thereof recognized by the World Health 872 
Organization as a communicable respiratory disease; 873 
(3) "Eligible time period" means the period beginning March 20, 2020, 874 
and ending April 30, 2021; 875 
(4) "Essential employee" means any employee deemed eligible by the 876 
Department of Public Health as of February 20, 2021, to receive a 877 
COVID-19 vaccination in phase 1a or 1b of the COVID-19 vaccination 878 
program; 879 
(5) "Covered employee" means any essential employee or specialized 880 
risk employee; 881 
(6) "Employer" means the employer of a covered employee and 882  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	29 of 57 
 
includes consumers, as defined in section 17b-706 of the general statutes; 883 
and 884 
(7) "Specialized risk employee" means a covered employee required 885 
to work in congregate settings or with persons infected with COVID-19, 886 
and any personal care attendant, as defined in section 17b-706 of the 887 
general statutes. 888 
Sec. 13. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) There is established within 889 
the Department of Social Services the Essential Employees Pandemic 890 
Pay Grant Program to administer and award grants to employers whose 891 
covered employees were engaged in activities substantially dedicated to 892 
mitigating or responding to the public health and civil preparedness 893 
emergencies declared by the Governor on March 10, 2020, during the 894 
eligible period. Not less than fifteen per cent of unrestricted funds 895 
received by the state from January 1, 2021, to July 1, 2021, inclusive, for 896 
purposes of COVID-19 relief shall be appropriated by the state to fund 897 
grants under the program. 898 
(b) Not later than July 1, 2021, or sixty days after the Commissioner 899 
of Social Services certifies that the program is established and available, 900 
whichever is later, each employer shall apply to the department for a 901 
grant under the program in an amount sufficient to make payments of 902 
additional compensation to covered employees pursuant to subdivision 903 
(1) of subsection (a) of section 14 of this act. The department shall issue 904 
such grants requested on the grant application not later than thirty days 905 
after the date grant applications are due, provided if the amount 906 
appropriated to the program under subsection (a) of this section is 907 
insufficient to fund the full amount of such grants, the department shall 908 
prorate each grant by such amount as is necessary to issue a grant 909 
payment to each employer who submitted an application.  910 
Sec. 14. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) Each employer that receives 911 
a grant under section 13 of this act shall pay each of its covered 912 
employees additional compensation for each hour worked by such 913 
covered employee during a covered week. Such compensation shall be 914  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	30 of 57 
 
in addition to all other compensation, including wages, remuneration or 915 
other pay and benefits the covered employee otherwise receives from 916 
the employer, and shall be paid in an amount (1) equal to five dollars 917 
per hour worked for essential employees and ten dollars per hour 918 
worked for specialized risk employees if the employer received a grant 919 
in the full amount for which the employer applied, or (2) prorated as 920 
necessary to distribute the grant funds to each covered employee if the 921 
employer received a grant in an amount less than the amount for which 922 
the employer applied. No employer may deny such compensation 923 
based upon the quality or type of work the covered employee 924 
performed during such covered week.  925 
(b) Such compensation shall be provided to the covered employee as 926 
a lump sum payment in the first regularly scheduled payment of wages 927 
after the employer's receipt of the grant. In any case where the employer 928 
is unable to arrange for payment of the amount due to the covered 929 
employee in the first regularly scheduled payment of wages, such 930 
amounts shall be paid as soon as practicable, but not later than the 931 
second regularly scheduled payment of wages after the employer's 932 
receipt of the grant. Such compensation shall be clearly demarcated as a 933 
separate line item in each paystub or other document provided to a 934 
covered employee that details the remuneration the covered employee 935 
received from the employer for a particular period of time. If any 936 
covered employee does not otherwise regularly receive any such 937 
paystub or other document from the employer, the employer shall 938 
provide such paystub or other document to the covered employee for 939 
the duration of the period in which the employer provides additional 940 
compensation under subsection (a) of this section. 941 
(c) (1) Any employer receiving a grant pursuant to section 13 of this 942 
act or providing additional compensation to a covered employee under 943 
this section shall not reduce or in any way diminish the compensation, 944 
including the wages, remuneration or other pay or employment benefits 945 
of a covered employee from March 20, 2020, to June 30, 2021, inclusive, 946 
from the level provided to the covered employee on the date before the 947 
effective date of this act. 948  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	31 of 57 
 
(2) An employer shall not take any action to displace a covered 949 
employee or partially displace a covered employee by reducing hours, 950 
wages or employment benefits for the purposes of hiring an individual 951 
for an equivalent position at a rate of compensation that is less than 952 
required to be provided to a covered employee under subdivision (1) of 953 
this subsection. 954 
(d) The additional compensation provided pursuant to subsection (a) 955 
of this section shall be excluded from the amount of remuneration for 956 
work paid to the covered employee for purposes of (1) calculating the 957 
employer's eligibility for any wage-based benefits offered by the 958 
employer; or (2) computing the regular rate at which such covered 959 
employee is employed under any provision of the general statutes 960 
providing for minimum wages, overtime pay or any other wage-based 961 
employment standard or benefit. 962 
(e) If a covered employee entitled to additional compensation under 963 
this section dies prior to such compensation, the employer shall pay 964 
such additional compensation to the next of kin of the covered employee 965 
as a lump sum payment. 966 
Sec. 15. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) Any employer who fails to 967 
apply for a grant pursuant to section 13 of this act, and any employer 968 
who receives a grant and fails to make a payment of additional 969 
compensation or otherwise causes an employee to incur a loss as a result 970 
of a violation of any provision of section 14 of this act, shall be subject to 971 
the provisions of sections 31-68 and 31-71g of the general statutes, as 972 
amended by this act, for failure to make wage payments.  973 
(b) Any employer who takes any action against an employee for 974 
invoking any right created by section 14 of this act shall be subject to the 975 
provisions of sections 31-69 and 31-69a of the general statutes, as 976 
amended by this act. 977 
Sec. 16. (NEW) (Effective from passage) All actions required under 978 
section 14 of this act of consumers, as defined in section 17b-706 of the 979 
general statutes, shall be undertaken by fiscal intermediaries who shall 980  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	32 of 57 
 
be solely responsible for any penalties otherwise applicable to such 981 
consumers under this section and section 15 of this act and sections 31-982 
68, 31-69, 31-69a and 31-71g of the general statutes, as amended by this 983 
act. The Department of Social Services and the Department of 984 
Developmental Services may apply to the Essential Employees 985 
Pandemic Pay Grant Program for such funds as shall be reasonably 986 
required to compensate fiscal intermediaries for compliance with 987 
sections 12 to 16, inclusive, of this act. 988 
Sec. 17. Section 31-71g of the general statutes is repealed and the 989 
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2021): 990 
Any employer or any officer or agent of an employer or any other 991 
person authorized by an employer to pay wages who violates any 992 
provision of this part or intentionally violates any provision of 993 
subsection (a) of section 15 of this act: (1) Shall be guilty of a class D 994 
felony, except that such employer, officer or agent shall be fined not less 995 
than two thousand nor more than five thousand dollars for each offense 996 
if the total amount of all unpaid wages owed to an employee is more 997 
than two thousand dollars; (2) may be fined not less than one thousand 998 
nor more than two thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than one 999 
year, or both, for each offense if the total amount of all unpaid wages 1000 
owed to an employee is more than one thousand dollars but not more 1001 
than two thousand dollars; (3) may be fined not less than five hundred 1002 
nor more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than six 1003 
months, or both, for each offense if the total amount of all unpaid wages 1004 
owed to an employee is more than five hundred but not more than one 1005 
thousand dollars; or (4) may be fined not less than two hundred nor 1006 
more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than three 1007 
months, or both, for each offense if the total amount of all unpaid wages 1008 
owed to an employee is five hundred dollars or less.  1009 
Sec. 18. Subsection (a) of section 31-69 of the general statutes is 1010 
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1011 
1, 2021): 1012  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	33 of 57 
 
(a) Any employer or his agent, or the officer or agent of any 1013 
corporation, who discharges or in any other manner discriminates 1014 
against any employee because such employee has testified or is about to 1015 
testify in any investigation or proceeding under or related to this part or 1016 
section 15 of this act, or because such employer believes that such 1017 
employee may testify in any investigation or proceeding under this part, 1018 
shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than four 1019 
hundred dollars. 1020 
Sec. 19. Section 31-69a of the general statutes is repealed and the 1021 
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2021): 1022 
(a) In addition to the penalties provided in this chapter and chapter 1023 
568, any employer, officer, agent or other person who violates any 1024 
provision of this chapter, chapter 557 or subsection (g) of section 31-288, 1025 
or who intentionally violates any provision of section 15 of this act, shall 1026 
be liable to the Labor Department for a civil penalty of three hundred 1027 
dollars for each such violation, [of said chapters and for each violation 1028 
of subsection (g) of section 31-288,] except that (1) any person who 1029 
violates (A) a stop work order issued pursuant to subsection (c) of 1030 
section 31-76a shall be liable to the Labor Department for a civil penalty 1031 
of one thousand dollars and each day of such violation shall constitute 1032 
a separate offense, and (B) any provision of section 31-12, 31-13 or 31-14, 1033 
subsection (a) of section 31-15 or section 31-18, 31-23 or 31-24 shall be 1034 
liable to the Labor Department for a civil penalty of six hundred dollars 1035 
for each violation of said sections, and (2) a violation of subsection (g) of 1036 
section 31-288 shall constitute a separate offense for each day of such 1037 
violation. 1038 
(b) Any employer, officer, agent or other person who violates any 1039 
provision of chapter 563a may be liable to the Labor Department for a 1040 
civil penalty of not greater than five hundred dollars for the first 1041 
violation of chapter 563a related to an individual employee or former 1042 
employee, and for each subsequent violation of said chapter related to 1043 
such individual employee or former employee, may be liable to the 1044 
Labor Department for a civil penalty of not greater than one thousand 1045  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	34 of 57 
 
dollars. In setting a civil penalty for any violation in a particular case, 1046 
the Labor Commissioner shall consider all factors which the 1047 
commissioner deems relevant, including, but not limited to, (1) the level 1048 
of assessment necessary to insure immediate and continued compliance 1049 
with the provisions of chapter 563a; (2) the character and degree of 1050 
impact of the violation; and (3) any prior violations of such employer of 1051 
chapter 563a. 1052 
(c) The Attorney General, upon complaint of the Labor 1053 
Commissioner, shall institute civil actions to recover the penalties 1054 
provided for under subsections (a) and (b) of this section. Any amount 1055 
recovered shall be deposited in the General Fund and credited to a 1056 
separate nonlapsing appropriation to the Labor Department, for other 1057 
current expenses, and may be used by the Labor Department to enforce 1058 
the provisions of chapter 557, chapter 563a, this chapter, [and] 1059 
subsection (g) of section 31-288 and section 15 of this act, and to 1060 
implement the provisions of section 31-4.  1061 
Sec. 20. (NEW) (Effective from passage) As used in this section and 1062 
sections 21 to 25, inclusive, of this act: 1063 
(1) "Child" means a biological, adopted or foster child, stepchild, or 1064 
legal ward, of an employee, or a child of a person standing in loco 1065 
parentis of an employee, or an individual to whom the employee stood 1066 
in loco parentis when the individual was a minor child; 1067 
(2) "Employee" means an individual engaged in service to an 1068 
employer in the business of the employer; 1069 
(3) "Employer" means any person, firm, business, educational 1070 
institution, nonprofit organization, corporation, limited liability 1071 
company or other entity, and includes the Personal Care Attendant 1072 
Workforce Council established under section 17b-706a of the general 1073 
statutes, which shall be deemed the employer of all personal care 1074 
attendants, as defined in section 17b-706 of the general statutes. 1075 
"Employer" does not include the federal government; 1076  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	35 of 57 
 
(4) "Family member" means (A) the employee's spouse, as defined in 1077 
section 31-51kk of the general statutes, child, parent, grandparent, 1078 
grandchild or sibling, whether related to the employee by blood, 1079 
marriage, adoption or foster care, or (B) an individual related to the 1080 
employee by blood or affinity whose close association with the 1081 
employee is the equivalent of those family relationships;  1082 
(5) "Parent" means a biological parent, foster parent, adoptive parent, 1083 
stepparent, parent-in-law of the employee or legal guardian of an 1084 
employee or an employee's spouse, an individual standing in loco 1085 
parentis to an employee, or an individual who stood in loco parentis to 1086 
the employee when the employee was a minor child; and 1087 
(6) "Retaliatory personnel action" means any termination, 1088 
suspension, constructive discharge, demotion, unfavorable 1089 
reassignment, refusal to promote, reduction of hours, disciplinary 1090 
action or other adverse employment action taken by an employer 1091 
against an employee. 1092 
Sec. 21. (Effective from passage) (a) (1) Each employer shall provide to 1093 
each of its employees COVID-19 sick leave in addition to any paid sick 1094 
leave provided by the employer pursuant to sections 31-57s and 31-57t 1095 
of the general statutes. The COVID-19 sick leave shall be (A) in the 1096 
amount of eighty hours for each employee who regularly works forty or 1097 
more hours per week, or (B) equal to the amount of hours the employee 1098 
is regularly scheduled to work or works in a two-week period, 1099 
whichever is greater, for each employee who regularly works less than 1100 
forty hours per week. 1101 
(2) An employee exempt from overtime requirements under 29 USC 1102 
213(a)(1), as amended from time to time, shall be assumed to work forty 1103 
hours per week for purposes of calculating COVID-19 sick leave, unless 1104 
such employee regularly works less than forty hours per week, in which 1105 
case the COVID-19 sick leave shall be provided based upon the number 1106 
of hours regularly worked per week. An employee who regularly works 1107 
less than forty hours per week, but whose number of work hours varies 1108  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	36 of 57 
 
from week to week, shall be provided COVID-19 sick leave using the 1109 
average number of hours per week the employee was scheduled to work 1110 
in the six-month period immediately preceding the date on which the 1111 
employee utilizes COVID-19 sick leave, including the hours of any leave 1112 
taken by the employee, provided if the employee did not work over 1113 
such period, the average shall be the reasonable expectation of the 1114 
employee, at the time the employee was hired, of the average number 1115 
of hours per week the employee would be regularly scheduled to work. 1116 
(b) COVID-19 sick leave shall be provided to each employee, 1117 
regardless of how long such employee has been employed by the 1118 
employer and shall be available for use by an employee for any of the 1119 
purposes set forth in subsection (c) of this section beginning on the 1120 
earlier of: (1) September 1, 2021, or (2) the date the employee is hired, 1121 
provided such employee is hired during the time period of the public 1122 
health and civil preparedness emergencies declared by the Governor on 1123 
March 10, 2020, or any extension of such time period. An employee shall 1124 
be entitled to use COVID-19 sick leave retroactively starting from March 1125 
10, 2020, until four weeks after the Governor's emergency declarations 1126 
expire. 1127 
(c) An employee shall be entitled to take COVID-19 sick leave when 1128 
the employee is unable to perform the functions of the job of such 1129 
employee, including through telework, due to any of the following 1130 
reasons related to COVID-19: 1131 
(1) The employee's need to: (A) Self-isolate and care for oneself 1132 
because the employee has been diagnosed with COVID-19 or is 1133 
experiencing symptoms of COVID-19; (B) seek preventive care 1134 
concerning COVID-19; or (C) seek or obtain medical diagnosis, care, or 1135 
treatment if experiencing symptoms of COVID-19; 1136 
(2) The employee's need to comply with an order or determination to 1137 
self-isolate, on the basis that the employee's physical presence on the job 1138 
or in the community would jeopardize the employee's health, the health 1139 
of other employees or the health of an individual in the employee's 1140  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	37 of 57 
 
household because of: (A) Possible exposure to COVID-19; or (B) the 1141 
exhibition of symptoms of COVID-19, regardless of whether the 1142 
employee has been diagnosed with COVID-19; 1143 
(3) The employee's need to care for a family member who is: (A) Self-1144 
isolating, seeking preventive care, or seeking or obtaining medical 1145 
diagnosis, care, or treatment for the purposes described in subdivision 1146 
(1) of this subsection; or (B) self-isolating due to an order or 1147 
determination as described in subdivision (2) of this subsection; 1148 
(4) The employee's inability to work or telework because the 1149 
employee is: (A) Prohibited from working by the employer due to health 1150 
concerns related to the potential transmission of COVID-19; or (B) 1151 
subject to an individual or general local, state or federal quarantine or 1152 
isolation order, including a shelter-in-place or stay-at-home order, 1153 
related to COVID-19; 1154 
(5) The employee's need to care for a family member when the care 1155 
provider of such family member is unavailable due to COVID-19, or if 1156 
the family member's school or place of care has been closed by a local, 1157 
state or federal public official or at the discretion of the school or place 1158 
of care due to COVID-19, including, if a school or place of care: (A) Is 1159 
physically closed but providing virtual learning instruction; (B) requires 1160 
or makes optional virtual learning instruction; or (C) requires or makes 1161 
available a hybrid of in-person and virtual learning instruction models; 1162 
or 1163 
(6) The employee's inability to work because the employee has a 1164 
health condition that may increase susceptibility to or risk of COVID-19, 1165 
including, but not limited to, age, heart disease, asthma, lung disease, 1166 
diabetes, kidney disease or a weakened immune system. 1167 
(d) An order or determination pursuant to subdivision (2) of 1168 
subsection (c) of this section or subparagraph (B) of subdivision (3) of 1169 
subsection (c) of this section shall be made by a local, state or federal 1170 
public official, a health authority having jurisdiction, a health care 1171 
provider or the employer of the employee or the employee's family 1172  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	38 of 57 
 
member. Such order or determination need not be specific to such 1173 
employee or family member. 1174 
(e) Each employer shall pay each employee for COVID-19 sick leave 1175 
at a pay rate equal to the greater of (1) the normal hourly wage for that 1176 
employee, or (2) the minimum fair wage rate under section 31-58 of the 1177 
general statutes in effect for the pay period during which the employee 1178 
used COVID-19 sick leave. For any employee whose hourly wage varies 1179 
depending on the work performed by the employee, "normal hourly 1180 
wage" means the average hourly wage of the employee in the pay period 1181 
prior to the one in which the employee uses COVID-19 sick leave. 1182 
(f) The employee shall provide advance notice to the employer of the 1183 
need for COVID-19 sick leave as soon as practicable only when the need 1184 
for COVID-19 sick leave is foreseeable and the employer's place of 1185 
business has not been closed. 1186 
(g) Notwithstanding any provision of sections 20 to 25, inclusive, of 1187 
this act, no documentation from an employee shall be required by an 1188 
employer for COVID-19 sick leave. 1189 
(h) If an employee is transferred to a separate division, entity or 1190 
location, but remains employed by the same employer, the employee 1191 
shall be entitled to all COVID-19 sick leave received under sections 20 1192 
to 25, inclusive, of this act at the prior division, entity or location and 1193 
shall be entitled to use all COVID-19 sick leave as provided in sections 1194 
20 to 25, inclusive, of this act. If a different employer succeeds or takes 1195 
the place of an existing employer, all employees of the original employer 1196 
who remain employed by the successor employer are entitled to all 1197 
COVID-19 sick leave they accrued or are eligible for pursuant to sections 1198 
20 to 25, inclusive, of this act while employed by the original employer, 1199 
and are entitled to use COVID-19 sick leave previously received 1200 
pursuant to sections 20 to 25, inclusive, of this act. 1201 
(i) An employer shall not require, as a condition of an employee's 1202 
taking COVID-19 sick leave, that the employee search for or find a 1203 
replacement worker to cover the hours during which the employee is 1204  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	39 of 57 
 
using COVID-19 sick leave. 1205 
Sec. 22. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) Nothing in sections 20 to 25, 1206 
inclusive, of this act shall be construed to: (1) Discourage or prohibit an 1207 
employer from the adoption or retention of a COVID-19 sick leave, paid 1208 
sick leave or other paid leave policy more generous than the one 1209 
required pursuant to section 21 of this act, including providing more 1210 
leave than required under said section; (2) diminish any rights provided 1211 
to any employee under a collective bargaining agreement; or (3) prohibit 1212 
an employer from establishing a policy whereby an employee may 1213 
donate unused COVID-19 sick leave to another employee. 1214 
(b) An employee may first use the COVID-19 sick leave provided 1215 
under section 23 of this act prior to using sick leave under section 31-57t 1216 
of the general statutes. An employer may not require an employee to 1217 
use other paid leave provided by the employer to the employee before 1218 
the employee uses the COVID-19 sick leave. 1219 
Sec. 23. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) It shall be unlawful for an 1220 
employer or any other person to interfere with, restrain or deny the 1221 
exercise of, or the attempt to exercise, any right protected under sections 1222 
20 to 25, inclusive, of this act. No employer shall take retaliatory 1223 
personnel action or discriminate against an employee because the 1224 
employee (1) requests or uses COVID-19 sick leave in accordance with 1225 
the provisions of sections 20 to 25, inclusive, of this act, or (2) files a 1226 
complaint with the Labor Commissioner alleging the employer's 1227 
violation of any provision of said sections. 1228 
(b) The Labor Commissioner shall advise any employee who (1) is 1229 
covered by a collective bargaining agreement that provides for COVID-1230 
19 sick leave, and (2) files a complaint pursuant to subsection (a) of this 1231 
section of the employee's right to pursue a grievance with his or her 1232 
collective bargaining agent. 1233 
(c) Any employee aggrieved by a violation of any provision of 1234 
sections 20 to 25, inclusive, of this act, may file a complaint with the 1235 
Labor Commissioner. Upon receipt of any such complaint, the Labor 1236  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	40 of 57 
 
Commissioner may hold a hearing. After the hearing, any employer 1237 
who is found by the Labor Commissioner, by a preponderance of the 1238 
evidence, to have violated any provision of this section shall be liable to 1239 
the Labor Department for a civil penalty in an amount consistent with 1240 
the penalties provided in section 31-57v of the general statutes. The 1241 
Labor Commissioner may award the employee appropriate relief 1242 
consistent with the provisions of section 31-57v of the general statutes. 1243 
Any party aggrieved by the decision of the Labor Commissioner may 1244 
appeal the decision to the Superior Court in accordance with the 1245 
provisions of section 4-183 of the general statutes. 1246 
(d) Any person aggrieved by a violation of any provision of sections 1247 
20 to 25, inclusive, of this act, the Labor Commissioner, the Attorney 1248 
General or any entity a member of which is aggrieved by a violation of 1249 
this act, may bring a civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction 1250 
against the employer violating said sections. Such action may be 1251 
brought by a person aggrieved by a violation of this section without first 1252 
filing an administrative complaint. 1253 
(e) The Labor Commissioner shall administer this section within 1254 
available appropriations. 1255 
Sec. 24. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) Each employer subject to the 1256 
provisions of sections 20 to 25, inclusive, of this act shall, at the time of 1257 
hiring or not later than fourteen days after the effective date of this 1258 
section, whichever is later, provide written notice to each employee (1) 1259 
of the entitlement to COVID-19 sick leave, the amount of COVID-19 sick 1260 
leave provided and the terms under which COVID-19 sick leave may be 1261 
used, (2) that retaliatory personnel actions by the employer are 1262 
prohibited, and (3) of the right to file a complaint with the Labor 1263 
Commissioner or file a civil action for any violation of sections 20 to 25, 1264 
inclusive, of this act. Each employer shall also display a poster in a 1265 
conspicuous place, accessible to employees, at the employer's place of 1266 
business that contains the information required by this section in both 1267 
English and Spanish provided in cases where the employer does not 1268 
maintain a physical workplace, or an employee teleworks or performs 1269  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	41 of 57 
 
work through a web-based or app-based platform, notification shall be 1270 
sent via electronic communication or a conspicuous posting in the web-1271 
based or app-based platform. The Labor Commissioner shall provide 1272 
such posters and model written notices to all employers. Additionally, 1273 
employers shall include in the record of hours worked, wages earned 1274 
and deductions required by section 31-13a of the general statutes, the 1275 
number of hours, if any, of COVID-19 sick leave received by each 1276 
employee, as well as any use of COVID-19 sick leave in the calendar 1277 
year. The Labor Commissioner shall administer this section within 1278 
available appropriations. 1279 
(b) Employers shall retain records documenting hours worked by 1280 
employees and COVID-19 sick leave taken by employees, for a period 1281 
of three years, and shall allow the Labor Commissioner access to such 1282 
records, with appropriate notice and at a mutually agreeable time, to 1283 
monitor compliance with the requirements of this section. When an 1284 
issue arises as to an employee's entitlement to COVID-19 sick leave 1285 
under this section, if the employer does not maintain or retain adequate 1286 
records documenting hours worked by the employee and COVID-19 1287 
sick leave taken by the employee, or does not allow reasonable access to 1288 
such records, it shall be presumed that the employer has violated this 1289 
section absent clear and convincing evidence otherwise. 1290 
(c) The Labor Commissioner may coordinate implementation and 1291 
enforcement of sections 20 to 25, inclusive, of this act and shall 1292 
promulgate appropriate guidelines or regulations for such purposes. 1293 
(d) The Labor Commissioner may develop and implement a 1294 
multilingual outreach program to inform employees, parents and 1295 
persons who are under the care of a health care provider about the 1296 
availability of COVID-19 sick leave. This program may include the 1297 
development of notices and other written materials in English and in 1298 
other languages. The Labor Commissioner shall administer this section 1299 
within available appropriations. 1300 
Sec. 25. (NEW) (Effective from passage) Unless required by law, an 1301  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	42 of 57 
 
employer shall not require disclosure of the details of an employee's or 1302 
an employee's family member's health information as a condition for 1303 
providing COVID-19 sick leave under sections 20 to 25, inclusive, of this 1304 
act. If an employer possesses health information about an employee or 1305 
an employee's family member, such information shall be treated as 1306 
confidential and not disclosed except to such employee or with the 1307 
permission of such employee. 1308 
Sec. 26. Subdivision (1) of subsection (c) of section 31-225a of the 1309 
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 1310 
thereof (Effective October 1, 2021): 1311 
(c) (1) (A) Any week for which the employer has compensated the 1312 
claimant in the form of wages in lieu of notice, dismissal payments or 1313 
any similar payment for loss of wages shall be considered a week of 1314 
employment for the purpose of determining employer chargeability. (B) 1315 
No benefits shall be charged to any employer who paid wages of five 1316 
hundred dollars or less to the claimant in his or her base period. (C) No 1317 
dependency allowance paid to a claimant shall be charged to any 1318 
employer. (D) In the event of a natural disaster declared by the President 1319 
of the United States, no benefits paid on the basis of total or partial 1320 
unemployment which is the result of physical damage to a place of 1321 
employment caused by severe weather conditions including, but not 1322 
limited to, hurricanes, snow storms, ice storms or flooding, or fire except 1323 
where caused by the employer, shall be charged to any employer. (E) If 1324 
the administrator finds that (i) an individual's most recent separation 1325 
from a base period employer occurred under conditions which would 1326 
result in disqualification by reason of subdivision (2), (6) or (9) of 1327 
subsection (a) of section 31-236, or (ii) an individual was discharged for 1328 
violating an employer's drug testing policy, provided the policy has 1329 
been adopted and applied consistent with sections 31-51t to 31-51aa, 1330 
inclusive, section 14-261b and any applicable federal law, no benefits 1331 
paid thereafter to such individual with respect to any week of 1332 
unemployment which is based upon wages paid by such employer with 1333 
respect to employment prior to such separation shall be charged to such 1334 
employer's account, provided such employer shall have filed a notice 1335  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	43 of 57 
 
with the administrator within the time allowed for appeal in section 31-1336 
241. (F) No base period employer's account shall be charged with respect 1337 
to benefits paid to a claimant if such employer continues to employ such 1338 
claimant at the time the employer's account would otherwise have been 1339 
charged to the same extent that he or she employed him or her during 1340 
the individual's base period, provided the employer shall notify the 1341 
administrator within the time allowed for appeal in section 31-241. (G) 1342 
If a claimant has failed to accept suitable employment under the 1343 
provisions of subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of section 31-236 and the 1344 
disqualification has been imposed, the account of the employer who 1345 
makes an offer of employment to a claimant who was a former 1346 
employee shall not be charged with any benefit payments made to such 1347 
claimant after such initial offer of reemployment until such time as such 1348 
claimant resumes employment with such employer, provided such 1349 
employer shall make application therefor in a form acceptable to the 1350 
administrator. The administrator shall notify such employer whether or 1351 
not his or her application is granted. Any decision of the administrator 1352 
denying suspension of charges as herein provided may be appealed 1353 
within the time allowed for appeal in section 31-241. (H) Fifty per cent 1354 
of benefits paid to a claimant under the federal-state extended duration 1355 
unemployment benefits program established by the federal 1356 
Employment Security Act shall be charged to the experience accounts of 1357 
the claimant's base period employers in the same manner as the regular 1358 
benefits paid for such benefit year. (I) No base period employer's 1359 
account shall be charged with respect to benefits paid to a claimant who 1360 
voluntarily left suitable work with such employer (i) to care for a 1361 
seriously ill spouse, parent or child or (ii) due to the discontinuance of 1362 
the transportation used by the claimant to get to and from work, as 1363 
provided in subparagraphs (A)(ii) and (A)(iii) of subdivision (2) of 1364 
subsection (a) of section 31-236. (J) No base period employer's account 1365 
shall be charged with respect to benefits paid to a claimant who has been 1366 
discharged or suspended because the claimant has been disqualified 1367 
from performing the work for which he or she was hired due to the loss 1368 
of such claimant's operator license as a result of a drug or alcohol test or 1369 
testing program conducted in accordance with section 14-44k, 14-227a 1370  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	44 of 57 
 
or 14-227b while the claimant was off duty. (K) No base period 1371 
employer's account shall be charged with respect to benefits paid to a 1372 
claimant due to partial or total unemployment that the Labor 1373 
Commissioner or the commissioner's designee determines are 1374 
attributable to COVID-19, including, but not limited to, benefits paid to 1375 
a claimant who, through no fault of his or her own, becomes either 1376 
partially or fully unemployed during the public health and civil 1377 
preparedness emergencies declared by the Governor on March 10, 2020, 1378 
and any period of extension or renewal. 1379 
Sec. 27. Subsection (c) of section 31-225a of the general statutes, as 1380 
amended by section 26 of public act 19-25, section 235 of public act 19-1381 
117 and section 26 of this act is repealed and the following is substituted 1382 
in lieu thereof (Effective January 1, 2022): 1383 
(c) (1) (A) Any week for which the employer has compensated the 1384 
claimant in the form of wages in lieu of notice, dismissal payments or 1385 
any similar payment for loss of wages shall be considered a week of 1386 
employment for the purpose of determining employer chargeability. (B) 1387 
No benefits shall be charged to any employer who paid wages of five 1388 
hundred dollars or less to the claimant in his or her base period. (C) No 1389 
dependency allowance paid to a claimant shall be charged to any 1390 
employer. (D) In the event of a natural disaster declared by the President 1391 
of the United States, no benefits paid on the basis of total or partial 1392 
unemployment which is the result of physical damage to a place of 1393 
employment caused by severe weather conditions including, but not 1394 
limited to, hurricanes, snow storms, ice storms or flooding, or fire except 1395 
where caused by the employer, shall be charged to any employer. (E) If 1396 
the administrator finds that (i) an individual's most recent separation 1397 
from a base period employer occurred under conditions which would 1398 
result in disqualification by reason of subdivision (2), (6) or (9) of 1399 
subsection (a) of section 31-236, or (ii) an individual was discharged for 1400 
violating an employer's drug testing policy, provided the policy has 1401 
been adopted and applied consistent with sections 31-51t to 31-51aa, 1402 
inclusive, section 14-261b and any applicable federal law, no benefits 1403 
paid thereafter to such individual with respect to any week of 1404  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	45 of 57 
 
unemployment which is based upon wages paid by such employer with 1405 
respect to employment prior to such separation shall be charged to such 1406 
employer's account, provided such employer shall have filed a notice 1407 
with the administrator within the time allowed for appeal in section 31-1408 
241. (F) No base period employer's account shall be charged with respect 1409 
to benefits paid to a claimant if such employer continues to employ such 1410 
claimant at the time the employer's account would otherwise have been 1411 
charged to the same extent that he or she employed him or her during 1412 
the individual's base period, provided the employer shall notify the 1413 
administrator within the time allowed for appeal in section 31-241. (G) 1414 
If a claimant has failed to accept suitable employment under the 1415 
provisions of subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of section 31-236 and the 1416 
disqualification has been imposed, the account of the employer who 1417 
makes an offer of employment to a claimant who was a former 1418 
employee shall not be charged with any benefit payments made to such 1419 
claimant after such initial offer of reemployment until such time as such 1420 
claimant resumes employment with such employer, provided such 1421 
employer shall make application therefor in a form acceptable to the 1422 
administrator. The administrator shall notify such employer whether or 1423 
not his or her application is granted. Any decision of the administrator 1424 
denying suspension of charges as herein provided may be appealed 1425 
within the time allowed for appeal in section 31-241. (H) Fifty per cent 1426 
of benefits paid to a claimant under the federal-state extended duration 1427 
unemployment benefits program established by the fede ral 1428 
Employment Security Act shall be charged to the experience accounts of 1429 
the claimant's base period employers in the same manner as the regular 1430 
benefits paid for such benefit year. (I) No base period employer's 1431 
account shall be charged with respect to benefits paid to a claimant who 1432 
voluntarily left suitable work with such employer (i) to care for a 1433 
seriously ill spouse, parent or child, or (ii) due to the discontinuance of 1434 
the transportation used by the claimant to get to and from work, as 1435 
provided in subparagraphs (A)(ii) and (A)(iii) of subdivision (2) of 1436 
subsection (a) of section 31-236. (J) No base period employer's account 1437 
shall be charged with respect to benefits paid to a claimant who has been 1438 
discharged or suspended because the claimant has been disqualified 1439  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	46 of 57 
 
from performing the work for which he or she was hired due to the loss 1440 
of such claimant's operator license as a result of a drug or alcohol test or 1441 
testing program conducted in accordance with section 14-44k, 14-227a 1442 
or 14-227b while the claimant was off duty. (K) No base period 1443 
employer's account shall be charged with respect to benefits paid to a 1444 
claimant due to partial or total unemployment that the Labor 1445 
Commissioner or the commissioner's designee determines are 1446 
attributable to COVID-19, including, but not limited to, benefits paid to 1447 
a claimant who, through no fault of his or her own, becomes either 1448 
partially or fully unemployed during the public health and civil 1449 
preparedness emergency declared by the Governor on March 10, 2020, 1450 
and any period of extension or renewal. [K] (L) No base period 1451 
employer's account shall be charged with respect to benefits paid to a 1452 
claimant whose separation from employment is attributable to the 1453 
return of an individual who was absent from work due to a bona fide 1454 
leave taken pursuant to sections 31-49f to 31-49t, inclusive, or 31-51kk to 1455 
31-51qq, inclusive.  1456 
(2) All benefits paid which are not charged to any employer shall be 1457 
pooled. 1458 
(3) The noncharging provisions of this chapter, except subparagraphs 1459 
(D), (F) and [(K)] (L) of subdivision (1) of this subsection, shall not apply 1460 
to reimbursing employers. 1461 
Sec. 28. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) Notwithstanding any 1462 
provision of chapter 567 of the general statutes, during the weeks 1463 
commencing July 26, 2020, and ending on September 5, 2020, 1464 
individuals who were eligible for a weekly benefit amount of less than 1465 
one hundred dollars pursuant to the provisions of said chapter and who 1466 
did not exhaust their state regular unemployment benefits by July 26, 1467 
2020, shall have their weekly benefit amount raised to one hundred 1468 
dollars and such individuals shall be permitted to apply for lost wages 1469 
assistance. 1470 
(b) Notwithstanding any provision of chapter 567 of the general 1471  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	47 of 57 
 
statutes, if an additional federal benefit program is established for which 1472 
the eligibility of an individual requires a weekly benefit amount of not 1473 
less than one hundred dollars pursuant to the provisions of said chapter, 1474 
individuals who are eligible for a weekly benefit amount of less than 1475 
one hundred dollars and who have not exhausted their state regular 1476 
unemployment benefits shall have their weekly benefit amount raised 1477 
to one hundred dollars, and such individuals shall be permitted to apply 1478 
for such additional federal benefit program. As used in this subsection, 1479 
"additional federal benefit program" means a program enacted in 1480 
federal law that provides benefits for unemployment caused by or 1481 
related to COVID-19 or the public health and civil preparedness 1482 
emergencies declared by the Governor on March 10, 2020, or any 1483 
extension of such emergency declarations, and for which there is one 1484 
hundred per cent federal funding and "COVID-19" means the 1485 
respiratory disease designated by the World Health Organization on 1486 
February 11, 2020, as coronavirus 2019, and any related mutation thereof 1487 
recognized by the World Health Organization as a communicable 1488 
respiratory disease. 1489 
(c) With respect to employers who make payments in lieu of 1490 
contributions pursuant to section 31-225 of the general statutes, for 1491 
individuals who are affected by subsection (a) or (b) of this section, the 1492 
amount otherwise due from the employer in lieu of contributions shall 1493 
be reduced by an amount equal to the difference between the 1494 
individual's weekly benefit amount to be paid pursuant to subsections 1495 
(a) or (b) of this section and the weekly benefit amount which was or 1496 
would have been calculated pursuant to chapter 567 of the general 1497 
statutes prior to the adjustment to the weekly benefit amount required 1498 
by subsections (a) or (b) of this section. 1499 
(d) The Labor Commissioner may issue any implementing orders the 1500 
commissioner deems necessary to effectuate the provisions of this 1501 
section. 1502 
Sec. 29. Subsection (f) of section 31-273 of the general statutes is 1503 
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 1504  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	48 of 57 
 
passage): 1505 
(f) Any person who knowingly makes a false statement or 1506 
representation or fails to disclose a material fact in order to obtain, 1507 
increase, prevent or decrease any benefit, contribution or other payment 1508 
under this chapter, or under any similar law of another state or of the 1509 
United States in regard to which this state acted as agent pursuant to an 1510 
agreement authorized by section 31-225, whether to be made to or by 1511 
himself or herself or any other person, and who receives any such 1512 
benefit, pays any such contribution or alters any such payment to his or 1513 
her advantage by such fraudulent means (1) shall be guilty of a class A 1514 
misdemeanor if such benefit, contribution or payment amounts to [five 1515 
hundred] two thousand dollars or less, or (2) shall be guilty of a class D 1516 
felony if such benefit, contribution or payment amounts to more than 1517 
[five hundred] two thousand dollars. Notwithstanding the provisions 1518 
of section 54-193, no person shall be prosecuted for a violation of the 1519 
provisions of this subsection committed on or after October 1, 1977, 1520 
except within five years next after such violation has been committed. 1521 
Sec. 30. (NEW) (Effective from passage) Each contracting authority 1522 
acting pursuant to section 31-53 of the general statutes shall consider the 1523 
use of a project labor agreement pursuant to section 31-56b of the 1524 
general statutes for state contracts valued at ten million dollars or more. 1525 
Each contractor who bids on such a state contract shall (1) be 1526 
prequalified under section 4a-100 of the general statutes to perform the 1527 
work required by the contractor under the contract, (2) be enrolled in 1528 
the apprenticeship program pursuant to section 31-22m of the general 1529 
statutes, and (3) if awarded the contract, complete the work required 1530 
under the contract using its own employees and shall pay such 1531 
employees not less than the wages described in section 31-53 of the 1532 
general statutes. 1533 
Sec. 31. Section 31-57r of the general statutes is repealed and the 1534 
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 1535 
As used in this section and sections 31-57s to 31-57w, inclusive: 1536  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	49 of 57 
 
(1) "Child" means a biological, adopted or foster child, stepchild, legal 1537 
ward of a service worker, or a child of a service worker standing in loco 1538 
parentis, who is (A) under eighteen years of age; or (B) eighteen years 1539 
of age or older and incapable of self-care because of a mental or physical 1540 
disability; 1541 
(2) "Day or temporary worker" means an individual who performs 1542 
work for another on (A) a per diem basis, or (B) an occasional or 1543 
irregular basis for only the time required to complete such work, 1544 
whether such individual is paid by the person for whom such work is 1545 
performed or by an employment agency or temporary help service, as 1546 
defined in section 31-129; 1547 
(3) "Employee" means an individual engaged in service to an 1548 
employer in the business of the employer and includes a personal care 1549 
attendant, as defined in section 17b-706, who shall be deemed employed 1550 
by the Personal Care Attendant Workforce Council established under 1551 
section 17b-706a; 1552 
(4) (A) "Employer" means any person, firm, business, educational 1553 
institution, nonprofit agency, corporation, limited liability company or 1554 
other entity that employs fifty or more individuals in the state, which 1555 
shall be determined based on such person's, firm's, business', 1556 
educational institution's, nonprofit agency's, corporation's, limited 1557 
liability company's or other entity's payroll for the week containing 1558 
October first, annually, [.] and includes the Personal Care Attendant 1559 
Workforce Council established under section 17b-706a, which shall be 1560 
deemed the employer all personal care attendants, as defined in section 1561 
17b-706. "Employer" does not mean the federal government. (B) 1562 
"Employer" does not include [: (A) Any] any business establishment 1563 
classified in sector 31, 32 or 33 in the North American Industrial 1564 
Classification System, [or (B) any] nationally chartered organization 1565 
exempt from taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 1566 
Code of 1986, or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue code 1567 
of the United States, as from time to time amended, that provides all of 1568 
the following services: Recreation, child care and education or the 1569  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	50 of 57 
 
federal government; 1570 
(5) "Family violence" has the same meaning as provided in section 1571 
46b-38a; 1572 
(6) "Retaliatory personnel action" means any termination, 1573 
suspension, constructive discharge, demotion, unfavorable 1574 
reassignment, refusal to promote, disciplinary action or other adverse 1575 
employment action taken by an employer against an employee or a 1576 
service worker; 1577 
(7) "Service worker" means an employee primarily engaged in an 1578 
occupation with one of the following broad or detailed occupation code 1579 
numbers and titles, as defined by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics 1580 
Standard Occupational Classification system or any successor system: 1581 
(A) 11-9050 Food Service Managers; (B) 11-9110 Medical and Health 1582 
Services Managers; (C) 21-1020 Social Workers; (D) 21-1093 Social and 1583 
Human Service Assistants; (E) 21-1094 Community Health Workers; (F) 1584 
21-1099 Community and Social Service Specialists, All Other; (G) 25-1585 
4020 Librarians; (H) 29-1050 Pharmacists; (I) 29-1070 Physician 1586 
Assistants; (J) 29-1120 Therapists; (K) 29-1140 Registered Nurses; (L) 29-1587 
1150 Nurse Anesthetists; (M) 29-1160 Nurse Midwives; (N) 29-1170 1588 
Nurse Practitioners; (O) 29-2020 Dental Hygienists; (P) 29-2040 1589 
Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics; (Q) 29-2050 Health 1590 
Practitioner Support Technologists and Technicians; (R) 29-2060 1591 
Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses; (S) 31-1011 Home 1592 
Health Aides; (T) 31-1012 Nursing Aides, Orderlies and Attendants; (U) 1593 
31-1013 Psychiatric Aides; (V) 31-9091 Dental Assistants; (W) 31-9092 1594 
Medical Assistants; (X) 33-9032 Security Guards; (Y) 33-9091 Crossing 1595 
Guards; (Z) 35-1010 Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving 1596 
Workers; (AA) 35-2010 Cooks; (BB) 35-2020 Food Preparation Workers; 1597 
(CC) 35-3010 Bartenders; (DD) 35-3020 Fast Food and Counter Workers; 1598 
(EE) 35-3030 Waiters and Waitresses; (FF) 35-3040 Food Servers, 1599 
Nonrestaurant; (GG) 35-9010 Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants 1600 
and Bartender Helpers; (HH) 35-9020 Dishwashers; (II) 35-9030 Hosts 1601 
and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge and Coffee Shop; (JJ) 35-9090 1602  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	51 of 57 
 
Miscellaneous Food Preparation and Serving Related Workers; (KK) 37-1603 
2011 Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners; 1604 
(LL) 37-2019 Building Cleaning Workers, All Other; (MM) 39-3030 1605 
Ushers, Lobby Attendants and Ticket Takers; (NN) 39-5010 Barbers, 1606 
Hairdressers, Hairstylists and Cosmetologists; (OO) 39-6010 Baggage 1607 
Porters, Bellhops and Concierges; (PP) 39-9010 Child Care Workers; 1608 
(QQ) 39-9021 Personal Care Aides; (RR) 41-1010 First-Line Supervisors 1609 
of Sales Workers; (SS) 41-2011 Cashiers; (TT) 41-2021 Counter and 1610 
Rental Clerks; (UU) 41-2030 Retail Salespersons; (VV) 43-3070 Tellers; 1611 
(WW) 43-4080 Hotel, Motel and Resort Desk Clerks; (XX) 43-4170 1612 
Receptionists and Information Clerks; (YY) 43-5020 Couriers and 1613 
Messengers; (ZZ) 43-6010 Secretaries and Administrative Assistants; 1614 
(AAA) 43-9010 Computer Operators; (BBB) 43-9020 Data Entry and 1615 
Information Processing Workers; (CCC) 43-9030 Desktop Publishers; 1616 
(DDD) 43-9040 Insurance Claims and Policy Processing Clerks; (EEE) 1617 
43-9050 Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service; 1618 
(FFF) 43-9060 Office Clerks, General; (GGG) 43-9070 Office Machine 1619 
Operators, Except Computer; (HHH) 43-9080 Proofreaders and Copy 1620 
Markers; (III) 43-9110 Statistical Assistants; (JJJ) 43-9190 Miscellaneous 1621 
Office and Administrative Support Workers; (KKK) 51-3010 Bakers; 1622 
(LLL) 51-3020 Butchers and Other Meat, Poultry and Fish Processing 1623 
Workers; (MMM) 51-3090 Miscellaneous Food Processing Workers; 1624 
(NNN) 53-3010 Ambulance Drivers and Attendants, Except Emergency 1625 
Medical Technicians; (OOO) 53-3020 Bus Drivers; (PPP) 53-3040 Taxi 1626 
Drivers and Chauffeurs; or (QQQ) 29-2034 Radiologic Technologists, 1627 
and is (i) paid on an hourly basis, or (ii) not exempt from the minimum 1628 
wage and overtime compensation requirements of the Fair Labor 1629 
Standards Act of 1938 and the regulations promulgated thereunder, as 1630 
amended from time to time. "Service worker" does not include day or 1631 
temporary workers; 1632 
(8) "Sexual assault" means any act that constitutes a violation of 1633 
section 53a-70b of the general statutes, revision of 1958, revised to 1634 
January 1, 2019, or section 53a-70, 53a-70a, 53a-71, 53a-72a, 53a-72b or 1635 
53a-73a; 1636  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	52 of 57 
 
(9) "Spouse" means a husband or wife, as the case may be; and 1637 
(10) "Year" means any three-hundred-sixty-five-day period used by 1638 
an employer to calculate employee benefits.  1639 
Sec. 32. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2021) (a) As used in this section: 1640 
(1) "Nurse" means an advanced practice registered nurse, registered 1641 
nurse or licensed practical nurse; 1642 
(2) "Advanced practice registered nurse" means an advanced practice 1643 
registered nurse licensed pursuant to chapter 378 of the general statutes; 1644 
(3) "Registered nurse" means a registered nurse licensed pursuant to 1645 
chapter 378 of the general statutes; 1646 
(4) "Licensed practical nurse" means a practical nurse licensed 1647 
pursuant to chapter 378 of the general statutes; 1648 
(5) "Nurse's aide" means a nurse's aide registered pursuant to chapter 1649 
378a of the general statutes; 1650 
(6) "Hospital" means any short-term acute care general or children's 1651 
hospital licensed by the Department of Public Health, including the John 1652 
Dempsey Hospital of The University of Connecticut Health Center; 1653 
(7) "Direct patient care" means any care of a patient that is provided 1654 
personally by a hospital staff member and includes, but is not limited 1655 
to, treatment, counseling, self-care and the administration of 1656 
medication; and 1657 
(8) "Nursing unit" means a unit or floor in a hospital. 1658 
(b) Each hospital shall calculate for each nursing unit, on a per shift 1659 
basis, the total number of nurses and nurse's aides providing direct 1660 
patient care to patients of the hospital. Each hospital shall post in each 1661 
nursing unit, at the beginning of each shift, a clear and conspicuous 1662 
notice readily accessible to and clearly visible by patients, employees 1663 
and visitors of the hospital, including, but not limited to, persons in a 1664  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	53 of 57 
 
wheelchair, containing the following information: 1665 
(1) The name of the hospital; 1666 
(2) The date; 1667 
(3) The total number of (A) advanced practice registered nurses, (B) 1668 
registered nurses, (C) licensed practical nurses, and (D) nurse's aides, 1669 
who will be responsible for direct patient care during the shift, and the 1670 
total number of hours each such nurse or nurse's aide is scheduled to 1671 
work during the shift; and 1672 
(4) The total number of patients in the nursing unit. 1673 
(c) In addition to the information posted pursuant to subsection (a) of 1674 
this section, each hospital shall post at the beginning of each shift a clear 1675 
and conspicuous notice readily accessible to and clearly visible by 1676 
patients, employees and visitors of the hospital, including, but not 1677 
limited to, persons in a wheelchair, containing the following 1678 
information: 1679 
(1) The hospital's staffing matrix for the nursing unit; and 1680 
(2) The telephone number or Internet web site that a patient, 1681 
employee or visitor of the hospital may use to report a suspected 1682 
violation by the hospital of a regulatory requirement concerning staffing 1683 
levels and direct patient care. 1684 
(d) Each hospital shall, upon oral or written request, make the 1685 
information posted pursuant to subsections (b) and (c) of this section 1686 
available to the public for review. The hospital shall retain such 1687 
information for not less than eighteen months from the date such 1688 
information was posted. 1689 
(e) No hospital shall discharge or in any manner discriminate or 1690 
retaliate against any employee of any hospital or against any other 1691 
person because such employee or person reported a suspected violation 1692 
by the hospital of a regulatory requirement concerning staffing levels 1693  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	54 of 57 
 
and direct patient care. Notwithstanding any other provision of the 1694 
general statutes, any hospital that violates any provision of this 1695 
subsection shall (1) be liable to such employee or person for treble 1696 
damages, and (2) reinstate the employee, if the employee was 1697 
terminated from employment. For purposes of this subsection, 1698 
"discriminate or retaliate" includes, but is not limited to, the discharge, 1699 
demotion, suspension or any other detrimental change in terms or 1700 
conditions of employment or the threat of any such action. 1701 
Sec. 33. Section 31-68 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1702 
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 1703 
(a) (1) If any employee is paid by his or her employer less than the 1704 
minimum fair wage or overtime wage to which he or she is entitled 1705 
under sections 31-58, 31-59 and 31-60 or by virtue of a minimum fair 1706 
wage order, or less than the amount of additional compensation to 1707 
which he or she is entitled under sections 12 to 16, inclusive, of this act, 1708 
he or she shall recover, in a civil action, (A) twice the full amount of such 1709 
minimum wage, [or] overtime wage or additional compensation less 1710 
any amount actually paid to him or her by the employer, with costs and 1711 
such reasonable attorney's fees as may be allowed by the court, or (B) if 1712 
the employer establishes that the employer had a good faith belief that 1713 
the underpayment of such wages or additional compensation was in 1714 
compliance with the law, the full amount of such minimum wage, [or] 1715 
overtime wage or additional compensation less any amount actually 1716 
paid to him or her by the employer, with costs and such reasonable 1717 
attorney's fees as may be allowed by the court. 1718 
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (1) of this 1719 
subsection, if any employee is paid by his or her employer less than the 1720 
minimum fair wage or overtime wage to which he or she is entitled 1721 
under section 31-62-E4 of the regulations of Connecticut state agencies, 1722 
such employee shall recover, in a civil action, (A) twice the full amount 1723 
of such minimum wage or overtime wage less any amount actually paid 1724 
to such employee by the employer, with costs and such reasonable 1725 
attorney's fees as may be allowed by the court, or (B) if the employer 1726  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	55 of 57 
 
establishes that the employer had a good faith belief that the 1727 
underpayment of such wages was in compliance with the law, the full 1728 
amount of such minimum wage or overtime wage less any amount 1729 
actually paid to such employee by the employer, with costs as may be 1730 
allowed by the court. A good faith belief includes, but is not limited to, 1731 
reasonable reliance on written guidance from the Labor Department. 1732 
(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 52-105, no person may 1733 
be authorized by a court to sue for the benefit of other alleged similarly 1734 
situated persons in a case brought for violations of section 31-62-E4 of 1735 
the regulations of Connecticut state agencies, unless such person, in 1736 
addition to satisfying any judicial rules of practice governing class 1737 
action certifications, demonstrates to the court, under the appropriate 1738 
burden of proof, that the defendant is liable to all individual proposed 1739 
class members because all such members (A) performed nonservice 1740 
duties while employed by the defendant, for more than a de minimis 1741 
amount of time, that were not incidental to service duties, and (B) were 1742 
not properly compensated by the defendant for some portion of their 1743 
nonservice duties in accordance with section 31-62-E4 of the regulations 1744 
of Connecticut state agencies. 1745 
(4) Any agreement between an employee and his or her employer to 1746 
work for less than such minimum fair wage or overtime wage or for less 1747 
than the amount of additional compensation owned to the employee 1748 
pursuant to sections 12 to 16, inclusive, of this act shall be no defense to 1749 
such action as described in this section. The commissioner may collect 1750 
the full amount of unpaid minimum fair wages, [or] unpaid overtime 1751 
wages or unpaid additional compensation to which an employee is 1752 
entitled under said sections or order, as well as interest calculated in 1753 
accordance with the provisions of section 31-265 from the date the 1754 
wages or additional compensation should have been received, had they 1755 
been paid in a timely manner. In addition, the commissioner may bring 1756 
any legal action necessary to recover twice the full amount of the unpaid 1757 
minimum fair wages, [or] unpaid overtime wages or unpaid additional 1758 
compensation to which the employee is entitled under said sections or 1759 
under an order, and the employer shall be required to pay the costs and 1760  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	56 of 57 
 
such reasonable attorney's fees as may be allowed by the court. The 1761 
commissioner shall distribute any wages, additional compensation or 1762 
interest collected pursuant to this section to the employee or in 1763 
accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) of this section. 1764 
(b) All wages and additional compensation collected by the 1765 
commissioner for an employee whose whereabouts are unknown to the 1766 
commissioner shall be held by the commissioner for three months and 1767 
thereafter the commissioner may, in his discretion, pay the same, on 1768 
application, to the husband or wife or, if none, to the next of kin of such 1769 
employee. As a condition of such payment, the commissioner or his 1770 
authorized representative shall require proof of the relationship of the 1771 
claimant and the execution of a bond of indemnity and a receipt for such 1772 
payment. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 3-60b, any such 1773 
wages or additional compensation held by the commissioner for two 1774 
years without being claimed shall escheat to the state, subject to the 1775 
provisions of sections 3-66a to 3-71a, inclusive. 1776 
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following 
sections: 
 
Section 1 from passage 31-290a 
Sec. 2 from passage New section 
Sec. 3 from passage New section 
Sec. 4 from passage 31-306(a) 
Sec. 5 from passage 31-275(16) 
Sec. 6 from passage 31-294k 
Sec. 7 from passage New section 
Sec. 8 from passage New section 
Sec. 9 from passage New section 
Sec. 10 from passage New section 
Sec. 11 from passage New section 
Sec. 12 from passage New section 
Sec. 13 from passage New section 
Sec. 14 from passage New section 
Sec. 15 from passage New section 
Sec. 16 from passage New section 
Sec. 17 October 1, 2021 31-71g 
Sec. 18 October 1, 2021 31-69(a)  Raised Bill No.  1002 
 
 
 
LCO No. 4442   	57 of 57 
 
Sec. 19 October 1, 2021 31-69a 
Sec. 20 from passage New section 
Sec. 21 from passage New section 
Sec. 22 from passage New section 
Sec. 23 from passage New section 
Sec. 24 from passage New section 
Sec. 25 from passage New section 
Sec. 26 October 1, 2021 31-225a(c)(1) 
Sec. 27 January 1, 2022 31-225a(c) 
Sec. 28 from passage New section 
Sec. 29 from passage 31-273(f) 
Sec. 30 from passage New section 
Sec. 31 from passage 31-57r 
Sec. 32 October 1, 2021 New section 
Sec. 33 from passage 31-68 
 
Statement of Purpose:   
To address labor issues related to COVID-19, personal protective 
equipment and other staffing matters. 
[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.]