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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 314
February Session, 2022
LCO No. 2556
Referred to Committee on LABOR AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEES
Introduced by:
(LAB)
AN ACT CONCERNING PROTECTION OF WAREHOUSE WORKERS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2022) (a) As used in this section and 1
sections 2 and 3 of this act: 2
(1) "Employee" has the same meaning as set forth in section 31-367 of 3
the general statutes; 4
(2) "Employee work speed data" means information an employer 5
collects, stores, analyzes or interprets relating to an employee's 6
performance of a quota, including, but not limited to, quantities of tasks 7
performed, quantities of items or materials handled or produced, rates 8
or speeds of tasks performed, or measurements of employee 9
performance in relation to a quota and time categorized as performing 10
tasks or not performing tasks; 11
(3) "Employer" means a single warehouse distribution center in 12
which one hundred or more employees work or one or more warehouse 13
distribution centers in which one thousand or more employees work; 14 Raised Bill No. 314
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(4) "Quota" means a work standard under which an employee is 15
assigned or required to perform at a specified productivity speed, 16
perform a quantified number of tasks, or to handle or produce a 17
quantified amount of material, within a defined time period and under 18
which the employee may suffer an adverse employment action if the 19
employee fails to complete a performance standard; and 20
(5) "Warehouse distribution center" means an establishment as 21
defined by any of the following North American Industry Classification 22
System Codes: (A) 493110 For General Warehousing and Storage, (B) 23
423 for Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods, (C) 424 for Merchant 24
Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods, or (D) 454110 for Electronic Shopping 25
and Mail-Order Houses. 26
(b) (1) Not later than August 1, 2022, or at the time of hire, whichever 27
is later, an employer shall provide to each employee a written 28
description of each quota the employee is subject to within a defined 29
time period and any potential adverse employment action that may 30
result from a failure to meet such quota. An employee shall not be 31
required to meet any quota that prevents compliance with (A) section 32
31-51ii of the general statutes, concerning meal periods, (B) the use of 33
bathroom facilities, including the reasonable time to travel to and from 34
bathroom facilities, or (C) the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 35
1970, 15 USC 651 et seq., as amended from time to time. 36
(2) An employer shall not take any adverse employment action 37
against an employee for failure to meet such quota or for a quota that 38
has not been disclosed pursuant to this subsection. Any action taken by 39
an employee to comply with the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 40
1970, 15 USC 651 et seq., as amended from time to time, or regulations 41
promulgated thereunder shall be considered time on task and 42
productive time for purposes of any quota or monitoring system. Meal 43
and rest breaks are not considered productive time unless the employee 44
is required to be on call. 45
(c) If a current or former employee believes that meeting a quota 46 Raised Bill No. 314
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caused a violation of the employee's right to a meal period under section 47
31-51ii of the general statutes or required the employee to violate the 48
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, 15 USC 651 et seq., the 49
employee may request, and the employer shall provide, upon the 50
employee's request a written description of each quota to which the 51
employee is subject and a copy of the employee's own personal work 52
speed data for the most recent ninety days. If a former employee 53
requests a written description of the quotas to which the former 54
employee was subject and a copy of the former employee's own 55
personal work speed data pursuant to this subsection, the employer 56
shall provide ninety days of the former employee's quotas and personal 57
work speed data for the ninety days prior to the date of the employee's 58
separation from employment with the employer. A former employee 59
may make only one request pursuant to this subsection. 60
(d) An employer that receives a written or oral request for 61
information pursuant to subsection (c) of this section shall comply with 62
the request as soon as practicable, but not later than twenty-one calendar 63
days after the date of the request. 64
(e) There shall be a rebuttable presumption of unlawful retaliation if 65
an employer in any manner discriminates, retaliates or takes any 66
adverse action against any employee not later than ninety days after the 67
employee: 68
(1) Initiates the employee's first request in a calendar year for 69
information about a quota or personal work speed data pursuant to 70
subsection (c) of section 1 of this act; or 71
(2) Makes a complaint related to a quota alleging any violation of this 72
section to the Labor Commissioner. 73
(f) Any employee who believes an employer violated any provision 74
of this section may file a complaint with the Labor Commissioner. Upon 75
receipt of any such complaint, the commissioner shall hold a hearing. 76
After the hearing, the commissioner shall send each party a written copy 77
of the commissioner's decision. The commissioner may award the 78 Raised Bill No. 314
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employee all appropriate relief. Any party aggrieved by the decision of 79
the commissioner may appeal the decision to the Superior Court in 80
accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes. 81
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2022) (a) The Labor Commissioner shall 82
enforce the provisions of sections 1 to 3, inclusive, of this act by engaging 83
in coordinated and strategic enforcement efforts with the Workers' 84
Compensation Commission. 85
(b) The Labor Commissioner shall educate workers and employers 86
about their rights and obligations under said sections in order to 87
increase compliance. 88
(c) The Labor Commissioner shall have access to data, including 89
employer-reported injury data and enforcement actions in employer 90
warehouses, the identity of uninsured employers, and employers who 91
are committing workers' compensation fraud, wage theft or other 92
information relevant to the commissioner's authority. 93
(d) Not later than January 1, 2024, the Labor Commissioner shall 94
report to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having 95
cognizance of matters relating to labor the number of claims filed with 96
the commissioner under sections 1 to 3, inclusive, of this act, data on 97
warehouse production quotas in warehouses in which the Workers' 98
Compensation Commission has indicated that annual employee injury 99
rates are above the industry average, and the number of investigations 100
undertaken and enforcement actions initiated. 101
(e) The Workers' Compensation Commission shall keep track of 102
injury rates for each qualifying employer under this section. If an 103
employer is found to have an annual employee injury rate one and one-104
half times higher than the warehousing industry's average annual injury 105
rate, or more, the Workers' Compensation Commission shall notify the 106
Labor Commissioner, and the commissioner shall determine whether an 107
investigation of violations pursuant to sections 1 to 3, inclusive, of this 108
act is appropriate. 109 Raised Bill No. 314
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(f) The commissioner may adopt regulations, in accordance with the 110
provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes, to implement and 111
enforce the provisions of sections 1 to 3, inclusive, of this act. 112
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2022) Any person aggrieved by a 113
violation of any provision of this section and sections 1 and 2 of this act, 114
the Labor Commissioner, or the Attorney General may bring a civil 115
action in the Superior Court to recover damages, civil penalties and such 116
equitable and injunctive relief as the court deems appropriate. Any 117
individual who prevails in such civil action shall be awarded reasonable 118
attorney's fees and costs to be taxed by the court. 119
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2022 New section
Sec. 2 July 1, 2022 New section
Sec. 3 July 1, 2022 New section
Statement of Purpose:
To protect warehouse workers from quotas that violate their rights and
occupational safety and health standards.
[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.]