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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 418
February Session, 2022
LCO No. 2941
Referred to Committee on LABOR AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEES
Introduced by:
(LAB)
AN ACT CONCERNING WAGE THEFT.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsections (a) and (b) of section 31-53 of the 2022 1
supplement to the general statutes are repealed and the following is 2
substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2022): 3
(a) Each contract for the construction, remodeling, refinishing, 4
refurbishing, rehabilitation, alteration or repair of any public works 5
project by the state or any of its agents, or by any political subdivision 6
of the state or any of its agents, shall contain the following provision: 7
"The wages paid on an hourly basis to any person performing the work 8
of any mechanic, laborer or worker on the work herein contracted to be 9
done and the amount of payment or contribution paid or payable on 10
behalf of each such person to any employee welfare fund, as defined in 11
subsection (i) of this section, shall be at a rate equal to the rate customary 12
or prevailing for the same work in the same trade or occupation in the 13
town in which such public works project is being constructed. Any 14
contractor who is not obligated by agreement to make payment or 15
contribution on behalf of such persons to any such employee welfare 16 Raised Bill No. 418
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fund shall pay to each mechanic, laborer or worker as part of such 17
person's wages the amount of payment or contribution for such person's 18
classification on each pay day." 19
(b) [Any] If the commissioner, upon inspection or investigation of a 20
complaint, believes that a contractor or subcontractor [who] has 21
knowingly or wilfully [employs] employed any mechanic, laborer or 22
worker in the construction, remodeling, refinishing, refurbishing, 23
rehabilitation, alteration or repair of any public works project for or on 24
behalf of the state or any of its agents, or any political subdivision of the 25
state or any of its agents, at a rate of wage on an hourly basis that is less 26
than the rate customary or prevailing for the same work in the same 27
trade or occupation in the town in which such public works project is 28
being constructed, remodeled, refinished, refurbished, rehabilitated, 29
altered or repaired, or who [fails] has failed to pay the amount of 30
payment or contributions paid or payable on behalf of each such person 31
to any employee welfare fund, or in lieu thereof to the person, as 32
provided by subsection (a) of this section, such contractor or 33
subcontractor shall be issued a citation and fined [not less than two 34
thousand five hundred dollars but not more than] five thousand dollars 35
for each offense and (1) for the first violation, shall be disqualified from 36
bidding on contracts with the state or any political subdivision (A) until 37
the contractor or subcontractor has made full restitution of the back 38
wages owed to such persons, and (B) for an additional six months 39
thereafter, [and] (2) for any subsequent [violations] violation, shall be 40
disqualified from bidding on contracts with the state or any political 41
subdivision (A) until the contractor or subcontractor has made full 42
restitution of the back wages owed to such persons, and (B) for not less 43
than an additional two years thereafter, and (3) for more than one 44
violation within a five-year period, the commissioner shall refer the 45
matter to the Attorney General, who may institute a civil action to 46
recover any unpaid wages, plus interest. The Attorney General may file 47
an action to enjoin such conduct and debar the contractor for up to five 48
years from the date on which the action is filed. Each citation issued by 49
the commissioner pursuant to this subsection shall be in writing and 50 Raised Bill No. 418
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shall specifically describe the nature of the violation. Any contractor or 51
subcontractor issued a citation pursuant to this subsection may request 52
a hearing before the commissioner. Such request shall be made in 53
writing to the commissioner not later than ten days after the issuance of 54
the citation. The commissioner shall grant such request for a hearing if 55
such request includes a dispute of the material facts that resulted in the 56
issuance of the citation. Such hearing shall be conducted in accordance 57
with the provisions of chapter 54. In addition, if it is found by the 58
contracting officer representing the state or political subdivision of the 59
state that any mechanic, laborer or worker employed by the contractor 60
or any subcontractor directly on the site for the work covered by the 61
contract has been or is being paid a rate of wages less than the rate of 62
wages required by the contract to be paid as required by this section, the 63
state or contracting political subdivision of the state may (A) by written 64
or electronic notice to the contractor, terminate such contractor's right to 65
proceed with the work or such part of the work as to which there has 66
been a failure to pay said required wages and to prosecute the work to 67
completion by contract or otherwise, and the contractor and the 68
contractor's sureties shall be liable to the state or the contracting political 69
subdivision for any excess costs occasioned the state or the contracting 70
political subdivision thereby, or (B) withhold payment of money to the 71
contractor or subcontractor. The contracting department of the state or 72
the political subdivision of the state shall, not later than two days after 73
taking such action, notify the Labor Commissioner, in writing or 74
electronically, of the name of the contractor or subcontractor, the project 75
involved, the location of the work, the violations involved, the date the 76
contract was terminated, and steps taken to collect the required wages. 77
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2022 31-53(a) and (b)
Statement of Purpose:
To: (1) Allow the Labor Commissioner to issue fines and citations to
contractors and subcontractors who violate the state's prevailing wage
laws; and (2) permit the Attorney General to commence a civil action Raised Bill No. 418
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against a contractor or subcontractor who repeatedly violates the state's
prevailing wage laws.
[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.]