Researcher: LRH Page 1 3/31/22
OLR Bill Analysis
SB 418
AN ACT CONCERNING WAGE THEFT.
SUMMARY
This bill creates additional penalties for prevailing wage job
contractors and subcontractors that knowingly or willfully fail to pay
their workers the required prevailing wage (see BACKGROUND). It
requires the labor commissioner to issue a citation to these violators and
fixes the fine for a violation at $5,000, rather than allowing for fines
ranging from $2,500 to $5,000 as current law does. The bill allows a
contractor or subcontractor that receives a citation to request a hearing
with the commissioner, which she must grant if it disputes the material
facts supporting the citation.
For contractors or subcontractors that have more than one violation
within a five-year period, the bill also requires the commissioner to refer
the violator to the attorney general, who may start a civil lawsuit to
recover any unpaid wages, plus interest.
The bill also allows the attorney general to file an action to enjoin the
violation and debar the contractor (i.e., prohibit from contracting with
the state or its municipalities) for up to five years. Under existing law,
unchanged by the bill, first time violators must be fined and debarred
until six months after they have repaid the owed wages, and subsequent
violators must be fined and debarred until two years after they have
repaid the owed wages.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2022
CITATIONS & FINES
Under current law, a contractor or subcontractor that knowingly or
willfully pays a worker on a prevailing wage project less than what the
prevailing wage law requires must be fined $2,500 to $5,000. The bill 2022SB-00418-R000253-BA.DOCX
Researcher: LRH Page 2 3/31/22
instead (1) requires the labor commissioner to issue a citation to such a
contractor or subcontractor if, upon inspection or investigation of a
complaint, she believes that it committed the violation and (2) sets the
related fine at $5,000.
The bill requires each citation issued by the commissioner to be in
writing and specifically describe the violation’s nature. It allows the
cited contractor or subcontractor to request a hearing with the
commissioner. The request must be made in writing within 10 days after
the citation was issued. The commissioner must grant the request if it
disputes the material facts that led to the citation, and the hearing must
be held under the Uniform Administrative Procedure Act’s provisions.
BACKGROUND
Prevailing Wage
The state’s prevailing wage law requires employers on certain public
works projects to pay their construction workers wages and benefits
equal to those that are customary or prevailing for the same work, in the
same trade or occupation, in the same town. The requirement applies to
new construction projects of $1 million or more and renovation projects
of $100,000 or more.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Labor and Public Employees Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 9 Nay 4 (03/22/2022)