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OLR Bill Analysis
sSB 152
AN ACT CONCERNING THE PROTECTION OF WAREHOUSE
WORKERS.
SUMMARY
This bill limits the extent to which certain warehouse distribution
centers can require their employees to meet production quotas. It
generally applies to employers that employ at least (1) 100 employees at
a single warehouse distribution center in the state or (2) 1,000
employees, in total, at multiple warehouse distribution centers in the
state that are owned and operated by the same business entity.
Among other things, the bill:
1. requires the covered employers to give their employees a written
description of the quotas they must meet and any possible
adverse employment actions they may face for failing to do so;
2. prohibits the employers from requiring employees to meet
quotas that prevent (a) legally required meal periods, (b) using
restroom facilities, or (c) complying with the federal
Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA); and
3. requires the employers to give a current or former employee,
upon request, copies of the employee’s personal work speed data
if the employee believes that meeting a quota caused a violation
of certain provisions in the bill.
The bill allows an employee who believes that an employer violated
the bill’s provisions on quotas to file a complaint with the Department
of Labor (DOL) commissioner. It also allows anyone aggrieved by a
violation of its provisions or the attorney general to bring a civil action
in Superior Court. In addition, the bill creates a rebuttable presumption
of a violation if an employer takes any adverse action against an 2023SB-00152-R010661-BA.DOCX
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employee within 90 days after the employee requested information
about his or her quota or personal work speed data or filed a complaint
with the labor commissioner.
The bill allows the labor commissioner to (1) adopt regulations to
implement and enforce the bill and (2) develop an outreach program to
inform employees and employers about their rights and obligations
under the bill. The program must include distributing notices and other
written materials to employers and employees working in a warehouse.
Lastly, the bill creates data collection and reporting requirements for
DOL and the Workers’ Compensation Commission to track quota-
related injuries in warehouses.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2023
COVERED EMPLOYERS
The employers covered by the bill are any domestic or foreign legal
or commercial entity that over the previous 12 months employs or
exercises control over the wages, hours, or working conditions of at least
(1) 100 employees at a single warehouse distribution center in the state
or (2) 1,000 employees, in total, at multiple warehouse distribution
centers in the state that are owned and operated by the same person,
partnership, corporation, limited liability company, association, or other
business entity. The employer’s exercise of control over the employees
may be direct or indirect, or through an agent or another entity,
including through the services of a third-party employer, temporary
services or staffing agency, independent contractor, or any similar
entity.
Under the bill, a warehouse distribution center is an establishment as
defined by North American Industry Classification System Code 493110
for General Warehousing and Storage; 423 for Merchant Wholesalers,
Durable Goods; 424 for Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods;
454110 for Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses; or 492110 for
Couriers and Express Delivery Services.
QUOTAS
Under the bill, a “quota” is a performance standard for which an 2023SB-00152-R010661-BA.DOCX
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employee may suffer an adverse employment action for failing to
complete, and under which the employee:
1. is assigned or required, within a defined period, to (a) perform a
quantified number of tasks or at a specified productivity speed,
or (b) handle or produce a quantified amount of material without
a certain number of errors or defects, as measured at the
individual or group level within a defined period, or
2. has his or her actions categorized and measured between time
performing tasks and not performing tasks within a day.
Disclosure
The bill requires covered employers to give each employee a written
description of each quota the employee is subject to and any potential
adverse employment action that may result from failing to meet it. The
employers must do so by August 1, 2023, for existing employees and at
the time of hire for each new employee after that date.
The bill specifies that (1) it does not require employers to use quotas
or monitor work speed data and (2) employers that do not monitor work
speed data do not have to give it to their employees.
Prohibited Quotas
The bill prohibits covered employers from requiring an employee to
meet a quota that (1) prevents compliance with OSHA or the state law
requiring a 30-minute meal break for anyone working at least seven-
and-a-half consecutive hours or (2) interferes with employees using
bathroom facilities, including a reasonable time to travel to and from
them. It also prohibits requiring quotas that measure total output in less
than one-day increments.
Under the bill, any time an employee takes to comply with OSHA or
its regulations must be considered time on task and productive time for
any quota or monitoring system. Meal and rest breaks are not
considered productive time unless the employee must be on call.
Employee Access to Work Speed Data
If current or former employees believe that meeting a quota caused 2023SB-00152-R010661-BA.DOCX
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or will cause a violation of the bill’s provisions on prohibited quotas, the
bill allows them to request a (1) written description of each quota they
were subject to, (2) copy of their personal work speed data for the most
recent 90 days, and (3) copy of the aggregate work speed data for similar
employees at the same employer for the same period. The bill requires
each employer to establish, maintain, and preserve true and accurate
records of this information for a three-year period.
Under the bill, current employees may request this information orally
or in writing from their supervisor or another designated supervisor.
For requests from former employees, the information must cover the 90
days before the employee’s separation with the employer. The bill limits
former employees to one request.
The bill requires employers that receive a request for this information
to give the employee a written description of each quota and the
employee’s personal work speed data within five calendar days after
receiving the request. The employer must give the information in
English and the language the employee identifies as his or her primary
language.
Under the bill, “work speed data” is information an employer
collects, stores, analyzes, or interprets about an employee’s quota
performance, such as quantities of tasks performed, quantities of items
or materials handled or produced, rates or speeds of tasks performed,
or measurements of employee performance in relation to a quota and
time categorized as performing tasks or not performing tasks.
Enforcement
The bill prohibits covered employers from taking any adverse
employment action against an employee for failure to meet a:
1. quota that prevents compliance with the meal break law or
OSHA, or interferes with using bathroom facilities;
2. quota for which the employee did not receive a written
description, as required by the bill; or
3. daily quota if the employee did not complete his or her entire 2023SB-00152-R010661-BA.DOCX
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scheduled shift.
Anti-Retaliation. The bill creates a rebuttable presumption of an
adverse employment action in violation of the bill if an employer
discriminates, retaliates, or takes any adverse action against an
employee within 90 days after the employee (1) requested a written
description of a quota or his or her personal work speed data as allowed
by the bill or (2) filed a quota-related complaint with the labor
commissioner alleging a violation of the bill. The presumption may be
rebutted by clear and convincing evidence that the (1) adverse action
was taken for other permissible reasons and (2) employee’s request or
complaint was not a motivating factor.
Complaints to DOL. Under the bill, an employee who believes that
a covered employer violated the bill’s provisions on quotas may file a
complaint with the labor commissioner. Upon receiving the complaint,
the commissioner must hold a hearing and, after the hearing, send each
party a written copy of her decision. The bill allows the commissioner
to award the employee all appropriate relief. Any party aggrieved by
the decision may appeal to the Superior Court under the Uniform
Administrative Procedures Act.
If the commissioner determines that an employer violated the bill, she
must issue an order that describes in detail the alleged violation’s nature
and directs the employer to comply with the bill’s provisions. A copy of
the order must also be given to the employee who filed the complaint
and his or her authorized representative (if any).
Under the bill, the employer may also be liable to DOL for a civil
penalty of $1,000 for a first violation; $2,000 for a second violation; and
$3,000 for a third or subsequent violation. The bill requires the attorney
general, upon the labor commissioner’s complaint, to start a civil action
to recover these penalties. Any amount recovered must be deposited in
the General Fund and credited to a separate, nonlapsing appropriation
to DOL for current expenses. DOL may use the funds to enforce the bill’s
provisions on quotas.
Civil Suits. The bill also allows anyone aggrieved by a violation of its 2023SB-00152-R010661-BA.DOCX
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provisions on quotas, or the attorney general, to bring a civil action in
Superior Court to recover damages, civil penalties, and equitable and
injunctive relief. Anyone who prevails in the action may also be
awarded attorney’s fees and costs. The person bringing the action does
not have to exhaust any available administrative remedies before
starting it.
DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING
The bill requires that the labor commissioner have access to data,
including (1) covered employer-reported injury data and enforcement
actions in employer warehouses, (2) the identity of uninsured covered
employers, (3) covered employers committing workers’ compensation
fraud or wage theft, and (4) other information relevant to the
commissioner’s authority. (The bill does not specify from where or how
the commissioner must access this data.)
It also requires the labor commissioner, by July 1, 2024, to report to
the Labor and Public Employees Committee on (1) the number of claims
filed with the commissioner for complaints of quota-related violations;
(2) data on warehouse production quotas in warehouses the Workers’
Compensation Commission indicated have average annual employee
injury rates that are above the industry average (see below); and (3) the
number of investigations and enforcement actions (presumably, related
to quotas).
The bill requires the Workers’ Compensation Commission to monitor
injury rates for covered employers. If an employer has an annual
employee injury rate of more than 1.5 times the warehousing industry’s
average annual injury rate, then the commission must notify the labor
commissioner, who must determine if it is appropriate to investigate for
violations of the bill.
BACKGROUND
Legislative History
The Senate referred the bill (File 462) to the Judiciary Committee,
which reported a substitute that allows the court to award attorney’s
fees and costs to the prevailing party in a civil action, rather than
requiring the award as the underlying bill did. 2023SB-00152-R010661-BA.DOCX
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COMMITTEE ACTION
Labor and Public Employees Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 8 Nay 4 (03/21/2023)
Judiciary Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 23 Nay 13 (04/19/2023)