Researcher: LRH Page 1 3/20/24
OLR Bill Analysis
HB 5267
AN ACT MAKING CHANGES TO AND REPEALING OBSOLETE
PROVISIONS OF STATUTES RELEVANT TO THE LABOR
DEPARTMENT.
SUMMARY
This bill makes various unrelated changes in the labor statutes.
It explicitly authorizes the labor commissioner to enter contracts as
needed for all programs, activities, services, and grants under the
Department of Labor’s (DOL) jurisdiction. These must include contracts
for (1) employment and training programs and (2) applying for and
using, administering, or repaying any federal funds made available or
allotted under federal law. The bill also specifies that the
commissioner’s statutorily defined powers and duties are in addition to,
and do not limit, any other powers and duties conferred to the
commissioner in other statutes (§ 1).
Existing law generally requires employers to file quarterly employee
wage reports with DOL for unemployment tax purposes, and starting
in the third calendar quarter in 2026, employers may also include in
these reports an employee’s occupation, hours worked, and a zip code.
The bill requires this zip code to be for the employee’s primary worksite,
rather than the employer’s mailing address (§ 2).
The bill repeals a requirement for the Occupational Health Clinics
Advisory Committee to annually report to the governor and legislature
on ways to coordinate activities among occupational health clinics and
disclose research and data collection results, among other things (§ 3).
The bill also repeals requirements for the labor commissioner to
adopt regulations on: 2024HB-05267-R000060-BA.DOCX
Researcher: LRH Page 2 3/20/24
1. investigations into complaints about nonpayment of wages or
prevailing wages and related stop work orders (§ 4);
2. employers who acquire the assets, organization, trade, or
business of another employer solely or primarily to lower their
unemployment taxes (§ 5); and
3. exceptions to the state’s overtime pay requirement (§ 7).
Lastly, the bill repeals a law that generally requires certain businesses
to maintain their employees’ health insurance if the business relocates
or closes (the requirement is preempted by the federal Employee
Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)) (§§ 6 & 7).
EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage
COMMITTEE ACTION
Labor and Public Employees Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 9 Nay 3 (03/07/2024)