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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 220
February Session, 2024
AN ACT CONCERNING CLARIFYING THE APPEALS PROCESS
UNDER THE PAID FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE STATUTES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 31-49p of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 2
(a) Any covered employee aggrieved by a denial of compensation 3
under the Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program or any 4
person aggrieved by the imposition of a penalty imposed pursuant to 5
section 31-49r may file an appeal with the Labor Commissioner not 6
more than twenty-one calendar days after issuance of the denial or 7
penalty decision, unless good cause exists for the late filing. 8
(b) Upon receipt of any such appeal, the commissioner, or the 9
commissioner's designee, shall decide the appeal based upon the file 10
record, except that the commissioner, or the commissioner's designee, 11
may do one or both of the following: (1) Supplement the file record, or 12
(2) conduct a hearing. The commissioner, or the commissioner's 13
designee, may require the attendance of witnesses and the production 14
of documents in connection with the appeal, and may issue subpoenas. 15
For purposes of this section, "file record" means any documents 16
submitted to the Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Authority or 17
to the private plan administrator, any documents relied upon by the 18 Substitute Bill No. 220
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authority or the private plan administrator in making its determination, 19
and any other documents the commissioner, or the commissioner's 20
designee, deems necessary to dispose of the appeal. [The commissioner 21
or designee may require the attendance of witnesses and the production 22
of documents in connection with the appeal, and may issue subpoenas. 23
The Labor Department shall adopt regulations, in accordance with the 24
provisions of chapter 54, concerning the rules of procedure for the 25
disposition of appeals filed under the provisions of this section.] 26
(c) After determination of the appeal, the commissioner, or the 27
commissioner's designee, shall send each party a written copy of the 28
decision. The commissioner, or the commissioner's designee, may 29
award the covered employee or person all appropriate relief, including, 30
but not limited to, any compensation or benefits to which the employee 31
otherwise would have been eligible if such denial had not occurred. 32
[Any party aggrieved by the decision of the commissioner or designee 33
may appeal the decision to the superior court for the judicial district of 34
Hartford or for the judicial district in which the appellant resides, not 35
later than thirty days after issuance of the decision.] 36
(d) (1) Any decision of the commissioner, or the commissioner's 37
designee, in the absence of a timely appeal from a party aggrieved by 38
such decision shall become final on the thirty-first calendar day after the 39
date on which a written copy of the decision is sent to each party. At any 40
time prior to when the decision of the commissioner, or the 41
commissioner's designee, becomes final, any party aggrieved by the 42
decision may appeal such decision to the superior court for the judicial 43
district of Hartford or for the judicial district wherein the appealing 44
party resides. The appealing party shall file the original appeal with the 45
commissioner, or the commissioner's designee, and shall state the 46
grounds on which review is sought. The commis sioner, or the 47
commissioner's designee, shall, on or before the fourteenth calendar day 48
thereafter, cause the original appeal to be mailed to the clerk of the 49
Superior Court and a copy sent to each party listed in the decision being 50
appealed by mail or electronically through the Connecticut Labor 51
Department Leave Complaint and Appeal Portal. The clerk shall docket 52 Substitute Bill No. 220
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such appeal as returned to the next return day after the receipt of such 53
appeal. 54
(2) In any appeal to the Superior Court taken pursuant to this 55
subsection, the commissioner, or the commissioner's designee, shall 56
certify the record to the court. The record shall consist of the following: 57
(A) The notice of appeal to the commissioner, or the commissioner's 58
designee, (B) the file record, (C) the findings of fact and any decision of 59
the commissioner, or the commissioner's designee, and (D) any 60
documents submitted to the commissioner, or the commissioner's 61
designee, prior to the filing of the appeal. Upon request of the court, the 62
commissioner, or the commissioner's designee, shall, in cases in which 63
a hearing was conducted before the commissioner, or the 64
commissioner's designee, prepare and verify to the court a transcript of 65
such hearing before the commissioner, or the commissioner's designee. 66
(3) Any appeal to the Superior Court taken under this subsection shall 67
be claimed by the party taking such appeal for the short calendar unless 68
the court orders the appeal placed on the trial list. It shall not be 69
necessary in any judicial proceeding under this section that exceptions 70
to the rulings of the commissioner, or the commissioner's designee, shall 71
have been made or entered and no bond shall be required for entering 72
an appeal to the Superior Court. In any appeal in which one of the 73
parties is not represented by counsel and in which the party taking the 74
appeal does not claim the case for the short calendar or trial within a 75
reasonable time after the return day, the court may, of its own motion, 76
dismiss the appeal, or the party ready to proceed may move for nonsuit 77
or default as appropriate. 78
(4) Any appeal to the Superior Court taken under this subsection shall 79
be heard by the court upon the certified copy of the record filed by the 80
commissioner, or the commissioner's designee. The court shall not retry 81
the facts or hear any evidence other than such record certified to the 82
court by the commissioner, or the commissioner's designee. Any review 83
by the court shall be limited to determining (A) whether the findings of 84
the commissioner, or the commissioner's designee, should be corrected, 85 Substitute Bill No. 220
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or (B) whether there is any evidence in the record to support in law the 86
conclusions reached. The court shall not substitute its judgment for that 87
of the commissioner, or the commissioner's designee, as to the weight of 88
the evidence on questions of fact. The court may only determine 89
whether the decision of the commissioner, or the commissioner's 90
designee, incorrectly applied the law to the facts found or if such 91
decision is clearly erroneous and could not have reasonably or logically 92
followed from the evidence in the record certified to the court by the 93
commissioner, or the commissioner's designee. In any such appeal, 94
corrections of the commissioner's, or the commissioner's designee's, 95
findings, by the court shall only be made upon (i) refusal by the 96
commissioner, or the commissioner's designee, to find a material fact 97
that was an admitted or undisputed fact, (ii) the commissioner's, or the 98
commissioner's designee's, finding of a fact in language of doubtful 99
meaning so that its real significance may not clearly appear, or (iii) the 100
finding of a material fact by the commissioner, or the commissioner's 101
designee, without evidence. 102
(5) The appealing party may request that any finding of the 103
commissioner, or the commissioner's designee, be corrected on appeal 104
by filing a motion for the correction of such finding with the 105
commissioner, or the commissioner's designee, within fourteen calendar 106
days after the record has been filed in the Superior Court, unless the 107
time is extended for cause by the commissioner, or the commissioner's 108
designee. Such motion shall include portions of the evidence the 109
appealing party deems relevant and material to the corrections 110
requested. The commissioner, or the commissioner's designee, shall file 111
such motion along with the commissioner's, or the commissioner's 112
designee's, decision with the court within a reasonable time upon 113
receiving such motion. If the court denies such motion in whole or in 114
part and such denial is appealed, the commissioner, or the 115
commissioner's designee, shall, within a reasonable time thereafter, file 116
copies of evidence filed by the appealing party, together with such 117
additional evidence as may have been taken before the commissioner, 118
or the commissioner's designee. 119 Substitute Bill No. 220
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(6) In any appeal taken under this subsection, unless the court shall 120
otherwise order after motion and hearing, the final decision of the court 121
shall be the decision as to all parties to the original proceeding before 122
the commissioner, or the commissioner's designee. When an appeal is 123
taken to the Superior Court, the clerk thereof shall, in writing, notify the 124
commissioner, or the commissioner's designee, of any action of the court 125
thereon and of the disposition of such appeal whether by judgment, 126
remand, withdrawal or otherwise and shall, upon the decision on the 127
appeal, furnish the commissioner, or the commissioner's designee, with 128
a copy of such decision. 129
(7) The court may remand the case to the commissioner, or the 130
commissioner's designee, for proceedings de novo, or for further 131
proceedings on the record, or for such limited purposes as the court may 132
prescribe. The court may retain jurisdiction by ordering a return to the 133
court of the proceedings conducted in accordance with the order of the 134
court or the court may order final disposition. A party aggrieved by a 135
final disposition made in compliance with an order of the Superior 136
Court, by the filing of an appropriate motion, may request the court to 137
review the disposition of the case. 138
(e) Any party aggrieved by a decision of the Superior Court may 139
appeal such decision to the Appellate Court in the same manner as is 140
provided in section 51-197b. 141
(f) The Labor Department shall adopt regulations, in accordance with 142
the provisions of chapter 54, concerning the rules of procedure for the 143
disposition of appeals filed under the provisions of this section. 144
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage 31-49p
LAB Joint Favorable Subst.