OFFICE OF FISCAL ANALYSIS
Legislative Office Building, Room 5200
Hartford, CT 06106 (860) 240-0200
http://www.cga.ct.gov/ofa
sSB-221
AN ACT CONCERNING THE MINIMUM FAIR WAGE AND
SERVICE CHARGES.
Primary Analyst: ME 4/5/24
Contributing Analyst(s): ME, LG, JP, CR, CW
Reviewer: RP
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 25 $ FY 26 $
Consumer Protection, Dept. GF - Potential
Cost
71,000 71,000
State Comptroller - Fringe
Benefits
1
GF - Potential
Cost
29,000 29,000
Note: GF=General Fund
Municipal Impact:
Municipalities Effect FY 25 $ FY 26 $
Various Municipalities STATE
MANDATE
2
- Cost
Potential Potential
Explanation
The bill makes various changes to labor laws resulting in the potential
costs described below.
Section 1, which phases out the recognition of gratuities as part of the
fair minimum wage, does not result in any fiscal impact to the
Department of Labor (DOL) as the bill does not add additional tasks to
1
The fringe benefit costs for most state employees are budgeted centrally in accounts
administered by the Comptroller. The estimated active employee fringe benefit cost
associated with most personnel changes is 41.25% of payroll in FY 25.
2
State mandate is defined in Sec. 2-32b(2) of the Connecticut General Statutes, "state
mandate" means any state initiated constitutional, statutory or executive action that
requires a local government to establish, expand or modify its activities in such a way
as to necessitate additional expenditures from local revenues. 2024SB-00221-R000293-FN.DOCX Page 2 of 2
DOL's Wage and Workplace Standards Division.
Section 2 results in a potential cost to municipalities beginning in FY
25 to the extent that they employ unemancipated minors, learners, or
apprentices. The bill removes a provision that permitted employers to
pay certain minors, learners, or apprentices below the minimum fair
wage. Removing this provision results in a cost to any municipality that
employs these workers.
Section 3 makes it an unfair trade practice for a restaurant to charge
a service fee to a customer without disclosing the fee's amount and
purpose before the customer orders, resulting in a potential cost to the
Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) and the State Comptroller
beginning in FY 25. To the extent this generates a significant increase in
violations that DCP will have to investigate, the agency may have to hire
one special investigator for an annual personal services cost of $71,000,
along with associated fringe benefit costs of $29,000 per year.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to inflation and employee wage
increases.