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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 409
February Session, 2024
AN ACT CONCERNING WAGE THEFT RESPONSIBILITY.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2024) (a) For purposes of this 1
section and section 2 of this act: 2
(1) "Construction contract" means any contract entered into on or 3
after October 1, 2024, for construction, renovation or rehabilitation in 4
this state, including any improvements to real property that are 5
associated with such construction, renovation or rehabilitation, or any 6
subcontract for construction, renovation or rehabilitation between an 7
owner and a contractor, a contractor and a subcontractor or a 8
subcontractor and another subcontractor. "Construction contract" does 9
not include (A) any public works or other contract entered into with this 10
state, any other state or the United States, or (B) a home improvement 11
contract for (i) the construction, renovation or rehabilitation of an 12
owner-occupied residence, or (ii) the construction, renovation or 13
rehabilitation of a one-family or two-family dwelling unit, except when 14
such contract is for the construction of more than fifteen one-family or 15
two-family dwelling units at one project site; 16
(2) "Contractor" means any individual, firm, partnership, 17
corporation, association, company, organization or other business 18
entity, including, but not limited to, a construction manager, general or 19
prime contractor, joint venture or any combination thereof that has a 20 Substitute Bill No. 409
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direct contractual relationship with an owner; 21
(3) "Employee" has the same meaning as provided in section 31-71a 22
of the general statutes; 23
(4) "Owner" has the same meaning as provided in section 42-158i of 24
the general statutes; 25
(5) "Subcontractor" means any individual, firm, partnership, 26
corporation, association, company, organization or other business entity 27
or any combination thereof that (A) does not have a direct contractual 28
relationship with an owner, and (B) (i) is a party to a construction 29
contract with a contractor, (ii) is a party to a construction contract with 30
another subcontractor that has a direct contractual relationship with a 31
contractor, or (iii) performs any portion of work at any tier within the 32
scope of a construction contract regardless of whether such 33
subcontractor has a direct contractual relationship with a contractor; 34
and 35
(6) "Wages" has the same meaning as provided in section 31-71a of 36
the general statutes. 37
(b) Any contractor who enters into a construction contract shall be 38
jointly and severally liable for any unpaid wages due to any employee 39
of any subcontractor in a direct contractual relationship with the 40
contractor, or any subcontractor of a subcontractor, for such employee's 41
performance of labor included within the scope of the construction 42
contract. 43
(c) Nothing in this section shall prohibit a contractor from including 44
in each of its subcontracts a provision establishing a remedy for any 45
liability created by the nonpayment of wages by a subcontractor, 46
provided such provision does not diminish the right of an employee to 47
bring an action under section 31-72 of the general statutes, as amended 48
by this act, and does not waive or release any liability assigned to a 49
contractor under this section. No such provision to waive or release 50
liability assigned to the contractor under this section shall be 51 Substitute Bill No. 409
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enforceable. 52
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2024) (a) (1) A contractor may 53
request from a subcontractor the payroll records of employees 54
providing labor under the construction contract. Such request shall be 55
sent to the subcontractor by certified mail and shall notify the 56
subcontractor that such subcontractor has thirty days to respond. 57
(2) Upon request of a contractor for the payroll records of employees 58
of a subcontractor pursuant to this subsection, a subcontractor and any 59
other subcontractors under contract to such subcontractor shall provide 60
such contractor with such payroll records not later than thirty days after 61
such request is received. Such payroll records shall (A) be attested to 62
and certified to be accurate and complete, (B) indicate the 63
subcontractor's and any lower tier subcontractor's payment status in 64
paying wages to employees, and (C) be marked or redacted only to 65
prevent disclosure of an employee's full Social Security number. 66
(b) (1) A contractor may request from a subcontractor: (A) The names 67
of all employees and independent contractors such subcontractor 68
employs who are providing labor under the construction contract 69
between the contractor and subcontractor; (B) when applicable, the 70
name, address and phone number of any subcontractors with whom 71
such subcontractor is under contract, the anticipated start date of such 72
contract and the duration of work under such contract; and (C) when 73
applicable, collective bargaining agreements of which such 74
subcontractor is a signatory contractor. Such request shall be sent to the 75
subcontractor by certified mail and shall notify the subcontractor that 76
such subcontractor has thirty days to respond. For purposes of this 77
subdivision, "signatory contractor" means a subcontractor that is 78
independently obligated to one or more collective bargaining 79
agreements with any labor organization. 80
(2) Upon request of a contractor pursuant to this section, a 81
subcontractor and any lower tier subcontractor under contract to such 82
subcontractor shall provide such contractor with such information not 83 Substitute Bill No. 409
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later than thirty days after such request is received. 84
(c) Failure by a subcontractor to comply with a request from a 85
contractor under subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall be cause for 86
a contractor to withhold payments owed to a subcontractor. 87
Sec. 3. Section 31-72 of the general statutes is repealed and the 88
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2024): 89
(a) When any employer fails to pay an employee wages in accordance 90
with the provisions of sections 31-71a to 31-71i, inclusive, or fails to 91
compensate an employee in accordance with section 31-76k or where an 92
employee or a labor organization representing an employee institutes 93
an action to enforce an arbitration award which requires an employer to 94
make an employee whole or to make payments to an employee welfare 95
fund, such employee or labor organization shall recover, in a civil action, 96
(1) twice the full amount of such wages, with costs and such reasonable 97
attorney's fees as may be allowed by the court, or (2) if the employer 98
establishes that the employer had a good faith belief that the 99
underpayment of wages was in compliance with law, the full amount of 100
such wages or compensation, with costs and such reasonable attorney's 101
fees as may be allowed by the court. Any agreement between an 102
employee and his or her employer for payment of wages other than as 103
specified in said sections shall be no defense to such action. The Labor 104
Commissioner may collect the full amount of any such unpaid wages, 105
payments due to an employee welfare fund or such arbitration award, 106
as well as interest calculated in accordance with the provisions of section 107
31-265 from the date the wages or payment should have been received, 108
had payment been made in a timely manner. In addition, the Labor 109
Commissioner may bring any legal action necessary to recover twice the 110
full amount of unpaid wages, payments due to an employee welfare 111
fund or arbitration award, and the employer shall be required to pay the 112
costs and such reasonable attorney's fees as may be allowed by the court. 113
The commissioner shall distribute any wages, arbitration awards or 114
payments due to an employee welfare fund collected pursuant to this 115
section to the appropriate person. 116 Substitute Bill No. 409
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(b) When a subcontractor fails to pay an employee for labor 117
performed within the scope of a construction contract, the employee, or 118
a labor organization representing the employee, may bring a civil action 119
under this section against either the subcontractor, the contractor or 120
both the subcontractor and contractor. Not less than ten days prior to 121
bringing a civil action under this section, such employee shall provide 122
notice of an alleged violation by such subcontractor to the contractor. 123
Such notice shall describe the general nature of the alleged violation. No 124
employee shall be required to provide notice pursuant to this subsection 125
if such employee has previously given notice to a contractor of either 126
the same violation or a prior violation by the same subcontractor. Any 127
notice provided to a contractor pursuant to this subsection shall not 128
limit the liability of the contractor or preclude subsequent amendments 129
of an action brought under this section to encompass additional 130
employees employed by the subcontractor. For purposes of this section, 131
"construction contract", "contractor" and "subcontractor" have the same 132
meanings as provided in section 1 of this act. 133
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2024 New section
Sec. 2 October 1, 2024 New section
Sec. 3 October 1, 2024 31-72
LAB Joint Favorable Subst.
JUD Joint Favorable