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OLR Bill Analysis
sSB 412
AN ACT CONCERNING THE PROTECTION OF WAREHOUSE
WORKERS IN THE STATE.
SUMMARY
Starting July 1, 2025, 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 using quotas that (a) violate the
state law on meal periods, (b) interfere with the employee using
bathroom facilities, or (c) use certain methods to measure work;
and
3. sets recordkeeping requirements for employers and requires
them to give copies of their quota records to current or former
employees who believe that meeting a quota caused a violation
of certain provisions in the bill.
The bill allows an employee aggrieved by a violation of the bill’s
provisions to bring a civil action in Superior Court, which may assess
civil penalties for violations. It also prohibits employers from
discharging or retaliating against employees solely because they 2024SB-00412-R000354-BA.DOCX
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requested their quota records or filed a civil action, and creates a
rebuttable presumption that a violation occurred if this happens within
90 days after the request or filing.
Lastly, the bill requires the Workers’ Compensation Commission to
monitor and report on injury rates of employees in warehouse
distribution centers in the state.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2024
COVERED EMPLOYERS AN D EMPLOYEES
The employers covered by the bill are any domestic or foreign legal
or commercial entities that over the previous 12 months employed or
exercised 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: (1)
493110 for General Warehousing and Storage; (2) 423 for Merchant
Wholesalers, Durable Goods; (3) 424 for Merchant Wholesalers,
Nondurable Goods; (4) 454110 for Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order
Houses; or (5) 492110 for Couriers and Express Delivery Services.
“Employees” under the bill are anyone engaged in service to an
employer in the employer’s business, but they do not include drivers or
couriers traveling to or from a warehouse distribution center.
QUOTAS
Under the bill, a “quota” is a work performance standard or target
where: 2024SB-00412-R000354-BA.DOCX
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1. an employee is assigned or required to (a) perform a certain
number of tasks within a defined time period, (b) perform at a
specified productivity speed, or (c) handle or produce a certain
amount of material without a certain number of errors or defects,
as measured at the individual or group level within a defined
period;
2. an employee’s actions are categorized and measured between
time performing tasks and time not performing tasks;
3. an employee’s performance is ranked in relation to other
employees; or
4. increments of time are continuously measured, recorded, or
tallied within an employee’s work day where the employee is or
is not doing a particular activity or set of activities.
Disclosure
Starting July 1, 2025, the bill requires covered employers to give
employees a written description of each quota they are subject to,
including any potential adverse employment action that could result
from failing to meet it. The employers must do so by August 1, 2025, for
existing employees and at the time of hire for new employees after that
date.
Whenever an employer changes an employee’s quota from its most
recent written description, the bill requires the employer to (1) notify the
employee about the change as soon as possible, but before the employee
becomes subject to the quota, and (2) give the employee an updated
written description of each quota he or she is subject to within two
business days after the quota changes.
The bill requires that the written copy of these quotas be given
directly to the employee by a manager during the employee’s work
hours.
Prohibited Quotas
Starting July 1, 2025, the bill prohibits quotas from doing the 2024SB-00412-R000354-BA.DOCX
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following:
1. violating the state’s law on required meal periods;
2. interfering with an employee’s use of bathroom facilities,
including reasonable time to travel to and from them;
3. measuring an employee’s total output over an increment shorter
than the employee’s work day;
4. being based solely on ranked performance in relation to other
employees; or
5. measuring, recording, or tallying increments of time during an
employee’s work day where the employee is or is not performing
a particular activity or set of activities.
The bill also prohibits employers from taking any adverse action
against an employee for failing to meet a quota (1) that violates the law
on required meal periods; (2) that interferes with the employee’s use of
bathroom facilities, including travel time; (3) if the employee did not
complete his or her entire scheduled shift; or (4) that has not been
disclosed as the bill requires.
EMPLOYER RECORDS
Starting July 1, 2025, the bill requires employers to establish,
maintain, and preserve contemporaneous, true, and accurate records for
(1) each employee’s personal work speed data, (2) the aggregate work
speed data for similar employees at the same warehouse distribution
center, and (3) the written description for each quota that was given to
each employee as required by the bill. The employer must maintain and
preserve these records for up to three years. However, the bill specifies
that these requirements do not apply if the employer does not use
quotas or monitor work speed.
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 2024SB-00412-R000354-BA.DOCX
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or materials handled or produced, rates or speeds of tasks performed,
measurements of employee performance in relation to a quota, or time
categorized as performing tasks or not performing tasks.
EMPLOYEE ACCESS TO W ORK SPEED DATA
Starting July 1, 2025, if current or former employees believe that
meeting a quota caused or will cause a violation of the bill’s provisions
on prohibited quotas, the bill allows them to request certain data for the
past 90 days (or for former employees, the 90 days before their
separation from employment). Specifically, an employee may request
(1) written descriptions of each quota they were subject to, (2) copies of
their personal work speed data records, and (3) copies of the aggregate
work speed data records for similar employees at the same employer for
the same period.
Under the bill, current employees may request this information from
their supervisor or another designated supervisor, and former
employees may request it from their former employer. The bill also
limits former employees to one request.
The bill requires employers to provide a written copy of the
requested records within five calendar days after receiving the request.
They must be (1) written in English and the language the employee
identifies as his or her primary language and (2) given directly to the
employee during his or her work hours (the bill does not specify how
former employees must receive the records).
Anti-retaliation
Starting July 1, 2025, the bill also prohibits employers from
discharging or retaliating, discriminating, or taking any adverse action
against an employee or former employee solely because he or she
requested their quotas and work speed data or filed a civil action as
allowed by the bill (see below). It creates a rebuttable presumption that
an adverse action violates this prohibition if it occurs within 90 days
after the request or filing.
The presumption may be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence 2024SB-00412-R000354-BA.DOCX
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that the (1) adverse action was taken for other permissible reasons and
(2) employee’s request or filing was not a motivating factor for the
employer’s action.
CIVIL ACTIONS
Starting July 1, 2025, the bill allows any employee aggrieved by a
violation of the bill’s provisions, or the attorney general on the
employee’s behalf, to bring a civil action in Superior Court to recover
damages, civil penalties, and equitable and injunctive relief. Anyone
who prevails in the case may be awarded attorney’s fees. The court may
also assess civil penalties against an employer of $1,000 for its first
violation, $2,000 for its second, and $3,000 for a third or subsequent
violation.
INJURY RATE MONITORING
The bill requires the Workers’ Compensation Commission to monitor
injury rates of employees in warehouse distribution centers in the state.
If an employer has an annual injury rate more than 1.5 times the
warehousing industry’s average annual injury rate, the commission
must notify the labor commissioner, who must decide whether an
investigation for potential violations of the bill is appropriate (it is
unclear how this provision would be implemented, as the bill does not
give the labor commissioner any investigative or enforcement authority
over the bill’s provisions and the federal Department of Labor would be
responsible for enforcing any safety violations under OSHA).
COMMITTEE ACTION
Labor and Public Employees Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 8 Nay 4 (03/21/2024)