Connecticut 2024 Regular Session

Connecticut Senate Bill SB00412 Latest Draft

Bill / Comm Sub Version Filed 04/23/2024

                             
 
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General Assembly  Substitute Bill No. 412  
February Session, 2024 
 
 
 
 
 
AN ACT CONCERNING THE PROTECTION OF WAREHOUSE 
WORKERS IN THE STATE.  
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General 
Assembly convened: 
 
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2024) As used in this section and 1 
sections 2 to 8, inclusive, of this act: 2 
(1) "Employee" means any individual engaged in service to an 3 
employer in a business of such employer. "Employee" does not include 4 
a driver or courier traveling to or from a warehouse distribution center; 5 
(2) "Employer" means an individual, corporation, partnership, 6 
limited partnership, limited liability partnership, limited liability 7 
company, business trust, estate, trust, association, joint venture, agency, 8 
instrumentality or any other legal or commercial entity, whether 9 
domestic or foreign, that directly or indirectly, or through an agent or 10 
any other person, including through the services of a third-party 11 
employer, temporary services, staffing agency, independent contractor 12 
or any similar entity, at any time in the prior twelve months, employs 13 
or exercises control over the wages, hours or working conditions of (A) 14 
one hundred or more employees at a single warehouse distribution 15 
center in the state, or (B) one thousand or more employees, in the 16 
aggregate, at one or more warehouse distribution centers in the state 17 
that are owned and operated by the same individual, partnership, 18  Substitute Bill No. 412 
 
 
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corporation, limited liability company, association of persons or other 19 
business entity; 20 
(3) "Quota" means a work performance standard or performance 21 
target where (A) an employee is assigned or required to (i) perform a 22 
quantified number of tasks within a defined time period, (ii) perform at 23 
a specified productivity speed, or (iii) handle or produce a quantified 24 
amount of material without a certain number of errors or defects as 25 
measured at the individual or group level within a defined time period, 26 
(B) an employee's actions are categorized and measured between time 27 
performing tasks and not performing tasks, (C) an employee's 28 
performance is ranked in relation to the performance of other 29 
employees, or (D) increments of time are continuously measured, 30 
recorded or tallied within an employee's work day where such 31 
employee is or is not doing a particular activity or set of activities; 32 
(4) "Work speed data" means information an employer collects, 33 
stores, analyzes or interprets relating to an individual employee's 34 
performance of a quota, including, but not limited to, quantities of tasks 35 
performed, quantities of items or materials handled or produced, rates 36 
or speeds of tasks performed, measurements or metrics of employee 37 
performance in relation to a quota and time categorized as performing 38 
tasks or not performing tasks; and 39 
(5) "Warehouse distribution center" means an establishment as 40 
defined by any of the following North American Industry Classification 41 
System Codes: (A) 493110 for General Warehousing and Storage; (B) 423 42 
for Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods; (C) 424 for Merchant 43 
Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods; (D) 454110 for Electronic Shopping 44 
and Mail-Order Houses; or (E) 492110 for Couriers and Express Delivery 45 
Services. 46 
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2024) (a) On and after July 1, 2025, 47 
each employer shall provide to each employee not later than August 1, 48 
2025, or, for an employee hired on or after August 1, 2025, upon hire, a 49 
written description of each quota such employee is or will be subject to, 50  Substitute Bill No. 412 
 
 
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including any potential adverse employment action that may result 51 
from a failure to meet each quota. 52 
(b) Whenever the employer makes a change to a quota and such 53 
change results in a different quota for an employee than the most recent 54 
written description provided to the employee pursuant to subsection (a) 55 
of this section, an employer shall: 56 
(1) Notify the employee of such change as soon as possible, either 57 
verbally or in writing, prior to such employee becoming subject to the 58 
new quota; and 59 
(2) Provide the employee with an updated written description of each 60 
quota for which such employee is subject to not later than two business 61 
days after such quota change. 62 
(c) An employer shall provide a written copy of any quota required 63 
pursuant to this section to an employee. Such written copy shall be 64 
provided directly to such employee by a manager during such 65 
employee's work hours. 66 
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2024) (a) On and after July 1, 2025, 67 
no quota shall: (1) Violate the provisions of section 31-51ii of the general 68 
statutes concerning meal periods; (2) interfere with an employee's use 69 
of the bathroom facilities, including reasonable travel time to and from 70 
the bathroom facilities; (3) measure an employee's total output over an 71 
increment of time that is shorter than such employee's work day; (4) be 72 
based solely on ranking the performance of an employee in relation to 73 
the performance of other employees; or (5) measure, record or tally 74 
increments of time during an employee's work day where such 75 
employee is or is not performing a particular activity or set of activities. 76 
(b) No employer shall take any adverse action against an employee 77 
for failing to meet a quota (1) that violates the provisions of section 31-78 
51ii of the general statutes as described in subdivision (1) of subsection 79 
(a) of this section, (2) that interferes with the employee's use of bathroom 80 
facilities, including reasonable time to travel to and from the bathroom 81  Substitute Bill No. 412 
 
 
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facilities, (3) if such employee did not complete such employee's entire 82 
scheduled shift, or (4) that has not been previously provided to an 83 
employee pursuant to section 2 of this act. 84 
Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2024) (a) On and after July 1, 2025, 85 
each employer shall establish, maintain and preserve contemporaneous, 86 
true and accurate records of the following: (1) Each employee's own 87 
personal work speed data; (2) the aggregate work speed data for similar 88 
employees at the same warehouse distribution center; and (3) the 89 
written description of each quota that each employee was provided 90 
pursuant to section 2 of this act. 91 
(b) An employer shall maintain and preserve any records required 92 
pursuant to this section for a period of not more than three years. 93 
(c) Nothing in this section shall require an employer to establish, 94 
maintain and preserve the records required pursuant to this section if 95 
such employer does not use quotas or monitor work speed data. 96 
Sec. 5. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2024) (a) On and after July 1, 2025, 97 
if an employee believes meeting a quota caused or will cause a violation 98 
of subsection (a) of section 3 of this act, such employee may request from 99 
such employee's supervisor, or another designated supervisor: (1) A 100 
written description of each quota the employee is subject to; (2) a copy 101 
of any records of the employee's own personal work speed data for the 102 
ninety days prior to such request; and (3) a copy of any records of 103 
aggregated work speed data for similar employees at the same 104 
employer for the ninety days prior to such request. 105 
(b) On and after July 1, 2025, a former employee may request from a 106 
former employer: (1) A written description of each quota the employee 107 
was subject to for the ninety days prior to the date of such employee's 108 
separation from employment; (2) a copy of any records of the 109 
employee's own personal work speed data for the ninety days prior to 110 
such employee's separation from employment; and (3) a copy of any 111 
records of aggregated work speed data for similar employees at the 112 
same warehouse distribution center for the ninety days prior to the 113  Substitute Bill No. 412 
 
 
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employee's separation from employment. A former employee may only 114 
make one such request of such former employer under this section. 115 
(c) An employer shall provide a written copy of any records 116 
requested pursuant to this section not later than five calendar days after 117 
receipt of such request. Such written copy shall be provided in both 118 
English and the language identified by the requesting employee as the 119 
primary language of such employee. Such written copy shall be 120 
provided directly to such employee by a manager during such 121 
employee's work hours. 122 
Sec. 6. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2024) (a) On and after July 1, 2025, 123 
no employer shall discharge or in any way retaliate, discriminate or take 124 
any adverse action against any employee or former employee solely due 125 
to such employee (1) making a request pursuant to section 5 of this act, 126 
or (2) filing a civil action pursuant to section 7 of this act. 127 
(b) (1) On and after July 1, 2025, if an employer discharges or in any 128 
way retaliates, discriminates or takes any adverse action against any 129 
employee or former employee within ninety days after such employee 130 
(A) makes a request pursuant to section 5 of this act, or (B) files a civil 131 
action pursuant to section 7 of this act, there shall be a rebuttable 132 
presumption that such adverse action is in violation of this section.  133 
(2) Such presumption may be rebutted by clear and convincing 134 
evidence that (1) the adverse action was taken for other permissible 135 
reasons, and (2) the employee (A) making or attempting to make a 136 
request pursuant to section 5 of this act, or (B) filing a civil action 137 
pursuant to section 7 of this act was not a motivating factor in the 138 
employer taking such adverse action. 139 
Sec. 7. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2024) (a) On and after July 1, 2025, 140 
any employee aggrieved by a violation of sections 2 to 6, inclusive, of 141 
this act, or the Attorney General on behalf of any employee aggrieved 142 
by a violation of sections 2 to 6, inclusive, of this act, may bring a civil 143 
action in the Superior Court to recover damages, civil penalties and such 144 
equitable and injunctive relief as the court deems appropriate. Any 145  Substitute Bill No. 412 
 
 
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person who prevails in such civil action may be awarded reasonable 146 
attorney's fees and cost to be taxed by the court. 147 
(b) Any employer who violates a provision of sections 2 to 6, 148 
inclusive, of this act may be assessed a civil penalty by the court of (1) 149 
one thousand dollars for a first violation, (2) two thousand dollars for a 150 
second violation, or (3) three thousand dollars for a third or subsequent 151 
violations. 152 
Sec. 8. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2024) On and after July 1, 2025, the 153 
Workers' Compensation Commission shall monitor the injury rates of 154 
employees working in warehouse distribution centers in the state. If an 155 
employer is found to have an annual injury rate at or over one and one-156 
half times the warehousing industry's average annual injury rate, the 157 
Workers' Compensation Commission shall notify the Labor 158 
Commissioner and the commissioner shall determine whether an 159 
investigation concerning potential violations of sections 2 to 6, inclusive, 160 
of this act is appropriate. 161 
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 New section 
Sec. 4 October 1, 2024 New section 
Sec. 5 October 1, 2024 New section 
Sec. 6 October 1, 2024 New section 
Sec. 7 October 1, 2024 New section 
Sec. 8 October 1, 2024 New section 
 
 
LAB Joint Favorable Subst.  
JUD Joint Favorable