Bill Text: CT SB00154 | 2012 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: An Act Concerning State Employees And Violence And Abusive Conduct In The Workplace.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-03-02 - Public Hearing 03/08 [SB00154 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2012-SB00154-Introduced.html

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General Assembly		Raised Bill No. 154
February Session, 2012		LCO No. 634
		*00634_______LAB*
Referred to Committee on Labor and Public Employees
Introduced by:
(LAB)

AN ACT CONCERNING STATE EMPLOYEES AND VIOLENCE AND ABUSIVE CONDUCT IN THE WORKPLACE.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 4a-2a of the 2012 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):

(a) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1999, and each fiscal year thereafter, the Commissioner of Administrative Services, in consultation with the Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services and the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection, shall, within the limits of available appropriations, provide an appropriate program of workplace stress awareness and prevention for state employees.

(b) On or before January 1, 2012, the Commissioner of Administrative Services shall develop an employee training program to instruct state employees on workplace violence awareness, prevention and preparedness. Any full-time employee, as defined in section 5-196, employed by the state prior to January 1, 2012, shall be required to attend the training described in this subsection. Any full-time employee employed by the state on or after January 1, 2012, shall be required, not later than six months from the date of hire, to attend the training described in this subsection as a condition of his or her employment.

(c) On or before January 1, 2013, and annually thereafter, the Commissioner of Administrative Services shall submit a report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a, to the Governor and the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public employees summarizing the number of complaints of workplace violence or abusive conduct involving state employees and the outcomes of such complaints for the preceding year. Such report shall include recommendations for administrative or legislative action related to such complaints.

(d) For the purposes of subsection (c) of this section, (1) "abusive conduct" means conduct or a single act of a state employee in the workplace that is performed with malice and is unrelated to the state's legitimate interest that a reasonable person would find hostile or offensive considering the severity, nature and frequency of the conduct or the severity and egregiousness of the single act. Abusive conduct includes, but is not limited to, (A) repeated infliction of verbal abuse such as the use of derogatory remarks, insults and epithets; (B) verbal or physical conduct that a reasonable person would find threatening, intimidating or humiliating; or (C) sabotaging or undermining a person's work performance; and (2) "state employee" means all state agency personnel, but does not include contractors, subcontractors or vendors of the state.

Sec. 2. (Effective from passage) On or before January 1, 2013, the Commissioner of Administrative Services, or the commissioner's designee, in consultation with the Commissioners of Emergency Services and Public Protection, Construction Services and Mental Health and Addiction Services, or their designees, shall, within existing budgetary resources, establish policies and procedures for preventing, reporting, evaluating and investigating complaints of abusive conduct occurring in the workplace between state employees.

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	from passage	4a-2a
Sec. 2	from passage	New section

Statement of Purpose:

To require the Department of Administrative Services to report the number of complaints of abusive conduct in the workplace between state employees to the General Assembly.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]