Bill Text: CT SB00393 | 2016 | General Assembly | Comm Sub
Bill Title: An Act Concerning Domestic Workers.
Spectrum: Committee Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-05-02 - Matter Pass Retained [SB00393 Detail]
Download: Connecticut-2016-SB00393-Comm_Sub.html
General Assembly |
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February Session, 2016 |
*_____SB00393LAB___031416____* |
AN ACT CONCERNING DOMESTIC WORKERS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (e) of section 31-58 of the 2016 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective January 1, 2017):
(e) "Employee" means any individual employed or permitted to work by an employer but shall not include any individual employed in camps or resorts which are open no more than six months of the year, [or in domestic service in or about a private home, except any individual in domestic service employment as defined in the regulations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act,] or an individual employed in a bona fide executive, administrative or professional capacity as defined in the regulations of the Labor Commissioner or an individual employed by the federal government, or any individual engaged in the activities of an educational, charitable, religious, scientific, historical, literary or nonprofit organization where the employer-employee relationship does not, in fact, exist or where the services rendered to such organizations are on a voluntary basis, or any individual employed as a head resident or resident assistant by a college or university, or any individual engaged in [baby sitting] babysitting of an irregular and intermittent or a casual nature, or an outside salesman as defined in the regulations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, or any individual employed by a nonprofit theater, provided such theater does not operate for more than seven months in any calendar year, or a member of the armed forces of the state performing military duty, as such terms are defined in section 27-61;
Sec. 2. Section 31-71f of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective January 1, 2017):
(a) Each employer shall: (1) Advise his employees in writing, at the time of hiring, of the rate of remuneration, hours of employment and wage payment schedules, and (2) make available to his employees, either in writing or through a posted notice maintained in a place accessible to his employees, any employment practices and policies or change therein with regard to wages, vacation pay, sick leave, health and welfare benefits and comparable matters.
(b) Each employer employing a domestic worker, as defined in section 6 of this act, shall advise the domestic worker in writing, at the time of hiring, of: (1) The rate of remuneration, hours of employment and wage payment schedules; (2) the job duties and responsibilities; (3) the availability of sick leave, days of rest, vacation, personal days and holidays, and whether such days are paid or unpaid, and the rate at which such days accrue; (4) necessary or required modes of transportation, and whether such transportation is provided, paid or reimbursed; (5) the availability of health insurance, and whether it is paid or reimbursed; (6) any applicable severance, yearly raises or other forms of compensation; (7) whether the employer may charge any fees or costs for board and lodging; and (8) any other rights afforded to such domestic worker under the provisions of this section, section 53-303e, as amended by this act, and sections 7 to 11, inclusive, of this act.
Sec. 3. Subdivision (9) of section 31-275 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective January 1, 2017):
(9) (A) "Employee" means any person who:
(i) Has entered into or works under any contract of service or apprenticeship with an employer, whether the contract contemplated the performance of duties within or without the state;
(ii) Is a sole proprietor or business partner who accepts the provisions of this chapter in accordance with subdivision (10) of this section;
(iii) Is elected to serve as a member of the General Assembly of this state;
(iv) Is a salaried officer or paid member of any police department or fire department;
(v) Is a volunteer police officer, whether the officer is designated as special or auxiliary, upon vote of the legislative body of the town, city or borough in which the officer serves;
(vi) Is an elected or appointed official or agent of any town, city or borough in the state, upon vote of the proper authority of the town, city or borough, including the elected or appointed official or agent, irrespective of the manner in which he or she is appointed or employed. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed as affecting any existing rights as to pensions which such persons or their dependents had on July 1, 1927, or as preventing any existing custom of paying the full salary of any such person during disability due to injury arising out of and in the course of his or her employment;
(vii) Is a member of the armed forces of the state while in the performance of military duty, whether paid or unpaid for such military duty, in accordance with the provisions of section 27-17, 27-18 or 27-61; or
(viii) Is elected to serve as a probate judge for a probate district established in section 45a-2.
(B) "Employee" shall not be construed to include:
(i) Any person to whom articles or material are given to be treated in any way on premises not under the control or management of the person who gave them out;
(ii) One whose employment is of a casual nature and who is employed otherwise than for the purposes of the employer's trade or business;
(iii) A member of the employer's family dwelling in his house; but, if, in any contract of insurance, the wages or salary of a member of the employer's family dwelling in his house is included in the payroll on which the premium is based, then that person shall, if he sustains an injury arising out of and in the course of his employment, be deemed an employee and compensated in accordance with the provisions of this chapter;
(iv) Any person engaged in [any type of service in or about a private dwelling provided he is not regularly employed by the owner or occupier over twenty-six hours per week] domestic service in or about a private dwelling, except if the owner or occupier of such dwelling has paid such person engaged in such domestic service one thousand dollars or more in any calendar quarter in the current or preceding calendar year such person shall be considered an employee. For purposes of this clause, "domestic service" means any service provided to the owner or occupier of a private dwelling for the operation or maintenance of such dwelling and does not include service as an employee in the pursuit of an employer's trade, occupation, profession, enterprise or vocation;
(v) An employee of a corporation who is a corporate officer and who elects to be excluded from coverage under this chapter by notice in writing to his employer and to the commissioner; or
(vi) Any person who is not a resident of this state but is injured in this state during the course of his employment, unless such person (I) works for an employer who has a place of employment or a business facility located in this state at which such person spends at least fifty per cent of his employment time, or (II) works for an employer pursuant to an employment contract to be performed primarily in this state.
Sec. 4. Subdivision (10) of section 46a-51 of the 2016 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective January 1, 2017):
(10) "Employer" includes the state and all political subdivisions thereof and means any person or employer (A) with three or more persons in such person's or employer's employ, or (B) employing a domestic worker, as defined in section 6 of this act, without regard to the total number of domestic workers in such person's or employer's employ;
Sec. 5. Section 53-303e of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective January 1, 2017):
(a) No employer shall compel any employee (1) engaged in any commercial occupation, [or] (2) engaged in the work of any industrial process, or (3) employed as a domestic worker, as defined in section 6 of this act, to work more than six days in any calendar week. An employee's refusal to work more than six days in any calendar week shall not constitute grounds for his or her dismissal.
(b) Any employee, who believes that his or her discharge was in violation of subsection (a) of this section may appeal such discharge to the State Board of Mediation and Arbitration. If said board finds that the employee was discharged in violation of said subsection (a), it may order whatever remedy will make the employee whole, including but not limited to reinstatement to his or her former or a comparable position.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, a domestic worker may work seven days in any calendar week provided (1) the domestic worker and his or her employer agree, in writing, to such schedule, and (2) the domestic worker is compensated at a rate of not less than one and one-half times his or her average hourly salary for all hours worked on the seventh day.
[(c)] (d) Any person who violates any provision of this section shall be fined not more than two hundred dollars.
Sec. 6. (NEW) (Effective January 1, 2017) For the purposes of this section and sections 7 to 11, inclusive, of this act:
(1) "Domestic worker" means any individual or employee who is paid or who is told he or she will be paid to perform work of a domestic nature in or about a private dwelling, including, but not limited to, housekeeping, home management, child care, caretaking of individuals, including sick, convalescing and elderly individuals, laundering, meal preparation, home companion services and other household services for occupants of the private dwelling or the guests of such occupants. Domestic worker does not include (A) a babysitter whose employment is irregular and intermittent or of a casual nature, or (B) a personal care attendant providing services pursuant to a state-funded program, including, but not limited to, (i) the program for individuals with acquired brain injuries, established pursuant to section 17b-260a of the general statutes, (ii) the personal care assistance program, established pursuant to section 17b-605a of the general statutes, (iii) the Connecticut home care program for the elderly, established pursuant to section 17b-342 of the general statutes, (iv) the pilot program to provide home care services to disabled persons, established pursuant to section 17b-617 of the general statutes, (v) the individual and family support waiver program administered by the Department of Developmental Services, and (vi) the comprehensive waiver program administered by the Department of Developmental Services;
(2) "Employer" means any owner or any person, partnership, corporation, limited liability company or association of persons acting directly as, or on behalf of, or in the interest of an employer in relation to a domestic worker and shall include for the purposes of chapter 567 of the general statutes a (A) homemaker-companion agency, as defined in section 20-670 of the general statutes, (B) registry, as defined in section 20-670 of the general statutes, or (C) homemaker-home health aide agency, as defined in section 19a-490 of the general statutes, that refers a domestic worker to a consumer to provide (i) homemaker services, (ii) companion services, or (iii) homemaker-home health aide services;
(3) "Consumer" means an individual receiving homemaker services, companion services or homemaker-home health aide services from a homemaker-companion agency, registry or homemaker-home health aide agency;
(4) "Homemaker services" means homemaker services, as defined in section 20-670 of the general statutes;
(5) "Companion services" means companion services, as defined in section 20-670 of the general statutes;
(6) "Homemaker-home health aide services" means homemaker-home health aide services, as defined in section 19a-490 of the general statutes;
(7) "Live-in domestic worker" means a domestic worker who resides in or about an employer's private dwelling for at least four consecutive twenty-four-hour periods during at least two consecutive weeks within one calendar year;
(8) "Full-time employment" means an average working period of forty hours or more per week within the previous month; and
(9) "Part-time employment" means an average working period of less than forty hours per week within the previous month.
Sec. 7. (NEW) (Effective January 1, 2017) (a) Upon a domestic worker's completion of one year of employment with an employer, such employer shall provide (1) in the case of a domestic worker engaged in part-time employment, seventy-two hours of paid leave, annually, and (2) in the case of a domestic worker engaged in full-time employment one hundred twenty hours of paid leave, annually. Such paid leave shall accrue beginning January 1, 2017, or for a domestic worker hired after said date, beginning on the domestic worker's date of employment. A domestic worker may take such leave consecutively or intermittently.
(b) Each domestic worker shall be entitled to carry over up to fifty-six unused hours of paid leave from the current calendar year to the following calendar year, except no domestic worker shall be entitled to use more than the maximum number of hours of paid leave, as described in subdivisions (1) and (2) of subsection (a) of this section, in any calendar year.
(c) Each employer shall pay each domestic worker for paid leave at a pay rate equal to the normal hourly wage for that domestic worker in effect for the pay period during which the domestic worker uses paid leave. For any domestic worker whose hourly wage varies depending on the work performed by the domestic worker, the "normal hourly wage" means the average hourly wage of the domestic worker in the pay period prior to the one in which the domestic worker used paid leave.
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to (1) prevent an employer from providing more leave, whether paid or unpaid, than is required under this section, (2) diminish any rights provided to any domestic worker under the terms of the domestic worker's employment, or (3) prevent an employer from complying with the requirements of state or federal statutes, rules or regulations.
Sec. 8. (NEW) (Effective January 1, 2017) (a) No employer shall (1) restrict or interfere with a domestic worker's private communications, (2) seize, search or inspect the domestic worker's personal belongings, or (3) engage in any conduct against a domestic worker that violates subsection (a) of section 53a-192a of the general statutes or any other section of the general statutes.
(b) No employer of a live-in domestic worker shall enter a live-in domestic worker's designated living area in or about the employer's private dwelling without such live-in domestic worker's informed and voluntary consent, except the employer may enter such designated living area if emergency repairs are required, provided (1) securing such live-in domestic worker's consent within a reasonable time is not feasible, and (2) the employer provides notice to the live-in domestic worker that the employer entered the live-in domestic worker's designated living area to conduct such emergency repairs within a reasonable time after doing so.
(c) No employer of a domestic worker shall monitor a domestic worker's activities or communications by any means other than direct observation, including the use of a computer, telephone, wire, radio, camera, electromagnetic, photoelectronic or photo-optical systems, without such domestic worker's informed and voluntary consent, except an employer may use such devices to monitor a domestic worker while he or she is performing care-giving tasks including, but not limited to, babysitting, child care and caretaking of sick, convalescing or elderly individuals.
(d) A domestic worker who is required to utilize cleaning products as part of his or her employment shall have the right to (1) alert his or her employer to health hazards and allergies that the domestic worker believes to be related to these cleaning products, (2) negotiate with his or her employer regarding the substitution of alternative cleaning products, and (3) substitute cleaning products he or she believes to be less harmful to his or her health, or to the health of others, except where the employer can demonstrate medical necessity for the use of a particular cleaning product.
Sec. 9. (NEW) (Effective January 1, 2017) (a) (1) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, if a domestic worker has been employed by an employer for a period of ninety days or longer, such employer shall provide the domestic worker with written notice prior to the termination of employment. Such notice shall be provided not less than seven days prior to the effective date of such termination, except, if such domestic worker is a live-in domestic worker, such notice shall be provided not less than fourteen days prior to the effective date of such termination.
(2) If a domestic worker has been employed by an employer for a period of ninety days or longer, such employer may terminate such domestic worker immediately and without written notice, provided such employer compensates such domestic worker at a rate not less than the amount the domestic worker would have earned had the employer continued to employ such domestic worker after providing notice of such termination pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection.
(b) The provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to any employer who terminates a domestic worker due to the domestic worker's wilful misconduct in the course of his or her employment. For the purposes of this subsection, "wilful misconduct" means deliberate misconduct in wilful disregard of the employer's interest and shall include any abuse, assault or other harmful or destructive conduct committed by the domestic worker against the employer, the employer's possessions, members of the employer's family, guests or other individuals residing in or about the employer's private dwelling.
(c) Compensation provided in lieu of notice of termination pursuant to subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of this section shall be provided upon termination of the domestic worker. Such compensation shall not release an employer from any obligation to make payments as may be necessary to comply with chapter 567 of the general statutes or any other applicable municipal, state or federal law.
Sec. 10. (NEW) (Effective January 1, 2017) No employer shall discharge, discipline, penalize, retaliate against or in any manner discriminate against any domestic worker because such domestic worker has (1) complained to the employer, an authorized representative of the domestic worker or any other person, (2) filed any complaint or instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding under section 11 of this act or any other provision of the general statutes, (3) has testified or is about to testify in any such proceeding, or (4) exercised any right afforded to him or her by any provision of section 31-71f of the general statutes, as amended by this act, section 53-303e of the general statutes, as amended by this act, or sections 7 to 11, inclusive, of this act.
Sec. 11. (NEW) (Effective January 1, 2017) (a) A domestic worker may file a complaint with the Labor Commissioner alleging a violation of any provision of section 31-71f of the general statutes, as amended by this act, section 53-303e of the general statutes, as amended by this act, or sections 7 to 10, inclusive, of this act. Upon receipt of the complaint, the commissioner shall investigate such complaint and may hold a hearing. After the hearing, the commissioner shall send each party a written copy of his or her decision. A domestic worker who prevails in such hearing shall be awarded reasonable attorney's fees and costs.
(b) If the commissioner finds a domestic worker has been aggrieved by an employer's violation of any provision of section 31-71f of the general statutes, as amended by this act, section 53-303e of the general statutes, as amended by this act, or sections 7 to 10, inclusive, of this act, the commissioner shall (1) levy against the employer a civil penalty of up to five hundred dollars for the first violation and one thousand dollars for each subsequent violation, and (2) award such domestic worker all appropriate relief including rehiring or reinstatement to his or her previous job, payment of back wages and any interest due on such wages, compensation for the denial of days of leave, reestablishment of employee benefits or any other remedies that the commissioner may deem appropriate.
(c) Any party aggrieved by the decision of the commissioner may appeal the decision to the Superior Court, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes.
(d) The commissioner may request the Attorney General to bring an action in the Superior Court to recover the penalties levied pursuant to subsection (b) of this section.
(e) Nothing in this section shall prohibit a domestic worker from filing a civil suit against an employer in a court of competent jurisdiction to recover all appropriate relief including rehiring or reinstatement to his or her previous job, payment of back wages and any interest due on such wages, compensation for the denial of days of leave, reestablishment of employee benefits or any other remedies that the judge may deem appropriate.
(f) A third party that arranges for the employment or contracting of a domestic worker shall be jointly and severally liable for a violation of any provision of section 31-71f of the general statutes, as amended by this act, section 53-303e of the general statutes, as amended by this act, or sections 7 to 10, inclusive, of this act that occur in or about the private dwelling to which the domestic worker was referred or sent by such third party.
Sec. 12. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) The Labor Commissioner may, subject to available appropriations, appoint a domestic work outreach coordinator to develop and implement a multilingual outreach and education program for domestic workers and employers of domestic workers. Such program shall provide materials to domestic workers and employers of domestic workers, including, but not limited to, information about the rights of domestic workers in the state, model employment agreements and educational materials for employers detailing the responsibilities of such employers in relation to domestic workers.
(b) The Labor Commissioner may, subject to available appropriations, establish an interagency program coordinating committee comprised of members that may include, but need not be limited to, the domestic work outreach coordinator appointed pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, representatives of various employment agencies within the Labor Department and a representative of the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women. The interagency program coordinating committee shall coordinate the available public resources required to implement the provisions of this section.
(c) For the purpose of enforcing the provisions of section 31-71f of the general statutes, as amended by this act, section 53-303e of the general statutes, as amended by this act, and sections 7 to 11, inclusive, of this act, the Labor Commissioner may contract with community-based organizations and legal services organizations to (1) disseminate information to domestic workers or other types of employees concerning the protections afforded by said sections and the process by which domestic workers and other types of employees may file a complaint or pursue other legal action under the provisions of said sections or any applicable municipal, state or federal law; and (2) investigate, prepare and, if necessary, represent domestic workers and other types of employees in filing complaints pursuant to section 11 of this act and any other relevant provisions of the general statutes.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: | ||
Section 1 |
January 1, 2017 |
31-58(e) |
Sec. 2 |
January 1, 2017 |
31-71f |
Sec. 3 |
January 1, 2017 |
31-275(9) |
Sec. 4 |
January 1, 2017 |
46a-51(10) |
Sec. 5 |
January 1, 2017 |
53-303e |
Sec. 6 |
January 1, 2017 |
New section |
Sec. 7 |
January 1, 2017 |
New section |
Sec. 8 |
January 1, 2017 |
New section |
Sec. 9 |
January 1, 2017 |
New section |
Sec. 10 |
January 1, 2017 |
New section |
Sec. 11 |
January 1, 2017 |
New section |
Sec. 12 |
from passage |
New section |
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 7(a) subdivisions (1) and (2), "part-time domestic worker" and "full-time domestic worker" were changed to "domestic worker engaged in part-time employment" and "domestic worker engaged in full-time employment" for clarity and consistency; Section 10 subdivision (4) was rewritten for clarity; Section 11(f) was rewritten for clarity; and in Section 12(c)(2), "domestic employees" was changed to "domestic workers and other types of employees" for clarity and consistency.
LAB |
Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO |