On June 18, 2019, Governor Ned Lamont signed into law a new bill imposing significant changes to sexual harassment training requirements for employers. The bill, entitled “An Act Combatting Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment,” and dubbed the “Time’s Up Act,” is Connecticut’s response to the #MeToo movement, and overhauls, among other things, Connecticut’s mandate for…
Until about 25 years ago, the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities claimed the power to award both general damages for emotional distress and reasonable attorneys’ fees to complainants who prevailed in a CHRO public hearing. Then in a landmark decision in 1995, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that the CHRO had misapplied the…
It appears that the new regulations proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor to increase the salary threshold for exemption from the Fair Labor Standards Act overtime requirements will become effective in the foreseeable future. Currently, any employee earning a salary of more than $455 per week is eligible for classification as exempt, as long…
House Bill 7044, recently reported favorably out of the General Assembly’s Labor and Public Employees Committee, has not yet become law. [see our blog article from March 19, 2019: Latest Developments from the Connecticut General Assembly: The Labor and Public Employees Committee Begins to Speak] In fact, earlier versions of the bill introduced in past…
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 added several new provisions to the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”) which impose new excise taxes on tax-exempt entities. One of these new provisions is Code Section 4960, Tax on Excess Tax-Exempt Executive Compensation. Code Section 4960 imposes excise taxes on certain compensatory payments to certain employees…
The U.S. Constitution protects a government employee from retaliation by his or her governmental employer because the employee exercised rights protected by the First Amendment. Some years ago the Connecticut Legislature decided to extend similar protection to private employment, which is not directly covered by the Constitution. Connecticut General Statute 31-51q prohibits any employer, public…
At its March 21, 2019 meeting, the General Assembly’s Labor and Public Employees Committee voted favorably on and advanced out of committee House Bill No. 6935 (“An Act Concerning The Right Of A Public Employee To Join Or Support A Union”). On its face, this bill appears to be in response to the U.S. Supreme…
As you are aware from our prior posts, the General Assembly’s Labor and Public Employees Committee has been quite busy if not hyperactive during the 2019 legislative session. At its March 21, 2019 meeting, the Committee likely finished up its work for this legislative session and approved a final flurry of bills. The following is…
At its March 19, 2019 meeting, the General Assembly’s Labor and Public Employees Committee approved a plethora of bills, with a concentration on expanding various employee rights. The following is a brief summary of the bills that the Committee voted favorably on and advanced out of committee (and which now await action by the full…
At its February 19, 2019 and March 14, 2019 meetings, the General Assembly’s Labor and Public Employees Committee began the process of approving bills. The following is a brief summary of the bills that the Committee voted favorably on and advanced out of committee. MINIMUM WAGE: The Committee advanced out of committee three separate bills…
On Tuesday, February 26, 2019, the General Assembly’s Labor and Public Employees Committee will conduct a public hearing on numerous proposed bills. The hearing will take place at 12:00 P.M. in Room 1B of the Legislative Office Building. There will be a significant emphasis on workers’ compensation and unemployment compensation bills (e.g., workers’ compensation benefits for emotional distress, unemployment compensation…
On Thursday, February 21, 2019, the General Assembly’s Labor and Public Employees Committee will conduct a public hearing on numerous proposed bills. The hearing will take place at 2:30 P.M. in Room 2C of the Legislative Office Building. Of note is that several of these bills (specifically, H.B. Nos. 5637, 6926, 6930, 6935, and 6936) appear to be in response…
On Thursday, February 14, 2019, the General Assembly’s Labor and Public Employees Committee will conduct a public hearing on the following proposed bills: S.B. No. 1 AN ACT CONCERNING PAID FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE. Resuscitating a proposal from the most recent legislative sessions, this bill would provide paid family and medical leave benefits to eligible…
The 2018-19 season for certified Connecticut teacher and administrator contract negotiations is just about officially in the books. While a handful of contracts have yet to be reported, this year’s certified negotiation season could end with exactly one true interest arbitration award for certified teacher and administrator bargaining units. The Waterbury teachers’ interest arbitration award…
Employers might welcome a notice of resignation from a troublesome employee as a simple solution to a problem. But what are the ramifications when the employee tries to rescind his resignation? In most cases the better choice will be to reject the rescission and hold the employee to his resignation. Ensuing litigation may have to…
