Last month the U.S. Supreme Court simultaneously resolved a long-running dispute about procedure under Title VII and sent a message to employers that it is important to pay attention and act promptly when faced with a Title VII lawsuit by a current or former employee. Title VII is the fundamental federal law prohibiting discrimination in…
In these pages, we recently wrote about the passage of several bills of great import from the recently concluded 2019 Regular Session of the Connecticut General Assembly addressing (paid) family and medical leave, sexual harassment, and remedies for employment discrimination claims, along with increasing the state’s minimum wage. The following are concise descriptions of the…
The 2019 Regular Session of the Connecticut General Assembly concluded on June 5, 2019. In light of the passage of several bills of great import (e.g., paid family and medical leave – along with other changes to the state’s FMLA, measures addressing sexual harassment while also expanding remedies for employment discrimination claims, increases in the…
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…
