It’s time to update where the Connecticut legislature is at with key bills and regulations for this current legislative session. As I pointed out in my December 2018 post…

Minimum Wage

Minimum wage will very likely pass this year. Several minimum wage related bills passed the Labor and Public Employees Committee this past Thursday. The likely hourly increases would occur:

• Increase to $12.12 on January 1, 2020
• Increase to $13.50 on January 1, 2021
• Increase to $15 on January 1, 2022

Additionally, there may also be an annual indexed increase to continue to grow the minimum wage after 2022 without approval by the legislature.

A different proposal put forth by Governor Lamont would raise the minimum wage to $15, but over a slower rate, hitting $15 in 2023.

Paid Family and Medical Leave

As I mentioned in last month’s post on the Labor Committee’s attempt to enact a State Paid Family and Medical Leave Act…

Paid Family and Medical Leave continues to be a likely outcome in Connecticut. Yes, we currently have a Family and Medical Leave Act on the books – both state and federal, but this new legislation is paid leave. With the two current acts – employers with 75 employees (CT regulations) or 50 employees (federal regulations) or more are required to comply. This new act requires employers with only one employee to comply.

Sexual Harassment Training Requirements

Last year, the legislature came close to passing new requirements for conducting sexual harassment prevention training:

There appears to be renewed interest during this legislative session to revive this and require employers with as little as three employees to conduct sexual harassment prevention training.

Other Pending Legislation

There is other pending legislation ranging from the prohibition of on-call shift scheduling, to prohibiting non-compete agreements for employees based on salary earnings, to the prohibition of inquiring about an applicant’s date of birth or date of graduation. More information will be forthcoming on these and others over the coming weeks.

Federal Department of Labor – New Overtime Rule

Emphasis should be paid to a new federal development – the updated salary threshold rule for “white-collar” exemptions under the FLSA – referred to generally as the “overtime rule”. Who doesn’t remember during 2016 the work many employers conducted preparing for this drastic change in the salary threshold from $23,660 to $47,476 enacted by the Obama Administration? It was finally struck down at the end of 2016.

The new rule proposed on March 7, would increase the threshold from $23,660 to $35,308 – a much more reasonable increase:

The proposed rule is now in the comment period for employers, employees and other agencies and groups to make comment. It is anticipated that the final rule will take effect in early 2020.

KardasLarson will continue to keep you abreast of these and other continued regulatory changes.