Tomorrow, I’ll be speaking as part of the CBIA Wage & Hour Rx program.  Full details are available here

The presentation will focus on the issues that can keep employers up at night and how employers can dig themselves out of some of the problems that they may face.

But in preparation for that presentation, I reviewed some laws that employer might easily overlook.

For example, under the child labor provisions, most people assume that the same rules apply across the board to all individuals under the age of 18. But state law provides an interesting exception — minors under the age of 18 who have graduated from high school are allowed to work at the same daily and weekly hours and times of day as adults.

In other words, minors who are high school graduates are exempt from Connecticut employment prohibited to minors, but there still may be federal employment prohibitions. (Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec. 31-12.

Another example of an overlooked provision is the requirement that employers with 25 or more employees to form a safety and health committee with employees. (Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec. 31-40v.)

What conclusions should employers draw?

There are many many employment laws out there.  It’s easy to just focus on the big ones, but don’t let the little ones trip you up either.  Be sure to self-audit not only what your policies state, but also how they are being implemented in practice. You might be surprised by what you find, but that should also lead to an opportunity to get into compliance sooner rather than later.