Finishing up the summer series of some of the basics of Connecticut employment law, I turn back to a wage & hour topic that comes up much more than you might think.

Connecticut’s wage payment laws (including Conn. Gen. Stat. 31-71b) are quite clear: Employees must be paid wages on a weekly basis.  In addition, the employees must be paid within 8 days of the close of a pay period.

In practice, this means that employers typically have a pay period that runs either Sunday to Saturday or Monday to Sunday.

Upon the close of the pay period, the employer collects the time sheets, calculates overtime, and then "runs" the payroll.  For many employers, they can they make payments on Thursday or Friday (for the prior week.)

While that is the general rule, the law also allows employers to apply for a waiver of that requirement with the Department of Labor (Conn. Gen. Stat. 31-71i)

For approval of a bi-weekly payroll system, the Department has an easy online form that employers can fill out here

For anything further, a letter is required.  Semi-monthly and monthly payment of wages are not looked on favorably by the Department of Labor so employers must make a fairly compelling reason for that request.  

And what is you’re one of those employers that hasn’t been following the rules to date? Work with an attorney or the Department of Labor to get into compliance as soon as possible.  That may mean asking for approval retroactively or changing the system of pay that you already have.