Connecticut Employment Law Blog : Connecticut Employment Lawyer & Attorney : Daniel Schwartz : Stamford, Hartford New Haven, CT

Whether it's due to stall tactics by some Republicans last night, as they suggested in an article in the Courant this morning, or simply other things on the agenda, several bills that would have had a major impact on employers were not passed in the closing hours of the legislative session last night.

Among the bills that were pending and that expired when the session ended: Paid Sick Leave bill (H.B. 6187), the so-called Captive Audience prohibition bill, and a bill that would ban the use of credit reports for employment decisions.

Still, there were enough other bills that passed in the last few weeks that employers will need to update their policies and procedures, particularly as they pertain to state FMLA and to discrimination.

Once the dust settles, I'll provide a recap. And look for details coming a little bit later about a webinar next week on the legislative session too and what employers need to know. 

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The Capitol Watch blog is reporting this Thursday evening that the proponents of the Paid Sick Leave bill (H.B. 6187) are still one vote shy of passage in the state Senate:

The latest vote count shows the measure tied at 18 to 18 in the 36-member Senate. Eight Democrats are currently opposed to the bill, while two Republicans are in favor.

"We're one vote short,'' said Sen. Edith Prague, a longtime labor supporter. "Those eight [Democrats] are pretty firm. All we need is one vote.'' ....

Lobbyists for CBIA, the state's largest business organization, have been working the hallways on a constant basis as the clock ticks toward the end of the session. 

With its passage still in question at least for another 24 hours and with multiple amendments proposed, I'm going to hold off on a full recap of the measure until we get a better idea of what the bill is going to pass and in what form.

Until then, I'll leave you with the Office Of Legislative Reports recap which states that the bill would be effective January 1, 2010 if passed and approved by the governor:

This bill requires most employers with 50 or more employees in the state to provide their employees with paid sick leave once the employee has worked 1,040 hours. Paid sick leave accrues at a rate of one hour for each 40 hours worked after the employee has worked 520 hours in 12 months. Current law does not require employers to provide sick leave, whether paid or unpaid.

Employees may accrue up to 32 hours of sick leave in 2010 [4 days] and up to 40 hours a year [5 days] in each following year. The leave can be used for an employee's or the employee's child's illness or injury, treatment of an illness or injury, diagnosis, and preventive medical care. It can also be used for reasons related to an employee who is a victim of family violence or sexual assault.

It exempts manufacturing employers that provide some form of paid leave at a rate equal to or greater than the bill requires. It includes all other private sector and public sector employers with 50 or more persons. It deems an employer to be in compliance with its requirements if the employer offers paid leave that can be used for the same purposes and in the same conditions. ...

*House Amendment “A” (1) changes the required number of hours an employee must work to be eligible for paid sick leave, (2) reduces the number of paid sick leave hours that can be accrued and used, (3) exempts employees under age 18 from its provisions, (4) exempts manufacturers that provide some form of paid leave at a rate equal to or greater than the bill requires, and (5) specifies it does not prohibit an employer from allowing employees to donate accrued sick leave to another employee.

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With the legislative session ending on Wednesday at midnight, there's a lot for employers to keep an eye out. Here's a quick summary of what's still alive and what's not, at the Connecticut General Assembly.

• Senate Bill 365 (S.B. 365) - A bill that would prohibit so-called captive audience meetings by employers (typically regarding a union campaign) passed the Senate on May 20th but is still awaiting a House vote. 
• Senate Bill 710 (S.B. 710) - A bill that instituted changes to the state FMLA laws was signed by the Governor on May 27th. It is effective immediately. 
• House Bill 5521 (H.B. 5521) - A bill that would prohibit employers from using credit reports as a basis for employment decisions is awaiting a possible senate vote after passage in the House on May 1th. 
• House Bill 6187 (H.B. 6187) - The so-called Paid Sick Leave bill passed on the House on May 28th and is still awaiting a vote in the Senate.  Time is running out for this bill.  There are 18 amendments that have been proposed for the Senate version of the bill and the CBIA released a statement this morning that said a vote could come at any time. 
• House Bill 6545 (H.B. 6545) - This bill is a late entry into the bills I've been watching regarding labor & employment law and just passed the House last night.  This bill provides collective bargaining rights to two groups of state employees who cannot collectively bargain under current law: (1) managers and (2) Legislative Branch employees of the State Capitol Police.

In addition to the above bills, I've previously covered House Bill 6185, which made changes to the state's personnel files laws and also changes to the gender discrimination law as well. 

Stay tuned....

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 Late last night, the Connecticut House approved House Bill 6187, better known as the Paid Sick Leave bill. The bill has some important changes from its original drafting including some tweaks to the definition of who is an employer and how many days an employee is entitled to.  

The text of the new bill (as amended) can be found here.

I will have a recap of the bill's new provisions and what it means for employers a bit later but suffice to say that employers in Connecticut need to play close attention to the bill's progress in the Senate.  

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The debate on the bill requiring employees to offer paid sick leave to employees continued into Thursday evening. But the first votes on various amendments to the bill (including one that now becomes the bill) seem to indicate that its passage is likely.

The operative bill under debate now is House Amendment A, which passed 82-59, and is a substitute for the entire bill.  

Republicans are now introducing various amendments to the bill which mainly remove various provisions. Many seem likely to fail given the strong majority that the Democrats have in the House.

I'll have a full recap of this landmark bill in the morning.  If passed later this evening, the bill would move to the Senate for a vote.  It's unclear whether the Governor would veto this measure.  In the interim, CT News Junkie has been providing other news updates as well.  

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Earlier this afternoon, the Connecticut House began debate on House Bill 6187 which would mandate that employers provide paid sick leave to employees .  You can watch the debate live at CT-N here.

I've previously discussed the bill at length in various posts here.  The basic measure would require every business of 50 employees or more to grant workers one hour of paid sick time for every 40 hours of work with a cap of 6.5 paid days per year. You can find the text of the underlying bill here.

Connecticut would be the first day to pass such a bill.

However, as of this afternoon, there were 26 amendments that were proposed to the bill so how the bill is finally structured is unknown. The bill's passage generally is expected, but various groups, including the CBIA have voiced their opposition to it, particularly given the economic climate.  The debate is expected to last for some time.

I'll recap the vote on the bill as events warrant and you can follow my twitter feed for further updates throughout this afternoon and evening @danielschwartz.

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A key legislative committee yesterday gave its approval to a bill which would mandate that certain employers give employees paid sick leave.  You can keep tabs on the bill status here. 

I've discussed the bill several times before and it appears that the basic structure of paid sick leave bill (H.B. 6187) has remained unchanged. The Judiciary Committee's passage of the bill suggests that the measure may now go to the House floor for a vote in the next few weeks.

The measure would require businesses of 50 or more employees to grant workers one hour of paid sick time for every 40 hours of work with a cap of 6.5 paid days per year.  You can find the text of the bill here. 

There are obviously valid arguments both for and against the bill. 

The CBIA, for example, has opposed the bill, contending that: it would make Connecticut the only state in the nation to mandate paid sick leave; increase labor costs significantly for any employer that currently provides anything less than the new sick-time mandate; block employers from crafting workplace personnel policies that best meet their employers' needs; and, immediately make Connecticut businesses less competitive particularly in a recession.  

In today's Hartford Courant, however, the director of Connecticut's Working Families Party (one of the groups supporting the measure) appeared to add a new reason for supporting the bill: swine flu.  According to the Courant, Jon Green, director of the Connecticut Working Families, stated:

It's an illustration why it's particularly important, and in everybody's interest, for employees to have some paid sick days....The advice given by the Centers for Disease Control ... is that people who have symptoms should stay home.

But in a difficult economy, people can't risk losing their jobs or even just a few days' pay because they have an illness.

Whether intentional or not, using the swine flu outbreak as a rationale for passing this bill would be mistake.  If the swine flu outbreak turns more serious, it will be up to everyone (not just businesses) to be responsible enough not to spread illnesses.  Indeed, it's not unreasonable to expect that during a flu pandemic many businesses will adopt short-term flexible work arrangements and telecommuting policies to keep the risks of affecting healthy workers to a minimum, thus eliminating the need for a mandatory paid sick leave bill. 

In addition, if the flu is serious enough, it may be a "serious health condition" entitling that employee to FMLA protection. 

Before the legislature passes the measure, it ought to consider and debate the long-term ramifications of paid sick leave on business and the economy, as well as overall public health.  History has shown that such outbreaks -- even serious ones -- come to an end.   

As I said before, there are some very valid reasons for passing the measure.  But using the swine flu outbreak to justify the measure isn't one of them.

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Connecticut's prospects of becoming the first state with a broad paid sick leave provision got a little closer on Tuesday as a legislative committee voted 8-3 (along party lines) to approve the measure.  While such a step was not unexpected (it passed committee last year), it is another indication that proponents of the measure are not willing to let this issue go away without a fight.

I've discussed the bill several times before and it appears that the basic structure of paid sick leave bill (H.B. 6187) has remained unchanged. 

The measure would  require every business of 50 employees or more to grant workers one hour of paid sick time for every 40 hours of work with a cap of 6.5 paid days per year.  You can find the text of the bill here. 

Last year, there was strong opposition to the bill, including the Connecticut Business and Industry Association.  You can find the CBIA's rationale for opposing the bill here.  That opposition was noted by the My Left Nutmeg bill, which captured the rationale in support of the bill. 

There is no indication that the CBIA's opposition is softening, but the Republican-American is reporting this morning that both "proponents and opponents" of the bill believe the bill will be passed this year.

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