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

The focus for this term of the Connecticut General Assembly for employers and employees has been on the paid sick leave bill (still no action in the House as of May 3rd).

However, employers who have employees working on public works projects and manual labor on state or municipal building construction or repair contracts need to be aware of a bill that cleared both the Senate and House very early today (H.B. 5537).  The bill is expected to be signed into law shortly, will become effective January 1, 2009.  The vote tally in the Senate is available here.

Under current law, some of these employees must prove that they have completed a 10-hour construction safety and health course that meets federal OSHA Training Institute Standards. The new bill expands this training and expands the people who must receive training. 

The Office of Legislative Research has fairly detailed report available here:

First, it expands the construction safety training requirement to any public works project, which includes sewage and water treatment plants, site work, road and bridge work, parking lots, drainage systems, and other public projects.

Second, instead of applying the training requirement to all projects of $ 100,000 or more, the bill applies the existing prevailing wage project thresholds to the training requirement. This means the requirement kicks in for (1) repair and renovation projects of $ 100,000 or more and (2) new construction projects of $ 400,000 or more.

Furthermore, it removes the requirement that the proof of the training be sent to the labor commissioner. Presumably, the proof will be sent to the contracting agency paying for the prevailing wage project. ...

The bill also creates training requirement exceptions for employees of public service companies and commercial vehicle drivers who either pick up at or deliver cargo to public work projects.

It requires the labor commissioner to adopt implementing regulations by January 1, 2009. By law, regulations cannot take effect before the effective date of the act authorizing them.

A few notable items:

• The employees who must receive the training (which, under current law, is any employee "performing manual labor") is greater under the bill.  The bill states that a mechanic, laborer, or worker must complete the safety training course.
  
• Notably, according to the OLR, the safety training requirements "do not apply to employees of public service companies, which are defined in statute to include electric, electric distribution, gas, telephone, telegraph, pipeline, sewage, and water companies; cable franchise holders; and railroad companies."

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A few posts this week caught my eye:

• First, the HR Carnival has a great post this week about various HR issues, including how to train managers better.  And, best yet, you'll find a link back to this blog.  Thanks to the writers of the Carnival for the reference.
  
• Kris Dunn, over at HR Captialist,  has an interesting post about how HR professionals can help their companies keep benefit costs down. As Kris says, "If You Don't Have a Meaningful Answer to this Question From Your CEO, Update Your Resume..."
  
• Evil HR Lady, has an informative post as to how employers can prepare for terminations and how to educate managers about the right ways to do so.
  
• Workplace Horizons has been right on top of the Congress' consideration of ENDA, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.  Near daily updates about the rumors of various amendments have been going up and its a useful site to keep track of certain pieces of legislation. 
  
• And finally, The Employment Blawg has been posting a series of hypotheticals on different workplace situations including violence, workplace and overtime.  As stated on the blog "Read Trucks and Guns: An Employment Law Fable, Part I (Overtime for Truck Drivers) for the whole story. . . . It ends with an HR manager getting shot by the driver (just hypothetically)."

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The headlines of the week nationally have certainly surrounded sexual harassment allegations both old and new.  (Note: Due to my firm's involvement in one of those cases, I will not be blogging on it). 

But with the issue back in the forefront, I've been surprised lately in my discussions by how some small to mid-size employers are overlooking the basics in Connecticut.   Do they believe that such conduct just doesn't exist anymore or do they believe that their employees "know it all" about the subject? While claims of sex discrimination filed with the EEOC are down nearly 10 percentt from their peak in 2002, the numbers hardly show such a pronounced drop off that would indicate we've "solved' the problem of sexual harassment in the workplace.  Indeed over 20,000 complaints were still filed with the EEOC as of 2006.

What do I mean by the basics? In Connecticut, its training and posting.  These requirements are found in the administrative regulations , Conn. Regs 46a-54-200 et seq. set up by the CHRO regarding sexual harassment prevention. 

• For posting: All employers who have 3 or more employees must notices that say sexual harassment is illegal and address what the remedies are for such harassment.  The regulations all spell out in specifics that the notices must contain certain elements. Fortunately, the CHRO has also prepared a model poster that complies with the statute and is available for free download. 

Of course, there are other laws as well that require postings to be set up.  Rather than address each law separately, consider using a company that specializes in such posters, like G.Neil. 

• For training: The training requirements only apply to employers who have 50 or more employees and apply only to supervisory employees.  (This does not mean that employers who have less than 50 should NOT provide the training; instead, it means that they are not required to conduct such training.) 

Specifically, within 6 months of a new supervisor being hired or an employee being promoted to a supervisory position, the employee must receive at least two hours of training.  The format of the training is fairly rigid; according to the regulations:

Such training and education shall be conducted in a classroom-like setting, using clear and understandable language and in a format that allows participants to ask questions and receive answers.

Since that time, the CHRO has indicated, in an informal opinion, that some e-learning training may satisfy this requirement.  Regardless, the training must also include discussion of six discrete topics such as what the state and federal laws say, what types of conduct could be considered sexual harassment, and discussing strategies for preventing such harassment.

Here the kicker: The regulations suggest (but do not mandate) that such training be updated for ALL supervisory employees every three years.   What does this mean? It means that if an employer wants to project an image that it has a strong policy against sexual harassment, it should follow this advisory regulation to show that it is doing above and beyond what is required.

The regulations also suggest (but do not mandate) that records be kept of the training. Again, the regulations suggest a course of action that employers would be wise to follow.

Certainly, the workplace has changed in the 16 years since the issues surrounding Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and Professor Anita Hill became so widely publicized. But for employers in Connecticut, sustained vigilance is needed to make sure these changes and the progress that has been made, stick.

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