I’ve previously touched on a number of bills that were passed in the short legislative session that ended earlier this month but I thought I would recap the session briefly in one post.
Of course, the CBIA already did most of the work so I won’t repeat the good work and recommend the post to you first.
The minimum wage hike in Senate Bill 32 is certainly the most significant piece of legislation to come down. It will increase as follows:
- $9.15 per hour on January 1, 2015
- $9.60 per hour on January 1, 2016
- $10.10 per hour on January 1, 2017
This will also affect the minimum wage for hotel and restaurant employees with the corresponding tip credit.
- $5.78 per hour on January 1, 2015
- $6.07 per hour on January 1, 2016
- $6.38 per hour on January 1, 2017.
For bartenders, the minimum wage will change to the following:
- $7.46 per hour on January 1, 2015
- $7.82 per hour on January 1, 2016
- $8.23 per hour on January 1, 2017
As I noted in a prior post as well, the legislative approved fixes to the Paid Sick Leave law in House Bill 5269. You can find my recap of those changes here.
And that’s pretty much it. There were many proposals on the table — including changes to the CHRO or banning discrimination against the unemployed — but none made it to a vote. Given all the mandates of the prior years, employers should be enjoying this short reprieve.
With the governor’s race this fall, it’ll be very interesting to see the results of that. If Governor Malloy is elected for a second term, employers should continue to expect a good number of bills to continue. If Tom Foley is elected, expect to see more compromise legislation. But that’s six months away.
For now, employers can breathe a little easier knowing that they don’t have to make too many changes this year.