As the legislative session continues to roll around, sometimes you can get caught up in bills that have no chance of getting passed.
For example, the General Assembly — as presented structured — will never pass a bill making Connecticut a Right to Work state.
But when the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities makes proposals to the legislature, it’s worth taking a closer look at their proposals. Why? Because sometimes (though not always), their proposals get adopted.
Two significant proposals, which are being being floated through the Judiciary Committee, not the Labor & Public Employee Committee are as follows:
- A bill which would make various amendments to state anti-discrimination laws, including allowing for attorneys’ fees in the event of a discriminatory employment practice;
- A bill that would make numerous procedures of the Commission, including updating a “merit” assessment review to a “case” assessment review and shortening the timeframe from 90 days to 60 days
The CHRO has also proposed language that would impact employers less than the others.
- A bill that would update the state’s racial profiling laws; and,
- A bill that would update the state’s whistleblowing laws to give the referee power to order an agency or large state contractor to cease and desist from the retaliatory conduct.
These proposals are still in their formative stages; you won’t find them in the bill record book yet or on the CBIA bill tracker site.
But it’s important for employers and their counsel to review them to understand what is being vetted.
So far, this legislative session is proving to be far busier than was first anticipated. Stay tuned.