KemLaw

As the Connecticut legislature races towards adjournment on May 9th, we wanted to provide Connecticut employers with this update on bills with a reasonable probability of passage.

• Pay Equity: a bipartisan pay equity bill won overwhelming support from the State House and now moves to the State Senate. The bill as currently written would prohibit employers from asking job candidates about their salary history. Specifically, the legislation prohibits employers from “inquiring or directing a third party to inquire about a prospective employee’s wage and salary history unless a prospective employee has voluntarily disclosed such information, except that this subdivision shall not apply to any actions taken by an employer, employment agency or employee or agent thereof pursuant to any federal or state law that specifically authorizes the disclosure or verification of salary history for employment purposes. Nothing in this section shall prohibit an employer from inquiring about other elements of a prospective employee’s compensation structure, as long as such employer does not inquire about the value of the elements of such compensation structure.”

• Increase in the minimum wage: The House Appropriations Committee just narrowly approved a bill that would raise the minimum wage in Connecticut from $10.10 to $15 over the next three years. Under the bill, the state’s minimum wage would spike from $10.10 to $12 on Jan. 1, 2019; from $12 to $13.50 on Jan. 1, 2020; and from $13.50 to $15 on Jan. 1, 2021. A similar bill was voted out of committee in 2017 but died without a vote.

• Workplace harassment laws: The House Appropriations Committee unanimously voted out a bill that would greatly expand and modernize the state’s workplace harassment laws. The bill in its current form would require employers with three or more workers to educate employees about the dangers of harassment. It also requires employers with 15 or more employees to conduct annual awareness and anti-harassment training and education with all supervisors. The proposal also updates the training sessions requirements to include education that encourages bystander intervention and methods of preventing workplace harassment.

If you are an employer in Connecticut and need guidance on matters of labor and employment law, contact the attorneys at Kainen, Escalera & McHale. We do one thing and one thing only – we are an employer defense law firm – in fact, we are one of the largest employer defense law firms in the region. What’s more, each of our attorneys has over 20 years of experience in employment and labor law matters and can provide your business with comprehensive legal counsel ranging from assistance with necessary preventive measures to trial advocacy. Please contact us if we can help you.

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