Hartford, Connecticut (January 31, 2022) - 2021 brought several new developments to Connecticut's labor and employment law. COVID-19 federal relief provided the foundation for an incentive for people receiving unemployment benefits to return to the workforce. The vaccine also created new mandates for long-term care workers and state employees in Connecticut. New rules supporting the promotion of equal pay and anti-age discrimination in hiring were both implemented. The start of 2022 also brings big changes to the Connecticut Family & Medical Leave Act by increasing the scope of covered employees and the implementation of paid leave. An overview of these key updates is below.
Return to Work
In an effort to incentivize long-term unemployed individuals to return to the workforce, on May 17, 2021, Governor Ned Lamont announced the "Back to Work CT Program." Under the program, which was funded through aid Connecticut received under the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, eligible individuals were entitled to receive a one-time payment of $1,000 for returning to work. To be eligible for the incentive, a person had to have filed for unemployment compensation benefits for the last week of May 2021 in addition to 11 weeks of benefits from December 2020 to May 2021. Eligibility also required that an individual obtain and maintain a full-time job for eight consecutive weeks between May 30, 2021 and December 31, 2021, in addition to not filing for unemployment benefits during that eight-week period.
Minimum Wage
On August 1, 2021, Connecticut's minimum wage was raised from $12 per hour to $13 per hour. This raise was already established in the minimum wage increase signed by Governor Lamont in 2019, though the raise did not go into effect until 2021. As part of the law, the minimum wage will further increase to $14 per hour on July 1, 2022, and $15 per hour on June 1, 2023. On January 1, 2024, minimum wage will become indexed to the U.S. Department of Labor's calculated employment cost index.
Vaccine Mandates
On August 6, 2021, Governor Lamont's office issued Executive Order 13B, mandating that staff at long-term care (LTC) facilities, such as nursing homes, receive at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose by September 7, 2021. LTC facilities were additionally prohibited from employing individuals who either failed to receive the first dose by the September 7 deadline and/or failed to receive the second dose within the applicable timeframe. LTC facilities were subjected to a civil penalty of $20,000 per day for failure to comply with the order. Recently, on January 6, 2022, Lamont updated the requirement for LTC workers by mandating that all employees receive a booster shot by February 11, 2022.
In addition to LTC workers, on August 19, 2021, Governor Lamont issued Executive Order 13D, mandating that all state employees, school employees, and childcare facility staff be fully vaccinated or submit to weekly testing. On September 10, 2021, Executive Order 13G further clarified the deadlines and requirements set forth in the mandate. Pursuant to the Order, all state employees, school employees, and childcare facility staff were ordered to receive the first vaccine dose by September 27, 2021. Workers who did not submit vaccine verification by the deadline were required to submit to weekly COVID-19 testing. The mandate was silent as to who was responsible for bearing the cost of the weekly testing.
Exemptions to the mandates include verification from a healthcare provider that the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine is likely to be detrimental to the employee's health, or that the employee objects to the vaccination on the basis of a sincerely held religious or spiritual belief.
Efforts to Support Pay Equity
On October 1, 2021, "An Act Concerning the Disclosure of Salary Range for a Vacant Position," Public Act No. 21-30, went into effect requiring Connecticut employers to disclose the wage range for vacant positions to prospective employees. Conn. Gen. Stat. §31-40z already established that employers cannot penalize or discriminate against employees for discussing their salaries. The statute was expanded to additionally prohibit an employer from:
- Failing or refusing to provide a job applicant with the wage range for the position for which the applicant is applying upon the earliest of either: (a) the applicant's request; or (b) before an offer of compensation has been made to the applicant; and
- Failing or refusing to provide an employee with the wage range for the employee's position upon (a) hiring the employee; (b) a change in the employee's position with the employer; or (c) the employee's request for a wage range.
"Wage range" is defined by the statute as the "range of wages an employer anticipates relying on when setting wages for a position." Examples of wage range include applicable pay scale, previously determined range of wages for the position, actual wages for current employees with comparable positions, or what the employer has budgeted for the position.
The Act additionally provides broader protections against sex-based compensation discrimination. Pursuant to Conn. Gen. Stat. § 31-75, employers were already prohibited from paying someone of the opposite sex less money for equal work. With the amendments to the statute, rather than simply prohibiting pay inequity based on "equal" work, employers are prohibited from paying employees less for "comparable" work. Whether work is comparable is based on an analysis of "skill, effort and responsibility . . . performed under similar working conditions . . ." If there is a difference in pay, employers must establish that the difference is a result of: (1) seniority; (2) merit; (3) quantity or quality of production; or (4) a system based on a "bona fide" factor other than sex including, "but not limited to, education, training, credential, skill, geographic location, or experience."
Deterring Age Discrimination in Employment Applications
On October 1, 2021, "An Act Deterring Age Discrimination in Employment Applications," Public Act 21-69, went into effect prohibiting employers with three or more employees from asking job applicants their age, date of birth, or date(s) of graduation from, or attendance at, an educational institution. Exceptions to the prohibition apply if the information is required for: (a) a bona fide occupational qualification, or (b) in order to comply with a state or federal law.
Protections for Breastfeeding Employees
Requirements for lactations rooms were expanded with "An Act Concerning Breastfeeding in the Workplace," Public Act 21-27, which went into effect on October 1, 2021. Employers were already required to provide a private location for employees to express milk. The Act established additional requirements for the lactation rooms, including that they: (1) be free from intrusion and shielded from the public while the employee is expressing milk; (2) include, or be near a refrigeration system for milk storage; and (3) include access to an electrical outlet. Employers may be exempt if they can establish that following the requirements would cause them an "undue hardship."
Family & Medical Leave Act
The Connecticut Family & Medical Leave Act (CTFMLA, or the Act) traditionally has only applied to employers with at least 75 employees. Going into effect on January 1, 2022, the Act was expanded to include all employers with at least one employee. As a result, essentially all Connecticut employers are required, within a 12-month period, to allow eligible employees up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave for certain qualifying reasons such as the birth of a child, an employee's health condition, or caring for a family member with a serious health condition. Employees may also be entitled to an additional two weeks for incapacitation related to pregnancy within the applicable 12-month period. A person becomes eligible to take leave under the CTFMLA once they have been employed with the employer for three consecutive months.
In addition to expanding the CTFMLA, Connecticut also enacted a new law, the Connecticut Paid Family & Medical Leave Act (CT PFMLA), providing paid medical leave, which also went into effect on January 1, 2022. The CT PFMLA provides that eligible employees are entitled to paid leave benefits for up to 12 weeks, with a possible additional two weeks for incapacitation related to pregnancy. For eligible employees whose wages are less than or equal to the Connecticut minimum wage multiplied by 40, the weekly benefit rate is 95% of the employee's average weekly wage. For eligible employees whose wages exceed the Connecticut minimum wage multiplied by 40, the weekly benefit rate will be 95% of the Connecticut minimum wage multiplied by 40, plus 60% of the amount the employee's average weekly wage that exceeds the Connecticut minimum wage multiplied by 40 with a cap at 60 times the Connecticut minimum wage.
Employers themselves are not required to provide paid leave benefits. Employees apply for and ultimately receive the benefits through the state's Paid Leave Authority. Employers will be required to verify employment status and employee salary status. An eligible employee is defined as a full or part-time employee who has earned at least $2,325 in the highest-earning quarter of the first four of the five most recent quarters and is either currently employed in Connecticut with a covered employer or has been employed in Connecticut with a covered employer in the 12 weeks immediately before the claim was filed.
Between the expansion of the CTFMLA and the CT PFMLA, there will likely be an increase of Connecticut employees taking leave in 2022.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.