Connecticut 2026 Session Status: In Committee 2 D cosponsors

HB 5496 — AN ACT CONCERNING WORKPLACE VIOLENCE PROTECTIONS FOR UTILITY AND PUBLIC WORKS EMPLOYEES.

Last action — REF. BY HOUSE TO COMMITTEE ON Appropriations

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed House
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill is in committee in the House. Introduced March 05, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee vote, then a floor vote in the House.

Prognosis

Stalled 18% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

Low

How often bills like it became law.

  • In Committee

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 2 sponsors

    2 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (2 D).

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

Bill Text

What changed in the latest version

153 added · 54 removed

Plain-language change summary

The recent amendments to Bill HB 5496 include the addition of details about its reporting and impact, specifically emphasizing its review by the Committee on Labor and Public Employees and clarifying fiscal effects on municipalities. The previous version lacked this comprehensive reporting structure, which helps lawmakers and the public understand the bill's potential financial implications. This change is important as it enhances transparency and helps stakeholders assess how the bill may affect local finances in the upcoming fiscal years.

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General Assembly Raised Bill No.
House of Representatives General Assembly File No.
5496 February Session, 2026 LCO No.
396 February Session, 2026 Substitute House Bill No.
2766 Referred to Committee on LABOR AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEES Introduced by:
5496 House of Representatives, April 2, 2026 The Committee on Labor and Public Employees reported through REP.
(LAB) AN ACT CONCERNING WORKPLACE VIOLENCE PROTECTIONS FOR UTILITY AND PUBLIC WORKS EMPLOYEES.
SANCHEZ, E.
of the 24th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the House, that the substitute bill ought to pass.
AN ACT CONCERNING WORKPLACE VIOLENCE PROTECTIONS FOR UTILITY AND PUBLIC WORKS EMPLOYEES.
(NEW) (Effective October 1, 2026) (a) For purposes of this section andsection2 ofthisact, "employer"meansa(1)municipal utility furnishing electric, gas or water, (2) regional water authority, (3) regional sewer district, (4) investor-owned utility, and (5) municipal public works department.
(NEW) (Effective October 1, 2026) (a) For purposes of this section and section 2 of this act:
(b) On or before January 1, 2027, each employer shall undertake arisk assessment of the factors that may place employees who provide services directly to customers at risk of being a victim of violence by virtue of their role as an employee of such employer, including, but not limited to, (1) working directly with customers in their domicile, (2) working late nights or early morning hours, (3) exchanging money with customers, (4) working alone or in small numbers, (5) customers with a previoushistory ofviolence towardemployeeswho providenaturalgas services, and (6) the crime rate for the municipality in which the LCO No.
(1) "Employer" means a (A) municipal utility furnishing electric, gas or water, (B) regional water authority, (C) regional sewer district, (D) public service company, or (E) municipal public works department;
2766 1 of 3 Raised Bill No.
(2) "Public service company" has the same meaning as provided in section 16-1 of the general statutes;
5496 employee will provide services, as determined by the most recent annual report concerning crime in the state issued by the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection pursuant to section 29-1c of the general statutes.
and (3) "Workplace violence" means any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at a work site.
(c) Based on the findings of the risk assessment required pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, on or before July 1, 2027, each employer shall develop and implement a workplace violence prevention and response training program for employees who provide services directly tocustomers,including,butnotlimitedto,training on(1)theriskfactors identified pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, (2) methods the employer willuse toprevent incidentsofworkplace violence, including, but not limited to, (A)utilizing methods to minimize the amount of cash on an employee's person during a work shift, and (B) establishing and implementing reporting systems for incidents of violent or aggressive behavior, (3) conflict resolution and nonviolent self-defense responses, and (4) measures employees can take to protect themselves from such risks.
"Workplace violence" does not include any such act or threat that occurs at the site of an employer.
sHB5496 / File No.
396 1 sHB5496 File No.
396 (b) On or before January 1, 2027, each employer shall undertake arisk assessment of the factors that may place employees who provide services directly to customers at risk of being a victim of workplace violence by virtue of their role as an employee of such employer, including, but not limited to, (1) working directly with customers in their domicile, (2) working late nights or early morning hours, (3) exchanging money with customers, (4) working alone or in small numbers, (5) customers with a previous history of violence toward employees, and (6) the crime rate for the municipality in which the employee will provide services, as determined by the most recent annual report concerning crime in the state issued by the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection pursuant to section 29-1c of the general statutes.
(c) On or before July 1, 2027, each employer shall develop and implement a workplace violence prevention and response training program for employees who provide services directly to customers.
Such training program shall include, but need not be limited to, training on(1)theriskfactorsidentifiedpursuanttosubsection(b)ofthissection, (2) methods the employer will use to prevent incidents of workplace violence, including, but not limited to, (A) utilizing methods to minimize the amount of cash on an employee's person during a work shift, and (B) establishing and implementing reporting systems for incidents of violent or aggressive behavior, (3) conflict resolution and nonviolent self-defense responses, and (4) measures employees can take to protect themselves from such risks.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
sHB5496 / File No.
396 2 sHB5496 File No.
396 This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
2 October 1, 2026 New section LCO No.
2 October 1, 2026 New section LAB Joint Favorable Subst.
2766 2 of 3 Raised Bill No.
sHB5496 / File No.
5496 Statement of Purpose:
396 3 sHB5496 File No.
To implement requirements to protect the safety of certain utility and public works employees.
396 The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets.
In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge.
Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.] LCO No.
Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.
2766 3 of 3
OFA Fiscal Note State Impact:
None Municipal Impact:
Municipalities Effect FY 27 $ FY 28 $ All Municipalities;
Municipal STATE See Below See Below Water Companies MANDATE 1 - Potential Cost Explanation The bill requires municipal employers to conduct a risk assessment for utility and public works employees.
This results in a potential cost to municipalities beginning in FY 27 that is dependent on what resources are necessary to conduct a risk assessment that meets the requirements of the bill.
The bill also requires that certain employers maintain records of workplace violence incidents and submit the number of occurrences annually to the Department of Labor.
This does not result in any fiscal impact to the state.
The Out Years The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would 1State mandate is defined in Sec.
2-32b(2) of the Connecticut General Statutes, "state mandate" means any state initiated constitutional, statutory or executive action that requires a local government to establish, expand or modify its activities in such a way as to necessitate additional expenditures from local revenues.
sHB5496 / File No.
396 4 sHB5496 File No.
396 continue into the future subject to resources necessary to conduct risk assessments.
sHB5496 / File No.
396 5 sHB5496 File No.
396 OLR Bill Analysis sHB 5496 AN ACT CONCERNING WORKPLACE VIOLENCE PROTECTIONS FOR UTILITY AND PUBLIC WORKS EMPLOYEES.
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SUMMARY This bill requires utility companies to assess the factors that may place their employees at risk of being a workplace violence victim when providing servicesdirectly to customers (such aswhen working directly with customers in their homes or with customers who have a previous history of violence toward employees).
It requires the companies to develop and implement workplace violence prevention and response training for these employees that includes, among other things, the company’s methods for preventing workplace violence incidents, and conflict resolution and non-violent self-defense responses.
The bill requires the companies to (1) maintain records that detail each incidence of workplace violence and include the specific location where it occurred and(2)give theDepartmentofLabor,by eachJanuary 1, a report on the number of workplace violence incidents that occurred during the previous calendar year and the specific location where each incident occurred.
The bill applies to (1) municipal electric, gas, or water companies;
(2) regional water authorities and sewer districts;
(3) municipal public works departments;
and (4) public service companies regulated by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (generally, investor-owned utility companies).
Under the bill, “workplace violence” is any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at a work site, but it does not include this behavior at the employer’s site.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
October 1, 2026 sHB5496 / File No.
396 6 sHB5496 File No.
396 RISK ASSESSMENT AND TRAINING REQUIREMENT The bill requires the utility companies, by January 1, 2027, to have a risk assessment of the factors that may place employees who provide services directly to customers at risk of being a victim of workplace violence by virtue of their role as the company’s employee.
The assessment must at least cover the risks of (1) working directly with customers in their homes, (2) working late nights or early morning hours, (3) exchanging money with customers, (4) working alone or in smallnumbers, (5)customerswithaprevioushistoryofviolencetoward employees, and (6) the crime rate in the municipality where the employee will provide services.
The crime rates used must be those determined in the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection’s most recent annual crime report.
The bill then requires each company, by July 1, 2027, to develop and implement a workplace violence prevention and response training program for employees who provide services directly to customers.
The training must be given at hire and then annually, and at least include:
1.
the risk factors identified in the risk assessment;
2.
methods the company will use to prevent workplace violence incidents, including (a) ways to minimize how much cash an employee carries during a work shift and (b) establishing and implementing reporting systems for incidents of violent or aggressive behavior;
3.
conflict resolution and non-violent self-defense responses;
and 4.
ways the employees can protect themselves from the risks.
COMMITTEE ACTION Labor and Public Employees Committee Joint Favorable Substitute Yea 9 Nay 4 (03/17/2026) sHB5496 / File No.
396 7
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Action History

  1. REF. BY HOUSE TO COMMITTEE ON Appropriations

  2. FILE NO. 396

  3. HOUSE CALENDAR NUMBER 283

  4. FAV. RPT., TABLED FOR HOUSE CALENDAR

  5. RPTD. OUT OF LCO

  6. REFERRED TO Office of Legislative Research AND Office of Fiscal Analysis 04/01/26

  7. FILED WITH LCO

  8. Joint Favorable Substitute

  9. PUBLIC HEARING 0310

  10. REF. TO JOINT COMM. ON Labor and Public Employees

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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2 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 185 not signed on

Sponsors (2)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (185)

185 members have not signed on to this bill.

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"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

public-safety labor
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

Who sponsors HB 5496?
HB 5496 is sponsored by Nick Gauthier (Democratic) and Kaitlyn Shake (Democratic).
What is the current status of HB 5496?
This bill is in committee in the House. Introduced March 05, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track HB 5496?
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