SB 348 — AN ACT CONCERNING PORTAL-TO-PORTAL WORKERS' COMPENSATION COVERAGE FOR PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEES.

Senate General Assembly RaisedFile Bill No.

348352 February Session, 2026 LCOSenate Bill No.

1373348 ReferredSenate, toApril 2, 2026 The Committee on LABORLabor ANDand PUBLICPublic EMPLOYEESEmployees Introducedreported by:through SEN.

(LAB)KUSHNER ANof ACTthe CONCERNING24th PORTAL-TO-PORTALDist., WORKERS'Chairperson COMPENSATIONof COVERAGEthe FORCommittee PUBLICon WORKSthe DEPARTMENTpart EMPLOYEES.of the Senate, that the bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING PORTAL-TO-PORTAL WORKERS' COMPENSATION COVERAGE FOR PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEES.

Subdivision (1) of section 31-275 of the general statutes is repealed andthefollowing issubstitutedis substituted inlieuthereof(EffectiveOctober 1, 2026):

(A) (i) For a police officer or firefighter, "in the course of his employment" encompasses such individual's departure from such individual'sSB348 place/ ofFile abode to duty, such individual's duty, and the LCO 1373 1 of 4 Raised Bill No.

348352 return1 toSB348 suchFile individual'sNo. place of abode after duty;

352 individual's place of abode to duty, such individual's duty, and the return to such individual's place of abode after duty;

LCOSB348 1373/ 2File of 4 Raised Bill No.

348352 [(iv)]2 (v)SB348 NotwithstandingFile theNo. provisions of clauses (i) and (ii) of this subparagraph, the dependents of any deceased employee of the Department of Correction who was injured in the course of his employment, as defined in this subparagraph, on or after July 1, 2000, and who died not later than July 15, 2000, shall be paid compensation on account of the death, in accordance with the provisions of section 31- 306, retroactively to the date of the employee's death.

352 [(iv)] (v) Notwithstanding the provisions of clauses (i) and (ii) of this subparagraph, the dependents of any deceased employee of the Department of Correction who was injured in the course of his employment, as defined in this subparagraph, on or after July 1, 2000, and who died not later than July 15, 2000, shall be paid compensation on account of the death, in accordance with the provisions of section 31- 306, retroactively to the date of the employee's death.

For purposes of LCOSB348 1373/ 3File of 4 Raised Bill No.

348352 subparagraph3 (E)SB348 ofFile thisNo. subdivision, "place of abode" includes the inside of the residential structure, the garage, the common hallways, stairways, driveways, walkways and the yard;

352 subparagraph (E) of this subdivision, "place of abode" includes the inside of the residential structure, the garage, the common hallways, stairways, driveways, walkways and the yard;

Section 1 October 1, 2026 31-275(1) LAB Joint Favorable LCOSB348 1373/ 4File ofNo. 4

352 4 SB348 File No.

352 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.

In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge.

Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note State Impact:

Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 27 $ FY 28 $ Workers' Comp.

Claims-Admin.

App Fund - See Below See Below Serv.

Dept.

Potential Cost Note:

App Fund=All Appropriated Funds Municipal Impact:

Municipalities Effect FY 27 $ FY 28 $ Various Municipalities STATE See Below See Below MANDATE 1 - Potential Cost Explanation The bill results in a potential cost to the Department of Administrative Services – Worker’s Compensation Claims and various self-insured municipalities beginning in FY 27 to the extent qualified public works personnel apply for workers’ compensation benefits due to the expanded population eligible for such benefits under the bill.

Any potential increase in the number of workers' compensation claims resulting from this bill is not anticipated to be great enough to result in a fiscal impact to the Workers' Compensation Commission.

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.

SB348 / File No.

352 5 SB348 File No.

352 The Out Years The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would continue into the future subject to inflation.

SB348 / File No.

352 6 SB348 File No.

352 OLR Bill Analysis SB 348 AN ACT CONCERNING PORTAL-TO-PORTAL WORKERS' COMPENSATION COVERAGE FOR PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEES.

SUMMARY This bill extends “portal-to-portal” workers’ compensation coverage topublicworksdepartmentemployeesinthreesituations:(1)whenthey are subject to emergency calls while off duty by the terms of their employment, (2) when they are responding to a direct order to appear at their work assignment when non-essential employees are excused from working, or (3) after working two or more mandatory overtime shifts on consecutive days.

With “portal-to-portal” coverage, an injury that occurs while the employee is traveling directly between his or her home and workplace is deemed to have occurred in the course of the employee’s employment, making him or her eligible to receive workers’ compensation benefits for the injury.

Under the bill, a “public works department” is a state or municipal department responsible for building, regulating, or maintaining all things in the nature of public works and improvements.