SB 318 — AN ACT CONCERNING CAPTIVE AUDIENCE MEETINGS.

Senate General Assembly RaisedFile Bill No.

318266 February Session, 2022 LCOSenate Bill No.

1679318 ReferredSenate, toApril 4, 2022 The Committee on LABORLabor ANDand PUBLICPublic EMPLOYEESEmployees Introducedreported by:through SEN.

(LAB)KUSHNER ANof ACTthe CONCERNING24th CAPTIVEDist., AUDIENCEChairperson MEETINGS.of the Committee on the part of the Senate, that the bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING CAPTIVE AUDIENCE MEETINGS.

and (3) "Rights guaranteed by the first amendment to the United States Constitution or section 3, 4 or 14 of article first of the Constitution of the state" includes, but is not limited to, the right of freedom of speech, LCOSB318 1679/ \\PRDFS1\SCOUSERS\FORZANOF\WS\2022SB-00318-R01File of 3 SB.docx Raised Bill No.

318266 freedom1 ofSB318 religionFile andNo. freedom of association, and shall include the right not to be required to listen to speech.

266 freedom of religion and freedom of association, and shall include the right not to be required to listen to speech.

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318266 (4)2 casualSB318 conversationsFile betweenNo. employees or an employee and an agent, representative or designee of an employer, provided participation in such conversations is not required;

266 agent, representative or designee of an employer, provided participation in such conversations is not required;

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266 3 SB318 File No.

266 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 23 $ FY 24 $ Labor Dept.

GF - Potential Minimal Minimal Revenue Gain Note:

GF=General Fund Municipal Impact:

None Explanation The bill, which prohibits employers from penalizing or threatening to penalize an employee for not attending captive audience meetings, results in a potential minimal revenue gain to the extent there are violations proven in court.

1 The bill allows aggrieved parties to bring an action in court over alleged violations, which does not result in any cost impact.

The court system disposes of over 400,000 cases annually and the number of cases is not anticipated to be great enough to have a material change on court operations.

The bill has no cost impact to the state or municipalities as employers as it is anticipated that these entities would not violate the provisions of the bill.

The Out Years The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would continue into the future.

1Under the bill a violator is liable to the affected employee for damages caused by the prohibited action, including punitive damages, and reasonable attorney’s fees, as well as subject to a $300 civil penalty imposed by the Department of Labor.

SB318 / File No.

266 4 SB318 File No.

266 OLR Bill Analysis SB 318 AN ACT CONCERNING CAPTIVE AUDIENCE MEETINGS.

SUMMARY This bill generally prohibits employers, including the state and its political subdivisions, from disciplining or discharging (i.e., penalizing) an employee or threatening to do so because the employee refused to attend employer-sponsored meetings, listen to speech, or view communications primarily intended to convey the employer’s opinion about religious or political matters (i.e., “captive audience meetings”;

see BACKGROUND).

The prohibition covers meetings with the employer or its agent, representative, or a designee.

Current law prohibits employers from penalizing employees for exercising their First Amendment rights under the U.S.

Constitution or similar rights under the Connecticut Constitution.

The bill specifies that these rights include the right to (1) free speech, (2) freedom of religion, (3) freedom of association, and (4) freedom from the requirement to listen to speech.

It also expands the law to prohibit employers from threatening to penalize employees for exercising these rights.

By law and unchanged by the bill, an employee may exercise these rights as longhisorheractivitydoesnotsubstantially ormateriallyinterferewith the bona fide job performance or the working relationship between the employer and employee.

The bill provides certain exceptions to both its prohibition on penalizing employees for refusing to attend captive audience meetings and current law’s prohibition on penalizing employees for exercising their constitutional rights.

Among other things, these exceptions allow employers to communicate information required by law or that the employees need to perform their jobs.

It also exempts certain religious SB318 / File No.