HB 6721 — AN ACT CONCERNING WORKERS' COMPENSATION AND PORTAL-TO-PORTAL COVERAGE FOR TELECOMMUNICATORS.

Substitute House ofBill Representatives File No.

8056721 GeneralPublic AssemblyAct January Session, 2023(Reprint of File No.

76)23-80 SubstituteAN HouseACT BillCONCERNING No.WORKERS' COMPENSATION AND PORTAL-TO-PORTAL COVERAGE FOR TELECOMMUNICATORS.

6721 As Amended by House Amendment Schedule "A" Approved by the Legislative Commissioner May 19, 2023 AN ACT CONCERNING WORKERS' COMPENSATION AND PORTAL- TO-PORTAL COVERAGE FOR TELECOMMUNICATORS.

(ii) For an employee of the Department of Correction, (I) when responding to a direct order to appear at [his or her work] such employee's assignment under circumstances in which nonessential employees are excused from working, or (II) following two or more mandatory overtime work shifts on consecutive days, "in the course of sHB6721his /employment" Fileencompasses No.such individual's departure from such individual's place of abode directly to duty, such individual's duty, and the return directly to such individual's place of abode after duty;

805(iii) sHB6721For Filea telecommunicator, as defined in section 28-30, (I) when a telecommunicator is subject to emergency calls while off duty by the Substitute House Bill No.

8056721 terms of such telecommunicator's employment, (II) when responding to a direct order to appear at such telecommunicator's work assignment under circumstances in which nonessential employees are excused from working, or (III) following two or more mandatory overtime work shifts on consecutive days, "in the course of his employment" encompasses such individual's departure from such individual's place of abode directly to duty, such individual's duty, and the return directly to such individual's place of abode after duty;

(iii) For a telecommunicator, as defined in section 28-30, (I) when a telecommunicator is subject to emergency calls while off duty by the terms of such telecommunicator's employment, (II) when responding to a direct order to appear at such telecommunicator's work assignment under circumstances in which nonessential employees are excused from working, or (III) following two or more mandatory overtime work shifts on consecutive days, "in the course of his employment" encompasses such individual's departure from such individual's place of abode directly to duty, such individual's duty, and the return directly to such individual's place of abode after duty;

ThisApproved actJune shall27, take2023 effectPublic asAct followsNo. and shall amend the following sections:

Section23-80 12 Octoberof 1,2 2023 31-275(1)(A) sHB6721 / File No.

805 sHB6721 File No.

805 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 24 $ FY 25 $ Various State Agencies GF - Potential See Below See Below Cost Note:

GF=General Fund Municipal Impact:

Municipalities Effect FY 24 $ FY 25 $ Various Municipalities STATE See Below See Below MANDATE 1 - Potential Cost Explanation The bill expands conditions under which certain employees can apply for Workers' Compensation benefits.

To the extent this produces an increase in medical and indemnity claims, the bill will result in a potential cost to the state and self-insured municipalities, beginning in FY 24.

House "A" eliminates the original bill and its associated fiscal impact, and results in the impact described above.

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.

sHB6721 / File No.

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805 continue into the future subject to inflation and the number of eligible employees who apply for Worker’s Compensation benefits.

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805 OLR Bill Analysis sHB 6721 (as amended by House "A")* AN ACT CONCERNING WORKERS' COMPENSATION AND PORTAL-TO-PORTAL COVERAGE FOR TELECOMMUNICATORS.

SUMMARY This bill extends “portal-to-portal” workers’ compensation coverage to telecommunicators (i.e., 9-1-1 emergency dispatchers) in three situations:

(1) when they 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 nonessential 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 travelling 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.

Existing law provides portal-to- portal coverage to police officers and firefighters whenever they are travelling directly between home and work.

It also provides portal-to- portal coverage to Department of Correction employees when they are responding to a direct order to appear at their work assignment when nonessential employees are excused from working or after they have worked two or more mandatory overtime shifts on consecutive days.

*House Amendment “A” replaces the underlying bill, which would have given the dispatchers portal-to-portal coverage whenever they were travelling directly between home and work.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

October 1, 2023 sHB6721 / File No.

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805 COMMITTEE ACTION Labor and Public Employees Committee Joint Favorable Substitute Yea 10 Nay 1 (02/28/2023) Appropriations Committee Joint Favorable Yea 44 Nay 7 (05/01/2023) sHB6721 / File No.

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