SB 489 — AN ACT LIMITING THE DAYS AN EMPLOYER CAN MANDATE AN EMPLOYEE TO WORK.

Senate General Assembly CommitteeFile Bill No.

489504 January Session, 2023 LCOSenate Bill No.

5285489 ReferredSenate, toApril 11, 2023 The Committee on LABORLabor ANDand PUBLICPublic EMPLOYEESEmployees Introducedreported by:through SEN.

(LAB)KUSHNER ANof ACTthe LIMITING24th THEDist., DAYSChairperson ANof EMPLOYERthe CANCommittee MANDATEon ANthe EMPLOYEEpart TOof WORK.the Senate, that the bill ought to pass.

AN ACT LIMITING THE DAYS AN EMPLOYER CAN MANDATE AN EMPLOYEE TO WORK.

(b) Any employee, who believes that [his] such discharge was in violation of subsection (a) of this section may appeal such discharge to theState BoardofMediationandArbitration.Ifsaid boardfindsthat the Stateemployee Boardwas discharged in violation of Mediationsaid andsubsection Arbitration.(a), it may order whatever remedy will make the employee whole, including, but SB489 / File No.

If504 said1 boardSB489 findsFile thatNo. the employee was discharged in violation of said subsection (a), it may order whatever remedy will make the employee whole, including, but not limited to, reinstatement to [his] such employee's former position or a comparable position.

LCO504 5285not \\PRDFS1\SCOUSERS\FORZANOF\WS\2023SB-00489-R01limited ofto, 2reinstatement SB.docxto Committee[his] Billsuch No.employee's former position or a comparable position.

489 (c) Any person who violates any provision of this section shall be fined not more than two hundred dollars.

Section 1 July 1, 2023 53-303e LAB Joint Favorable LCOSB489 5285/ R02-SB.docxFile }OUSERS\FORZANOF\WS\2023SB-00489-No. 2 of 2

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504 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 $ Labor Dept.

GF - Cost 2,254,750 2,172,750 State Comptroller - Fringe GF - Cost 24,407 None Benefits1 Labor Dept.

GF - Revenue 700,000 700,000 Gain Note:

GF=General Fund Municipal Impact:

None Explanation The bill, which prohibits certain employer actions related to work schedules for employees in commercial operations and industrial processes, results in a cost to (1) the Department of Labor (DOL) of $2,254,750 in FY 24 and $2,172,750 in FY 25 and (2) the State Comptroller- Fringe Benefits account of $24,407 in FY 24 only, as well as an estimated $700,000 General Fund revenue gain in both FY 24 and FY from filing fees.

According to DOL, the universe of employees covered by the bill's provisions is approximately 700,000 and based on the current caseload of the State Board of Mediation and Arbitration (SBMA), it is estimated that 1,750 complaints could be brought under the bill's provisions.

In 2 order to accommodate this workload, the SBMA would incur one-time 1The fringe benefit costs for most state employees are budgeted centrally in accounts administered by the Comptroller.

The estimated active employee fringe benefit cost associated with most personnel changes is 42.82% of payroll in FY 24.

2The SBMA is currently staffed by five full-time clerical employees who, along with arbitrators, currently process 300-400 grievance cases annually.

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504 costs in FY 24 for (1) staff overtime estimated at $57,000 for salaries and $24,407 for fringe benefits, and (2) equipment costs of $25,000.

Temporary agency staffing costs of approximately $530,000 would also be incurred in both FY 24 and FY 25.

In addition, statutory arbitrator fees paid to SBMA members are estimated to total approximately $1.6 million in both FY 24 and FY 25.

3 This would be partially offset by an estimated $700,000 in General Fund revenue each year from SBMA filing fees paid by parties to complaints.

The Out Years It is anticipated that the annualized ongoing cost and revenue impacts identified above would diminish in future years as employers become aware of the bill's provisions and come into compliance with them.

3This assumes that 20% of cases would go to a full one-day hearing and 80% of cases would not go to a full hearing, with an additional 460 cases settled before arbitration.

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504 OLR Bill Analysis SB 489 AN ACT LIMITING THE DAYS AN EMPLOYER CAN MANDATE AN EMPLOYEE TO WORK.

SUMMARY This bill prohibits an employer from (1) compelling an employee engaged in any commercial occupation or industrial process to work more than six consecutive days or (2) discharging the employee for refusing to do so.

Current law bans an employer from compelling these employees to work more than six days in a calendar week, or discharging one for refusing to do so.

(Neither current law nor the bill defines commercial operation or industrial process.) As with current law, anyone who violates the prohibition is subject to a fine of up to $200.

Under current law and the bill, if an employee believes he or she was discharged from work in violation of the prohibition, the employee may appeal the discharge to the State Board of Mediation and Arbitration.

If the board rules in the employee’s favor, it may order whatever remedy will make the employee whole, including reinstatement to the employee’s former position or a comparable one.