SB 1222 — AN ACT CONCERNING PORTAL TO PORTAL WORKERS' COMPENSATION COVERAGE FOR PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEES.

Senate General Assembly FileRaised Bill No.

1681222 January Session, 2025 SenateLCO Bill No.

12223867 Senate,Referred Marchto 20, 2025 The Committee on LaborLABOR andAND PublicPUBLIC EmployeesEMPLOYEES reportedIntroduced throughby: SEN.

KUSHNER(LAB) ofAN theACT 24thCONCERNING Dist.,PORTAL ChairpersonTO ofPORTAL theWORKERS' CommitteeCOMPENSATION onCOVERAGE theFOR partPUBLIC ofWORKS theDEPARTMENT Senate,EMPLOYEES. 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Subdivision (1) of section 31-275 of the general statutes is repealed andthefollowing isissubstituted substituted inlieuthereof(EffectiveOctober 1, 2025):

(A) (i) For a police officer or firefighter, "in the course of his employment" encompasses such individual's departure from such SB1222individual's /place Fileof abode to duty, such individual's duty, and the LCO 3867 1 of 4 Raised Bill No.

1681222 1return SB1222to Filesuch No.individual's place of abode after duty;

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

SB1222LCO /3867 File2 of 4 Raised Bill No.

1681222 2[(iv)] SB1222(v) FileNotwithstanding No.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.

168 [(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 SB1222LCO /3867 File3 of 4 Raised Bill No.

1681222 3subparagraph SB1222(E) Fileof No.this subdivision, "place of abode" includes the inside of the residential structure, the garage, the common hallways, stairways, driveways, walkways and the yard;

168 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, 2025 31-275(1) LAB Joint Favorable SB1222APP /Joint FileFavorable No.LCO 3867 4 of 4

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168 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 26 $ FY 27 $ Various State Agencies GF&TF - See Below See Below Potential Cost Note:

GF&TF=General Fund & Transportation Fund Municipal Impact:

Municipalities Effect FY 26 $ FY 27 $ Various Municipalities STATE See Below See Below MANDATE 1 - Potential Cost Explanation The bill results in a potential cost to the state and self-insured municipalities beginning in FY 26, from increases to premium costs and medical and indemnity claims, to the extent that certain employees apply for Workers' Compensation benefits and meet the conditions of the bill.

There is also a potential cost to fully or partially insured municipalities to the extent expanding coverage results in an increase in premiums.

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

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.

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168 OLR Bill Analysis SB 1222 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 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 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.

Existing law gives 9-1-1 emergency dispatchers portal-to-portal coverage under the same conditions the bill applies to public works department employees.

It also extends portal-to-portal coverage to (1) 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 and (2) police officers and firefighters whenever they are traveling directly between home and work.

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168 EFFECTIVE DATE:

October 1, 2025 COMMITTEE ACTION Labor and Public Employees Committee Joint Favorable Yea 9 Nay 4 (03/06/2025) SB1222 / File No.