Sec. 4-61u. State departments and agencies required to establish programs
of career mobility and accommodation and entry level training of persons with
disabilities. (a) Under the supervision of the Commissioner of Administrative Services,
all departments and agencies of state government shall establish an effective program
of career mobility as part of their affirmative action program, as required by section
46a-68, for occupational groups, which shall include, but not be limited to, secretarial,
clerical, supervisory clerical, semiskilled, crafts and trades, supervisory crafts and
trades, custodial, supervisory custodial and laborers. All departments and agencies of
state government shall provide, or make provision for, career counseling for such occupational groups. All departments and agencies shall make available to state employees
a range of training opportunities. In geographically remote areas, as defined by the
Committee on Career Entry and Mobility, where programs are not generally available,
departments and agencies shall enter into cooperative arrangements or take other appropriate actions to assure that training opportunities are provided to employees in those
areas. All departments and agencies shall, consistent with the requirements of the State
Personnel Act, initiate classification requests that would result in the development of
career ladders and lattices providing career mobility within and between occupational
groupings, and from subprofessional jobs to professional and managerial jobs. All departments and agencies of state government shall establish as part of their affirmative
action plans, specific annual goals and timetables on the number of classes in entry level
professional, managerial and administrative positions, which shall include, but are not
limited to, law enforcement, field representation, administrative staff, professional, subprofessional or technical jobs that are to be filled through career mobility.
(b) Under the supervision of the Commissioner of Administrative Services, each
department and agency of state government shall establish an effective program of accommodation and entry level training of persons with disabilities. Such programs shall
be part of department and agency affirmative action programs required by section 46a-68. All departments and agencies shall make a range of training opportunities available
to such persons. In geographically remote areas, as defined by the Committee on Career
Entry and Mobility, where programs are not generally available, departments and agencies shall enter into cooperative arrangements or take other appropriate actions to assure
that training opportunities are provided to such persons in those areas. All departments
and agencies of state government shall establish, as part of their affirmative action plans,
specific annual goals and timetables on (1) the number of jobs that are to be filled through
the accommodation of persons with disabilities and (2) entry level training for such
persons.
(P.A. 77-250, S. 2, 5; 77-614, S. 66, 587, 610; P.A. 78-303, S. 85, 136; P.A. 96-168, S. 28, 34; P.A. 98-205, S. 2.)
History: P.A. 77-614 and P.A. 78-303 replaced personnel commissioner with commissioner of administrative services;
P.A. 96-168 changed references to "upward mobility" to "career mobility", effective July 1, 1996; P.A. 98-205 designated
existing provisions as Subsec. (a), amended Subsec. (a) by substituting "Committee on Career Entry and Mobility" for
"committee" and added new Subsec. (b), requiring state departments and agencies to establish programs of accommodation
and entry level training of persons with disabilities.
Sec. 4-61v. Report to General Assembly by Commissioner of Administrative
Services and Committee on Upward Mobility. Section 4-61v is repealed.
(P.A. 77-250, S. 3, 5; 77-614, S. 66, 587, 610; P.A. 78-303, S. 85, 136; P.A. 88-116, S. 11.)
Sec. 4-61w. Composition of employees in career mobility program. In implementing the provisions of sections 4-61t and 4-61u and this section, each department
or agency shall insure that the ethnic and sex composition of employees participating
in the career mobility program shall be consistent with the regulations for affirmative
action of the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities.
(P.A. 77-250, S. 4, 5; 77-614, S. 66, 587, 610; P.A. 78-303, S. 85, 136; P.A. 85-161; P.A. 88-116, S. 8; P.A. 96-168,
S. 29, 34.)
History: P.A. 77-614 and P.A. 78-303 replaced personnel department with department of administrative services; P.A.
85-161 required that composition of employees participating in program be consistent with affirmative action "regulations"
of human rights and opportunities commission rather than with affirmative action "guidelines" of administrative services
department; P.A. 88-116 deleted obsolete reference to Sec. 4-61v; P.A. 96-168 changed reference to "upward mobility"
to "career mobility", effective July 1, 1996.
Secs. 4-61x to 4-61z. Reserved for future use.
Sec. 4-61aa. Committee to encourage employment by state of persons with
disabilities. (a) There is established a committee to encourage the employment by the
state of persons with disabilities. The Commissioner of Administrative Services shall
appoint the members of the committee, which shall be chaired by such commissioner,
or his designee, and include one representative of each of the following:
(1) The Board of Education and Services to the Blind;
(2) The Commission on the Deaf and Hearing Impaired;
(3) The Bureau of Rehabilitative Services;
(4) The Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities;
(5) The Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services;
(6) The Department of Mental Retardation; and
(7) The Labor Department.
(b) The committee shall:
(1) Advise, and develop written guidelines for, the Commissioner of Administrative
Services and the executive heads of other state agencies regarding the adaptation of
employment examinations and alternative hiring processes for, and the reasonable accommodation of, persons with disabilities; and
(2) Review the program established under subsection (b) of section 4-61u and compliance with the provisions of section 46a-70 concerning persons with physical disabilities.
(P.A. 98-205, S. 4.)
Secs. 4-61bb and 4-61cc. Reserved for future use.
Sec. 4-61dd. Whistleblowing. Disclosure of information to Auditors of Public
Accounts. Investigation by Attorney General. Proceedings re alleged retaliatory
personnel actions. Report to General Assembly. Large state contractors. (a) Any
person having knowledge of any matter involving corruption, unethical practices, violation of state laws or regulations, mismanagement, gross waste of funds, abuse of authority or danger to the public safety occurring in any state department or agency or any
quasi-public agency, as defined in section 1-120, or any person having knowledge of
any matter involving corruption, violation of state or federal laws or regulations, gross
waste of funds, abuse of authority or danger to the public safety occurring in any large
state contract, may transmit all facts and information in his possession concerning such
matter to the Auditors of Public Accounts. The Auditors of Public Accounts shall review
such matter and report their findings and any recommendations to the Attorney General.
Upon receiving such a report, the Attorney General shall make such investigation as he
deems proper. At the request of the Attorney General or on their own initiative, the
auditors shall assist in the investigation. The Attorney General shall have power to
summon witnesses, require the production of any necessary books, papers or other documents and administer oaths to witnesses, where necessary, for the purpose of investigation. Upon the conclusion of his investigation, the Attorney General shall where necessary, report his findings to the Governor, or in matters involving criminal activity, to
the Chief State's Attorney. The Auditors of Public Accounts and the Attorney General
shall not, after receipt of any information from a person under the provisions of this
section, disclose the identity of such person without his consent unless the Auditors of
Public Accounts or the Attorney General determines that such disclosure is unavoidable
during the course of the investigation.
(b) (1) No state officer or employee, as defined in section 4-141, no quasi-public
agency officer or employee, no officer or employee of a large state contractor and no
appointing authority shall take or threaten to take any personnel action against any state
or quasi-public agency employee or any employee of a large state contractor in retaliation
for such employee's disclosure of information to the Auditors of Public Accounts or
the Attorney General under the provisions of subsection (a) of this section.
(2) If a state or quasi-public agency employee or an employee of a large state contractor alleges that a personnel action has been threatened or taken in retaliation for such
employee's disclosure of information to the Auditors of Public Accounts or the Attorney
General under the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, the employee may notify
the Attorney General, who shall investigate pursuant to subsection (a) of this section.
After the conclusion of such investigation, the Attorney General, the employee or the
employee's attorney may file a complaint concerning such personnel action with the
Chief Human Rights Referee designated under section 46a-57. The Chief Human Rights
Referee shall assign the complaint to a human rights referee appointed under said section
46a-57, who shall conduct a hearing and issue a decision concerning whether the officer
or employee taking or threatening to take the personnel action violated any provision
of this section. If the human rights referee finds such a violation, the referee may award
the aggrieved employee reinstatement to the employee's former position, back pay and
reestablishment of any employee benefits to which the employee would otherwise have
been eligible if such violation had not occurred, reasonable attorneys' fees, and any
other damages. For the purposes of this subsection, such human rights referee shall act
as an independent hearing officer. The decision of a human rights referee under this
subsection may be appealed by any person who was a party at such hearing, in accordance
with the provisions of section 4-183.
(3) The Chief Human Rights Referee shall adopt regulations, in accordance with
the provisions of chapter 54, establishing the procedure for filing complaints and noticing and conducting hearings under subdivision (2) of this subsection.
(4) As an alternative to the provisions of subdivisions (2) and (3) of this subsection
(A) a state or quasi-public agency employee who alleges that a personnel action has
been threatened or taken may file an appeal within thirty days of knowledge of the
specific incident giving rise to such claim with the Employees' Review Board under
section 5-202, or, in the case of a state or quasi-public agency employee covered by a
collective bargaining contract, in accordance with the procedure provided by such contract, or (B) an employee of a large state contractor alleging that such action has been
threatened or taken may, after exhausting all available administrative remedies, bring
a civil action in accordance with the provisions of subsection (c) of section 31-51m.
(5) In any proceeding under subdivision (2), (3) or (4) of this subsection concerning
a personnel action taken or threatened against any state or quasi-public agency employee
or any employee of a large state contractor, which personnel action occurs within one
year after the employee first transmits facts and information concerning a matter under
subsection (a) of this section to the Auditors of Public Accounts or the Attorney General,
there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the personnel action is in retaliation for the
action taken by the employee under subsection (a) of this section.
(c) Any employee of a state or quasi-public agency or large state contractor, who
is found to have knowingly and maliciously made false charges under subsection (a) of
this section, shall be subject to disciplinary action by his appointing authority up to and
including dismissal. In the case of a state or quasi-public agency employee, such action
shall be subject to appeal to the Employees' Review Board in accordance with section
5-202, or in the case of state or quasi-public agency employees included in collective
bargaining contracts, the procedure provided by such contracts.
(d) On or before September first, annually, the Auditors of Public Accounts shall
submit to the clerk of each house of the General Assembly a report indicating the number
of matters for which facts and information were transmitted to the auditors pursuant to
this section during the preceding state fiscal year and the disposition of each such matter.
(e) Each contract between a state or quasi-public agency and a large state contractor
shall provide that, if an officer, employee or appointing authority of a large state contractor takes or threatens to take any personnel action against any employee of the contractor
in retaliation for such employee's disclosure of information to the Auditors of Public
Accounts or the Attorney General under the provisions of subsection (a) of this section,
the contractor shall be liable for a civil penalty of not more than five thousand dollars
for each offense, up to a maximum of twenty per cent of the value of the contract. Each
violation shall be a separate and distinct offense and in the case of a continuing violation
each calendar day's continuance of the violation shall be deemed to be a separate and
distinct offense. The executive head of the state or quasi-public agency may request the
Attorney General to bring a civil action in the superior court for the judicial district of
Hartford to seek imposition and recovery of such civil penalty.
(f) Each large state contractor shall post a notice of the provisions of this section
relating to large state contractors in a conspicuous place which is readily available for
viewing by the employees of the contractor.
(g) As used in this section: