Connecticut Seal

Substitute Senate Bill No. 454

Public Act No. 08-156

AN ACT CONCERNING EMPLOYEE MISCLASSIFICATION.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2008) (a) There is established a joint enforcement commission on employee misclassification. The commission shall consist of the Labor Commissioner, the Commissioner of Revenue Services, the chairperson of the Workers' Compensation Commission, the Attorney General and the Chief State's Attorney, or their designees.

(b) The joint enforcement commission on employee misclassification shall meet not less than four times each year. The task force shall review the problem of employee misclassification by employers for the purposes of avoiding their obligations under state and federal labor, employment and tax laws. The commission shall coordinate the civil prosecution of violations of state and federal laws as a result of employee misclassification and shall report any suspected violation of state criminal statutes to the Chief State's Attorney or the State's Attorney serving the district in which the violation is alleged to have occurred.

(c) On or before February 1, 2010, and annually thereafter, the commission shall report, in accordance with section 11-4a of the general statutes, to the Governor and the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to labor. The report shall summarize the commission's actions for the preceding calendar year and include any recommendations for administrative or legislative action.

Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2008) There is established the Employee Misclassification Advisory Board to advise the joint enforcement commission on employee misclassification established pursuant to section 1 of this act on misclassification in the construction industry in this state. The advisory board shall consist of members representing management and labor in the construction industry and shall be appointed as follows: One member representing labor and one member representing management, appointed by the Governor; one member representing labor, appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives; one member representing management, appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives; one member representing management, appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate and one member representing labor, appointed by the minority leader of the Senate. All appointments shall be made by August 1, 2008. The terms of members shall be coterminous with the terms of the appointing authority for each member and any vacancy shall be filled by the appointing authority. Members of the advisory board shall serve without compensation but shall, within available funds, be reimbursed for expenses necessarily incurred in the performance of their duties.

Approved June 12, 2008