File No. 49

House of Representatives, March 10, 2009

The Committee on Labor and Public Employees reported through REP. RYAN of the 139th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the House, that the bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS OF CERTAIN PERSONNEL FILES STATUTES.

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

Section 1. Section 31-69a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2009):

(a) In addition to the penalties provided in this chapter and chapter 568, any employer, officer, agent or other person who violates any provision of this chapter, [or] chapter 563a, chapter 557 or subsection (g) of section 31-288, shall be liable to the Labor Department for a civil penalty of three hundred dollars for each violation of said chapters and for each violation of subsection (g) of section 31-288, except that any person who violates (1) a stop work order issued pursuant to subsection (c) of section 31-76a, shall be liable to the Labor Department for a civil penalty of one thousand dollars and each day of such violation shall constitute a separate offense, and (2) any provision of section 31-12, 31-13 or 31-14, subsection (a) of section 31-15 or section 31-18, 31-23 or 31-24 shall be liable to the Labor Department for a civil penalty of six hundred dollars for each violation of said sections.

(b) The Attorney General, upon complaint of the Labor Commissioner, shall institute civil actions to recover the penalties provided for under subsection (a) of this section. Any amount recovered shall be deposited in the General Fund and credited to a separate nonlapsing appropriation to the Labor Department, for other current expenses, and may be used by the Labor Department to enforce the provisions of chapter 557, this chapter and subsection (g) of section 31-288 and to implement the provisions of section 31-4.

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:

Note: GF=General Fund

Municipal Impact: None

Explanation

The bill could result in a minimal revenue gain associated with imposing civil penalties on employers who violate the provisions of CGS Chapter 563a regarding employee personnel files. The revenue generated from this civil penalty is anticipated to be minimal.

The Out Years

The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would continue into the future subject to inflation and the number of civil penalties imposed.

OLR Bill Analysis

HB 6185

AN ACT CONCERNING PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS OF CERTAIN PERSONNEL FILES STATUTES.

SUMMARY:

This bill subjects any employer, officer, agent, or other person who violates the provisions of the Personnel Files Act to a $300 civil penalty for each violation. The Labor Department imposes the penalty and can ask the attorney general to initiate civil action to recover any unpaid penalties.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2009

BACKGROUND

Personnel Files Act

This state law imposes certain requirements on employers who keep employee personnel and medical records. The law requires the employee's written consent, in most cases, before an employer can disclose individually identifiable information other than the employee's dates of employment, job title, and wage or salary.

Also the employer must allow an employee access to personnel files and, in the case of medical files, allow access by a physician chosen or approved by the employee. The employers must maintain both types of files for a certain period after the worker stops working for that company and must abide by other statutory requirements.

COMMITTEE ACTION

Labor and Public Employees Committee

Joint Favorable