03/09/2023
March 9, 2023 Labor and Public Employees Committee HB 6859
Public Hearing Testimony of
Danté Bartolomeo
Commissioner
Department of Labor
Labor and Public Employees Committee
March 9, 2023
Good morning, Representative Sanchez, Senator Kushner, Representative Ackert, Senator Sampson, Representative Wilson, Senator Cabrera, and members of the Labor and Public Employees Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to provide you with written testimony regarding H.B. 6859 An Act Concerning Predictable Scheduling. My name is Danté Bartolomeo and I am the Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Labor.
This bill would prohibit on-call shift scheduling in certain industries and occupations. Although I appreciate that by requiring advanced notice of work schedules and other protections to certain employees, the intent of this bill is to provide certainty and reliability to workers who have responsibilities beyond work, the bill would increase the workload of CTDOL’s Wage and Workplace Standards Division. This bill covers a large population of both employers and employees. This bill would prohibit on-call scheduling in the wholesale and retail sale industry, as well as occupations within the restaurant industry, within nursing or residential care facilities and within hotel, motel and resort facilities. Due to the increased staff costs that would be required to enforce the provisions of this bill, the department is unable to support this bill at this time.
Further, the conditions under which an employer would not need to pay an employee for cancelled or reduced shifts in Section 4 are broad and difficult to establish. For example, CTDOL would be placed in the position of determining whether the inability of an employer's operations to begin or continue were due to the failure of a public utility, the shutdown of public transportation, fire, flood or other natural disaster, or an emergency declaration issued by the President of the United States or the Governor.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide this written testimony.
Connecticut Department of Labor • www.ct.gov/dol
An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer