02/27/2024
February 27, 2024 Labor and Public Employees Committee, HB 5267
Public Hearing Testimony of
Danté Bartolomeo
Commissioner
Department of Labor
Labor and Public Employees Committee
February 27, 2024
Good Morning Senator Kushner, Representative Sanchez, Senator Sampson, Representative Weir and members of the Labor and Public Employees Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to provide you with this testimony regarding H.B. 5267 AN ACT MAKING CHANGES TO AND REPEALING OBSOLETE PROVISIONS OF STATUTES RELEVANT TO THE LABOR DEPARTMENT. My name is Danté Bartolomeo and I am the Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Labor (CTDOL).
This proposed technical bill seeks to make technical changes to Labor statutes and seeks to repeal statutes that are enforced through other, more appropriate federal statutes and regulations. In summary:
Section 1 – Clarifies that the Labor Commissioner may enter into contractual agreements for all programs, activities, services, and grants within the jurisdiction of the Labor Department, including, but not limited to, employment and training programs in the state and the application for, and use, administration, and repayment of, any federal funds made available or allotted under any federal law. The Office of the Attorney General suggested that, for clarity only, CTDOL should amend the statute.
Section 2 - Revises Enhanced Wage Records to include the zip code of the employee’s primary workplace. The technical change would be to replace “business mailing address zip code of the employer” with “zip code of the employee’s primary workplace”.
Section 3 – Eliminates the Occupational Health Clinics Advisory Committee’s annual report. All the information contained in the report is public and available upon request, therefore the CTDOL considers this report to be unnecessarily cumbersome.
Section 4 –Repeals the requirement in CGS 31-76a that the CTDOL Commissioner adopt regulations concerning investigations of complaints regarding nonpayment of wages and the issuance of stop work orders. It is CTDOL’s position that regulations are unnecessary and duplicative as statute is adequate to speak to the requirements of the law.
Section 5 –See above. Repeals the requirement in CGS 31-223b that the CTDOL Commissioner adopt regulations regarding employers who acquire the assets, organization, trade or business of an employer solely or primarily for the purpose of obtaining a lower contribution rate to the Unemployment Compensation Fund. Interpretations regarding implementation of the law are adequately provided in agency policy and Board of Review precedent; any regulations would be unnecessary and duplicative. CTDOL already conducts the required activities of the statute without regulations.
Section 6 – Repeal of CGS 31-51n, CGS 31-51o, and CGS 31-76l. For CGS 31-51n and CGS 31-51o, repeal is necessary as these statutes are preempted by federal law, specifically the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), and CTDOL has no authority to enforce these sections. For CGS 31-76l, repeal is appropriate as the governing statute sufficiently addresses the legal requirements associated with the statute and additional regulations would be unnecessary and duplicative. Moreover, the agency had already partially adopted regulations pursuant to CGS 31-76l regarding employees exempt from overtime and no additional regulations are necessary.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today. I am here with CTDOL subject matter experts and am happy to take your questions regarding these technical changes.
Connecticut Department of Labor • www.ct.gov/dol
An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer