03/12/2024
March 12, 2024 Labor and Public Employees Committee, SB 412
Public Hearing Testimony
Danté Bartolomeo
Commissioner
Department of Labor
Labor and Public Employees Committee
March 12, 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 written testimony regarding SB 412: AN ACT CONCERNING THE PROTECTION OF WAREHOUSE WORKERS IN THE STATE. My name is Danté Bartolomeo and I am the Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Labor (CTDOL).
CTDOL understands the Labor Committee’s intent of protecting warehouse workers through creating safeguards that are found throughout Sections 2-6 of SB 412. However, we must register concern with the Committee that Sections 7 and 8 of SB 412 will necessitate significant state funding for CTDOL to administer.
Section 7 of SB 412 permits employees to bring a civil action in Superior Court if the employee believes that their employer violated certain protections afforded to them in Sections 2-6 of the bill. As the bill is written, we believe that CTDOL would be required to assess the civil penalty, requiring an investigation to be conducted by CTDOL’s Wage and Workplace Standards Division (WWSD). As the Labor Committee is aware, WWSD is currently operating under a backlog of investigation cases, yet to be assigned, and does not have the resources to divert to an additional mandate.
Section 8 of SB 412 would require CTDOL’s WWSD to investigate potential violations of Sections 2-6 if our agency receives notice from the Workers Compensation Commission that an employer “is found to have an annual injury rate at or over one and on half times the warehousing industry's average annual injury rate”. Like Section 7, and absent funding, this section would add a significant workload to a unit with no additional capacity.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide this written testimony.
Connecticut Department of Labor • www.ct.gov/dol
An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer